Follow me
Embrace the Drawing Board
  • Blog
  • 180 Days
  • 3 Acts
  • Virtual Filing Cabinet

3 Acts - Pepsi Points

7/17/2012

3 Comments

 
So this one hasn't done absolutely amazing on 101qs.com, but I think that the number of questions that line up together mean that I think we have a worthy entrance into the 3 acts database.

The most interesting aspect of this 101qs is not so much the commercial itself, but the outcome of the commercial.  The student that actually earned the number of Pepsi points to get the harrier and what happened to that.  So let's check it out.

Act 1 - The Prizes

So when I was a kid and first saw this, I instantly wondered, how much Pepsi would it take to get that Harrier? Also I always wondered, "How much more will it cost to get the Harrier via Pepsi rather than just purchasing it?" Youmight notice that the new version of this video (based on some comments) that I blocked out the points so that students can come up with the number themselves.  How could you offer this prize and still make a profit?

Act 2 - The Deets

A couple of ways I would do this is have students look up some of these items to get a general sense of price to point conversion.  Then we can compare that to point to price in Pepsi.  This task is more about making reasonable decisions rather than finding the exact correct answer.

Act 3 - The Reveal

I am a bit worried about this reveal, because being right is always so much more fun, but seeing this we can talk about how completely unreasonable this deal is.  There is no way Pepsi would give away this kind of prize for so little. Enter the...

Sequels

The whole reason I choose this task is that a 21 year old student actually came up with the points necessary for the Harrier.  These are some of the questions I would ask.
  • You are a lawyer for Pepsi, trying to show that this commercial is clearly a joke, and not a real offer.  Prepare a statement for the judge.
  • What is the least amount of money that the 21 year old could pay for the Harrier, assuming he purchased bottles and cans to obtain the points?
  • Pepsi offered a deal, that you could buy a point for 10 cents.  How much could you get the Harrier for? (Yes this is an easy sequel for math teachers, but I know a few students that would have to think about it).
3 Comments

3 Acts - Mmm Juice

1/5/2012

7 Comments

 
So, I am kind of on a binge right now with my 3 act posts, but I have had this one for awhile and I have not posted it, but after reading this comment on Dan Meyer's blog I decided I should put this up as a possible elementary level 3 acts lesson.  Here it is....

Act 1 - Mmm Juice....

I have a goofy little set up for this, where I say I'm making drinks for my friends, do I have enough?
Ask them what they think?  If so how many glasses do you think I can fill?  Give me a number that is too high and a number that too is small.  Ask your students what information we need to know.  Then we are on to Act 2 (and here is where the differentiation comes in...

Act 2 - Measurements (Grades 4-6?)

Picture

Act 2 Measurements (Grades 8-10)

If you want students to find the volume of each of these containers you can use these pictures to do the trick (jump-high-five for differentiation!).
Picture
Picture

Act 3 The Reveal

Sequels

  • How many cans of juice do I need to give one cup of juice to the whole class? To the whole school?
  • How big of a container do I need to hold all the juice for the whole class? The whole school?
7 Comments

3 Acts - Mega Coin

1/5/2012

0 Comments

 
When it comes to anyqs, I find that the ones that interest me the most are the images or videos that blow my mind by sheer scale.  A seven wonders of the world sort of deal rings deep within my soul, and so I offer you MEGACOIN!  

Act 1 - The Coin

Picture
HOLY CRAP THAT IS HUGE! Here is where I would ask "How much is this coin worth?" Let students ask questions.  I am debating if I want to let them know it is made of pure Gold or should I let them follow any rabbit trail they want.  They'll probably guess it's gold.

Act 2 - The measurements

There is a lot that goes on with this one.  We have volume, density, rates, ratios, it is all fantastic!

Act 3 - The Reveal

And the final answer is...
Picture
Picture

The Sequels

I have actually been able to think of a few cool sequels based on this (which makes me happy since this is the hardest part for me).

  • What could the dimensions for a true million dollar coin be? A billion dollar coin?  A trillion dollar coin?
  • Using the following chart, how much would this coin be worth today?  Did the people that bought these make a good investment?
Picture
0 Comments

3 Acts - Megalodon

12/31/2011

3 Comments

 
I have a penchant for dinosaurs and monsters that roamed the Earth millions of years ago.  I still remember sitting in the theatre when I was six years old to see Jurassic Park.  I remember the first moment that I saw the Brachiosaurus in that movie and ever since I was hooked!  I have never grown out of that.  Watching Jurassic Park still makes me giggle like a school girl. When I see things like quake circles in glasses of water, and the piercing cry of the velociraptors, my heart soars!.  Suffice to say when I first learned of something called the Megalodon I was hooked.  Here are my 3 acts.

Act 1- Say "Ahhh!"

