Lesson Plan One: Global Math Careers

Grade Levels: 9th and 10th

Overview & Purpose

Subject: Integrated Mathematics

Prepared by: Keesha M. Brown

State Content Standards: (VDOE 2012) AII/T.9 The student will collect and analyze data, make predictions, and solve real-world problems, using mathematical models National-Common Core Standards: (Common Core 2012) CCS--MP5--Use appropriate tools strategically. College and Career Readiness--Research to Build and Present Knowledge: (Common Core 2012) 7--Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. 8--Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism. 9--Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. National Education Technology Standard for Students NETS (S): (ISTE 2012) NETS Standard 3-- Research and Information Fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information. (ISTE 2012) NETS Standard 5-- Digital Citizenship Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. (ISTE 2012)

Mathematical Analysis, Statistics, and Problem-Solving are important skills that can effectively be applied in mathematics, mathematics-related studies, and a host of other disciplines. Math and STEM careers are emerging trends in world leaders such the United States and China. As global awareness becomes a growing effort, students have an opportunity to learn more about the trends that may be similar or dissimilar. Connecting with global peers and gaining more information about the lifestyles of professionals in other countries, specifically China, is valuable to current secondary students preparing for college. Because it provides students with a perspective on Math or Math-related fields pursued by college graduates in China. STEM related fields, with a heavy math concentration may be considered. Students will compare the opportunities presented in the United States. Also, peers in other countries gain a perspective on math-related career trends in the United States.

Objectives

Students will be able to research information about China. Students will be able to discuss math-related career choices in China. Students will be able to convey global lifestyle components and cost-of-living factors that could potentially influence the lifestyles of recent college graduates.

Information

The purpose of this lesson is to work on the students research and problemsolving skills to help students to develop their collaborative relationship building skills. Students will practice conveying information, using statistics concepts such as graphical displays and numerical summaries. I tag this lesson as the beginning of shaping skills that will be instrumental in helping students to begin their understanding of other cultures and the similarities to the United States. This activity will lead students into developing collaborative relationships with students in other classrooms across the globe. During this lesson, students will be asked to apply mathematical analysis, statistical analysis, and problem-solving knowledge that has been acquired. They are expected to have prior knowledge of reporting statistical data, analyzing math-related data, and using the concepts to solve problems or questions. Students will also spend time researching math-related careers, in hopes of prepping students to begin considering courses of study and careers in STEM or math-related careers. They will research prospective salaries and develop a cost-of-living trend analysis based on the research. Although many students may not be interested in preparing for this career route, they may see the relevance in developing good math skills and its potential. This will also be an opportunity for students to incorporate some of the Common Core college-readiness standards. At the conclusion of the daily activities, students will provide a statistical analysis as a response to the questions: What are the career trends in STEM related career choices for both the United States and China? What are some of the potential salaries for each? What are the cost-of-living expenses that are typically sustained by students who want to maintain a specific lifestyle?

Materials

Pen Pencils Graph Paper Calculators Computers

Reservation of Equipment/Facilities Website Links

COW--Computers on Wheels or Mobile Lab--students will work on laptops to complete this task. http://collaborate.iearn.org/ http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12874&page=1 http://online.wsj.com/ad/article/mathscience-rising http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Personal-Budget-on-Excel http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/budget101/budget_101.jsp To ensure that students understand the first activity, they will be asked to discuss it in class and individually submit a written outline of their research findings. During this activity, several components will be emphasized. Students will use the Internet to research math-related careers in China. This will prepare students for forming their collaborative relationship with a classroom in China.

Verification

Activity

Activity Timeline:

Day 1--Due in two days: Homework1: Students will be assigned an article, Trends of Women in Stem in China and will be asked to research one or two additional article(s) regarding the trends of STEM-related careers in China and the United States. Students will also be asked to review the Annual Survey of the Mathematical Sciences. Homework 2: Students will receive a review on Graphical Analysis, Numerical Summaries, Mathematical Analysis, and problem-solving steps. They are expected to review the materials as part of class preparation. One example of each will be provided and students will complete one problem for each review.

Activity--Day 2

Day 2:--To be completed over 3-4 days Students will respond to the question: Based on your findings last night, does the world-trend currently suggest that students pursuing math-related fields in both the United States and China are able to sustain a suitable lifestyle in the country selected? 1. Engage students in a discussion about math-related fields in the United States and China. Discuss findings from the prior night's research. 2. Hand out statistics regarding math-related careers in the United States and China. Students, in groups of 4-5 will brainstorm to see what information students already have in relation to math subjects of study, math/STEM careers. 3. After the students convene to share what they came up with, the class, as a whole will discuss the findings. 4. The teacher will introduce the Multicultural Lifestyles, My World, Your World Project to the students. The first lesson activity will be discussed. 5. The students will be broken into groups of 4 and the groups will select math-related careers in the United States, so that the Chinese students will have a clearer understanding of the trends in the U.S 6. The students will be allowed to spend the remaining class time researching their areas as a group. The teacher will answer any questions and continuously check on the groups to ensure collaboration and answer any questions. 7. The students will work with each other to complete the research outside of the classroom. The students will be allowed 2-3 days to compile their findings.

