To begin this project, we all sat in a circle and whip shared a place in the world that we considered to be on our "bucket list". The responses were varied and somewhat conventional so I asked them in a second whip to dream big, and they did. Then I let them loose to discover a little about those places.
Using the app 360 Cities, the boys took off on their digital airplane and landed close to their places of interest. Here are some of their responses to "I notice" and "I wonder"...
(if you don't have time to read about our experience but want to cut to the chase you can find our word problems here)
I have traveled to Vietnam, Phnum Bokor national park, the dam of the Kanchay hydropower station. I notice cranes, a dam, water trees, and hills. I wonder if if I can go there or is it blocked off? I wonder where the nearest city is? Lastly I wonder where the nearest airport is?
I traveled to the country of Japan and visited Chiba station. I notice lot of people, stores,lights, buses, bus stops, some plants, and buildings. I wonder what all of the buildings are for, what are the stores selling, and was this taken before the tsunami or after.
I traveled to FiJi and the place I visited was called moon reef. I noticed that the water was very blue, I saw some other people in the water, I saw the island was very big, I also saw a bunch of clouds above the island, and I can the reef from above the water. I wonder if swimming in the reef is dangerous? I wonder who discoverd FiJi. Also I wonder if I can go to FiJi.
I have traveled to Skolio Summit Mount Olympus Greece. I noticed that there where three people looking at the view. The view was made up of ranges of mountains. The people where next to a sign saying that that was the top. There were broken rocks and patches of grass. I wonder why were the rocks broken? Why is the mountian called Mount Olympus? How come there are so many parts of the mountains?
I have travelled to Nussuaq hilltop Greenland. I noticed houses, mountains, snow, lakes, and rocks. I wonder what the name of the village is. I wonder if there is a fisher man's wharf by the lakes. I wonder what the houses look like. I wonder what the village name is.
After this exercise I posed the question, How Could We Learn About the World Through Math Story Problems? The boys immediately began to brainstorm. And they determined that the first step would be to teach others about our city through math story problems. The boys brainstormed places, landmarks, sports, weather, and much much more. When it was all said and done 23 boys created these problems. Enjoy! Tempted to share? We would love to hear what your world is like. Only have time to write one? We don't mind!