Picture
Megalodon was a shark: a really really big shark.  What is different about finding remains of a shark than say that of a Tyrannosaurus is that a shark is mostly cartilage.  That means that scientists mostly only get to find jaws and teeth.
Picture
So I want to ask students: "If you found a tooth this size, how big would the shark be?"  *Side note for extra awesome go buy a replica on ebay!* Get guesses, draw pictures! Give them a grid to show scale between you and the size of the shark, all in the name of awesome!

Guiding Questions

  • If we know this is a shark what is the next step that we should take?
  • What sharks could we compare it to?
  • Which shark looks most like Megalodon's?  Check here maybe.
  • How can we compare the sizes of these teeth?
  • How does that affect the shark's size?

Act 2 - The Scientific Process

Now experts recognized that this is a shark tooth by comparing it with one of the fiercest sharks around.  The Great White shark actually shares much the same characteristics as the Megalodon.  Hopefully students will recognize that if we have identified it as a shark tooth that we can compare it to these sharks.  This is where some comparison pictures come into play.
Picture
Picture
Students now can make some educated guesses, and we can talk about what are some good methods for estimating Megalodon's size.

Act 3 - The Reveal

Picture
Picture
The first estimations were done very simple proportional reasoning, which gives us the overestimate. At this point I might have students measure out on a string how big the Megalodon actually is!

Sequels

There are a few sequels that come to mind.
  • Given a length of a shark, draw the size of its tooth.
  • Experts thought that assuming a directly proportional relation was not accurate measurement.  Some experts (Gottfried et al.) found the following information to create a formula that predicts the size of a shark.  Use the information in this table to find the equation, and use it to make a new estimation of our Megalodon's size. 

Tooth Size (cm)Shark Length (m)
2.5 2.2
3.8 3.4
5.1 4.7
6.4 5.9

Well tell me what you think!  I am so excited about this, but will it translate?  What do ya think?
3 Comments

Road Lines

8/31/2011

3 Comments

 
Listening to Dan's talk on iTunes has makes me really want to post this, because this is the one problem that actually caught my curiosity.  I was driving home one day, noticing these nice dotted lines on the highway as I came home.  I wondered what I could do with it, and so I made my carpool friend drive home one day...


Act 1 - Roadlines

Road Lines - Act 1 from Timon Piccini on Vimeo.

I especially like this, because I feel like it is the "wizardry" of mathematics, something so innocent, could tell someone so much.

Act 2 - Measurements

Road Lines - Act 2 from Timon Piccini on Vimeo.

Some other very vital information is what is the distance.  Well if you are from the US of A (do americans actually say that?), you can use this great article, just keep in mind my video is shot in Canada (so Km/h), or as my Blair Miller helped me find you can use this resource for British Columbia...
Picture
Or just pull out Google Earth and measure, that mother is pretty precise.

Act 3 - the Reveal

Road Lines - Act 3 from Timon Piccini on Vimeo.

And there it is.  I feel as if I may have cheated you guys out of the reveal, just doing the picture in picture.  Would have been better show me pull in the camera onto the dashboard?   What do you think?

The Sequels

Where I could see this going is A) develop the general case for m/s to Km/h.  Or better yet lines/sec to km/h (MPH if you are a friend of Uncle Sam (do Americans ever say that?  I need to get cultured)).  For some reason I feel like this would be a sweet app, have students make it.  I also thought of bringing in movies, car chases, to see how fast they are really going.  This one even mentions some of the speeds in the intense Bullitt car chase.

How else could I extend this?  I don't know, but I think my grades should have fun with it... 
3 Comments
    Blogroll

    dy/dan
    Overthinking My Teaching
    Fawn Ngyuen
    Mr. Vaudrey
    Divisible by Three
    Approximately Normal
    Emergent Math
    Tweet

    Categories

    All
    101qs.com
    3acts
    Algebra
    Anyqs
    #anyqs
    Assessment
    Board Games
    Calculus
    Classroom Management
    Density
    Equations
    Exponents
    Feedback
    Formative
    Geometry
    Integers
    Ka
    Language
    Lesson Ideas
    Lesson Plans
    Lesson Reflection
    Lesson Resources
    Lessons I Am Not Even Near Teaching
    Lesson Starters
    Manipulatives
    Math Lessons
    Math Talk
    Number
    Number Bases
    Numeracy
    Operations
    Pbl
    Percent
    Place Value
    Probability
    Rates
    Rates And Ratios
    Ratios
    Reflections
    Report Cards
    Sbg
    Square Roots
    Statistics
    Summer Time Reflections
    The Mind Of The Student
    There I Tried It
    Twitterverse
    Variables
    Volume
    Wcydwt
    What I Want To Remember
    What I Want To Remember Years From Now

    Archives

    September 2015
    April 2015
    August 2014
    May 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.