STUDY PLUS MATHS ON THE FARM LESSON 1 Key word Lesson Starter Main Activity Plenary Resources Convert between units of area Acre hectare square metre square feet Setting the scene photo-story of Arrallas Farm an organic dairy farm All land in England traditionally measured by the rod, an old Saxon unit. 40 rods =- 1 furlong, the length of the traditional furrow as ploughed by ox teams on Saxon farms. The area of land was traditionally measured in acres a very old Saxon unit references to the acre as early as the year 732. An acre was originally a field of a size that a farmer could plough in a single day in practice a field that could be ploughed in a morning as oxen had to be rested in the afternoon 1 furlong by 4 rods. The metric measure of area is the hectare ( 100m x 100m). Calculate the number of square feet in an acre. Find the dimensions of a square with an area of 1 acre. Measure the dimensions of your classroom. Find its area in square feet. How many classrooms would it take to make an acre? Find the area of a football pitch in square feet. Compare this to an acre. Find the number of square feet in 1 hectare. How many acres are in 1 hectare? What percentage of the size of a hectare is an acre? Arrallas Farm WMV file How big is an acre? PPT Resource sheet 1 Measuring tapes (in inches), calculators
STUDY PLUS MATHS ON THE FARM LESSON 2 Develop strategies for problem solving Key words Lesson Starter Show students the 7 problem cards that the farmer wants to know the answer to. Q. Which problem do you think is the easiest to solve? Why? Q. Which do you think is the most difficult? Why? Sort the cards into order of difficulty Take feedback (i.e. some problems are multistage and require a lot more information to solve them) Main Activity Reading images Explain the Reading Images strategy using the template. In the first frame note any topics that come to mind when they read that question (e.g. circle, volume, cylinder etc) In the second frame note anything they think that will help them to solve the problem. This may be things from the question or from their prior knowledge (e.g. Area of circle formula etc) The final frame will be used to solve the problem when at the farm Finally the outer border can be used to check the solution (Teachers have reported that this strategy is very effective in slowing down pupils, making them read the question and making them think about their solutions more carefully) Model the reading images strategy at the board for the problem 3. Read aloud the following and add the bits in CAPITALS to the reading images template First Frame: I am looking at the picture and I can see a CYLINDER and a CONE. The problem is asking me about VOLUME. Second Frame: I will need to know the DIAMETER of the tank, the HEIGHT of the tank, I need to know the FORMULA FOR VOLUME OF A CONE AND A CYLINDER
Students are to choose one of the problems 5, 6 or 7 and stick it onto the Reading Images template. They can then annotate the first 2 frames as above. What facts do I need to know? Q. What facts will the farmer need to know in order to be able to solve the problems? Share problem 1 with the students and clarify what is this question trying to find out? yield of milk per cow per day, how many cows are milked each day price of milk per unit In groups students are to consider problems 2 and 4 and to thought-shower the facts that they would need to know in order to solve the problem. Problem 2 how much cake a cow eats in a day how many cows there are Problem 4 What shape are the bales What are the dimensions of the bale Whether the shapes tessellate or not Take feedback and explain that the farmer will be discussing these problems further at the visit to the farm. Plenary Q. When might you need to solve problems like these? (I.e. in maths, in exams and in the real world!!) Q. How does the reading images template help you solve the problem? Q. In what other situations could you use this? Resources Problem cards 1-7 Reading Images Template
STUDY PLUS MATHS ON THE FARM LESSON 3 and 4 FARM VISIT Solve real life problems Overview Students will visit the farm and work on solving the problems that were discussed in the previous lessons in a practical context. Resources Resource sheets 3.1 3.7
STUDY PLUS MATHS ON THE FARM LESSON 5 Overview Resources Based on the farm visit there are a number of additional areas of mathematics that could be explored where relevant to students individual learning needs. (The TA could work with a guided group on a topic where some students are struggling) Revise area and volume (see PPT) Explore angles (see Gates PPT) Conversions Money problems Gates PowerPoint Area PowerPoint Volume PowerPoint
STUDY PLUS MATHS ON THE FARM LESSON 6 Recognise the maths that is needed in familiar and unfamiliar contexts Key word Volume, area, cylinder, circle, cuboid, triangular prism Lesson Starter Main Activity The answer is 42 what is the question? 42cm 42 42cm 2 42 hectares Matching Families of Cards Students are to group together equivalent problems (which include the same question in different contexts) and then to add a heading card that describes the maths that they are being asked to use 1. Volume of cylinders 2. Volume of cuboids 3. Area of compound shapes 4. Area of circles 5. Volume of triangular prism Students can then write an additional card for each set that refers to a different context (link to their hobbies or potential careers where possible) (Students need to be able to understand problems in familiar and unfamiliar contexts as part of their functional skills standards this activity has been written with this in mind!) Students then take one card from each group and solve the problem on a poster. Plenary Students can then peer assess each others posters. Resources Area and Volume in Contexts Card sort
STUDY PLUS MATHS ON THE FARM LESSON 7 Curricular Targets Convert one metric unit to another Convert one metric unit to another Calculate areas of compound shapes made from rectangles and triangles Know and use the formula for the volume of a cuboid Know and use the formulae for the area and circumference of a circle Calculate the volumes of right prisms and cylinders. Possible additional targets Identify parallel and perpendicular lines; know the sum of angles at a point, on a straight line and in a triangle and recognise vertically opposite angles Identify alternate and corresponding angles Functional Skills Standards being developed (at Level 2) Representing: Understand routine and non-routine problems in familiar and unfamiliar contexts and situations Identify the situation or problems and identify the mathematical methods needed to solve them Key word Lesson Starter Go through learning objectives Main Activity Students are to work through the GCSE questions in pairs and make links with the methods that they have used during the unit. During this time the students should be encouraged to have learning conversations with the teacher or teaching assistant about solving problems, What information do you have? What information is important to solving the problem? Is there anything else you need to know? What method will you use? What do you need to record to show how you are going about solving the problem?
Plenary Use the plenary to give students opportunities to talk about what they have learned during the unit of work and what they have found difficult, using the learning objectives detailed on student evaluation sheet as a focus. Encourage students to talk about how they can transfer the skills learnt back into other lessons. Complete evaluation sheet for key objectives. Resources Student evaluation sheets GCSE questions and mark scheme