Activity--Day 3

Day 3: To be completed over 2-3 days Class Question:What are the similarities in math or math-related career choices and prospective salaries between the two countries. What makes them similar? 1. The teacher will lead students into a discussion about the importance of math-related disciplines and career choices and discussion prospective salaries. 2. The teacher will review Statistical Analysis and the importance of obtaining good and clear data to provide solutions to proposed problems. The teacher will stress conveying research findings through the use of statistical data. 3. Students will go over the steps to problem-solving. 4. The teacher will introduce the lesson activity to the student and will explain that students are to develop a statistical analysis and trend analysis of the data that they found. The students are required to present the data in a multi-media presentation with a voice component. Presentations will be presented to the class at the end of the project timeframe. Homework: Students will refer the following wiki site on creating a budget in Excel: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Personal-Budgeton-Excel Homework: To learn more about the cost-of-living breakdown, students will review the following sites: 1. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-ofliving/country_result.jsp?country=China 2.http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/how-much-does-it-cost-to-livein-china/. 3. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-ofliving/country_result.jsp?country=United+States

Activity-Day 4

Day 4: To be completed over 2-3 days Warm up: Students will respond to the following discussion: Based on your research of the cost-of-living components, for China and the areas with the highest gross number math/math-related professionals. 1. Students will participate in a class discussion about cost-of living expenses and budgeting. 2. The teacher will ask the students to use the data collected to construct a budget based on potential cost-of-living expenses. The budget will not be constructed until the second lesson activity. However, students are expected 3. The students will use the remaining class time work on the statistical representations. Homework: To learn more about the cost-of-living breakdown, students will review the following sites, 1. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-ofliving/country_result.jsp?country=China 2.http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/how-much-does-it-cost-to-livein-china/. 3. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-ofliving/country_result.jsp?country=United+States

Activity--Day 5

Day 5: To be completed over 2-3 days Warm up: Students will answer the question: What are your findings based on the sites reviewed? 1. The teacher will lead students into a class discussion about their findings and request feedback. 2. Students will be allowed to work in groups to complete their multimedia presentations.

Activity--Day 6

Day 6: To be completed over 2 days 1. Students will present their presentation. 2. The teacher will request feedback from their peers and provide written feedback.

Global Network Used

The global network that will be used is iEarn. The project will be a new project coordinated through iEarn's Global Collaboration Center.

Formative Evaluation

Formative assessments will consist of teacher observations, peer feedback, self-assessments, and an evaluation of the analysis, based on a rubric. Students will also be evaluated on the mathematical content, prior to commencing the project, through a homework assignment given during the first week.

Summative Evaluation

The final assessment of this activity will be comprised of a review of the collaborative and individual review of the student's data analysis charts, and homework.

Differentiated Instruction

At the time of implementation, the teacher will have a working idea of the students' proficiencies based on coursework in prior courses and the current class. The hand-outs for the mathematical review portion will be delivered via hand-outs and a teacher-led video. Students with visual difficulties, will be allowed to conduct their research on computers that display its wording in large print, or provide an audio read-back component. Students who are high achievers will be paired with another classmate, who may be struggling.

Summary: Changes made to the lesson

Changes made to the lesson: Multiple changes were made since the pre-planning stages. Instead of assigning random countries, students were assigned to a specific country, China, since the Chinese education system focuses rigorously on mathematics instruction. Additionally, numeracy was removed as an integration math component to focus more on mathematical analysis, statistics, and problem-solving, critical skills to develop in any level of mathematics. Also the skills acquired from these areas are cross-over and can be applied to other areas of study. Students will be expected to have developed proficiency in these areas prior to commencing the project. Originally, the project was to focused on an introduction to the concepts . This lesson will focus on the application of them. Some of the essential questions were reconstructed for clarity and go hand-in-hand with the lesson activity.

Presentation Appearance and Content : Global Math Careers

Teacher Name: Ms. Brown

Student Name:

________________________________________

CATEGORY

3 Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that might be inaccurate. Project includes most material needed to gain a comfortable understanding of the material but is lacking one or two key elements. It is an adequate study guide. Presentation has 1-2 misspellings, but no grammatical errors. Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively most of

2 The content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly flawed or inaccurate.

1 Content is typically confusing or contains more than one factual error.

Content - Accuracy All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.

Effectiveness

Project includes all material needed to gain a comfortable understanding of the topic. It is a highly effective study guide.

Project is missing more than two key elements. It would make an incomplete study guide.

Project is lacking several key elements and has inaccuracies that make it a poor study guide.

Spelling and Grammar

Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.

Presentation has 1-2 grammatical errors but no misspellings.

Presentation has more than 2 grammatical and/or spelling errors. Group often is not effective in delegating tasks and/or sharing

Mathematical Concepts

Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively all of

Group delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively some of

the time.

the time.

the time.

responsibility.

Graphics Sources

Graphics are handdrawn. The illustrator(s) are given credit somewhere in the presentation.

A combination of hand-drawn and stock graphics are used. Sources are documented in the presentation for all images.

Some graphics are from sources that clearly state that non-commercial use is allowed without written permission. Sources are documented in the presentation for all \"borrowed\" images.

Some graphics are borrowed from sites that do not have copyright statements or do not state that noncommercial use is allowed, OR sources are not documented for all images.

References: American Mathematical Society. (2013). Retrieved from http:/www.ams.org/profession/data/annual-survey/facsal. Gonzalez, S. (n.d.). Trends of women in STEM in China. Retrieved from http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/stephaniegonzales/liu_yang/trends-of-women-in-stem-in-china/. Mullich, J. (n.d.). Rising to the challenge: America's math and science curriculum is key to future competitiveness. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/ad/article/mathscience-rising WikiHow. (n.d.). How to make a personal budget on Excel. Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Personal-Budget-on-Excel