I have really enjoyed creating this instructional video.  It is not perfect, there are many details about it that I would like to tweak (like creating a new voice for myself – does anyone like to hear their own recorded voice- yuck!)  but it will have to do for now.  This is one of my all time favorite projects.  I used to teach it in JH math.  I started with a symmetry unit and we looked for symmetry in the world – pictures, outside, buildings…   Then we talked about how archeologists recreated ancient buildings from drawings.  This led right into the 2D to 3D creations shown in the video.   I think there is also value in talking about volume and surface area without involving formulas.  If you ask JH kids about volume and surface area – they most likely will give you a formula instead of telling you what it means.  But, the best part of this project is the final project.  I give the students a quite large set of 3 2D drawings of a building (top, front, and right hand sides) and ask them to create it in 3D.  Every student gets a different building and they create it on cardboard with sugar cubes and glue.  The grade sheet is the same for everyone – they are graded on finding the maximum building and finding the volume and surface area.  The best part is that I can choose the difficulty of each student’s final assessment based on their individual ability level.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could do that with every assignment – challenge every kid and still give them the chance at success!   Anyway – here is my video – hope you like it.    Also, if you would like a copy of the worksheets and the rest of the unit – reply here – it is quite a large packet but I could mail it to you! 

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