How can you have fun and be creative in math? Middle school students mixed creativity and math together. In our community, we have been discussing what the ideal school would be like. Would it be an arts and entertainment school, a traditional school, or an on-hands manufacturing- building school?
Middle school students invited the Special Ed Math teacher from our own high school at MEC, Mr. Conner, to give us a lesson in what is involved with building a school. He taught a special lesson on designing a building, complete with figuring out the square footage, important features necessary for building, and he also talked about special area residential codes that are necessary when building a structure.
Students were able to ask questions about their particular building and learn about the things involved in building, such as blue-prints, floor plans and special safety codes. Mr. Conner did an excellent job in getting students prepared for building their own school.
Next, middle school students watched videos from classrooms around the world to see how different countries utilize space. Students then created their own schools by discussing the focus of the school, what population they would have, and space needs of their school.
After making a blueprint of their school, students had to do a short presentation on their school. The presentations varied from a sports school, a trucking school, and a cheerleading/dance school. There was also one school that had classes 3-days a week.
Overall, students enjoyed this project and have a better understanding of what is involved in building a school.
