New Lesson

I posted a new lesson on my Web site: Comparing Cell Phone Plans.  I wrote the lesson as part of a project I worked on with Amanda Cangelosi, an ex-colleague and currently a prof at the University of Utah. We were auditioning for a new online math lessons Web site. We did not make the cut, but it was a worthwhile project, as it helped me clarify my thinking about one way to design a good activity. Here are some of the features of this lesson that I like.

1. It is an investigation of a question that is reasonably easy to state and understand, but takes a bit of work to unravel.
2. The lesson is structured in the three-act format recommended by Dan Meyer. (See my previous post on this topic.)
3. The exploration is preceded by an introduction which gives students a chance to formulate their own questions and discuss what information will be needed to answer them.
4. One size does not fit all: while the student worksheet is short, teacher notes provide ideas for several levels of hintage, which can be deployed appropriately, depending on the specific situation in a given classroom, or with a given small group or individual student.
5. While it is a “real world”-type question, it is engineered (all right: contrived) to generate maximum educational payoff.
6. It is possible for a broad range of students to start working on the lesson, which makes the subsequent generalization accessible to a larger group than starting with a directly algebraic approach.
7. The problem touches on multiple core topics in algebra, and is best addressed by using multiple representations.
8. The lesson does not assume a particular technological tool, but it can be enhanced by technology in multiple complementary ways. We provided some “tech support” for some of those.
9. The lesson can be followed by a more genuine real world question: researching and comparing real cell phone plans.

I’d love your feedback on this!

–Henri