Suessonomics

Model Eliciting Activities

CollaborativeLearning

PeerTutoring

CooperativeLearning

Model-ElicitingActivities

Problem-BasedLearning

Active Learning

Peer-AssistedLearning

Deborah Kozdras Christine Angel Danger

Designed as “thought-revealing activities” for students (Lesh, et al, 2000)

“The problems that we face in our ever-changing increasingly global society are multidisciplinary, and many require the integration of multiple STEM concepts to solve them.” (Roehrig, Moore, Wang, & Park, 2012)

“The resultant student products reveal students’ thinking and provide both teachers and researchers with a powerful lens for viewing students’ reasoning and concept development (Carlson, Larson, & Lesh,2003)

The models created include procedures for doing things and, more importantly, metaphors for seeing or interpreting things (Mousoulides & English, 2011).

The activities are such that student teams of three to four express their mathematical model, test it using sample data under the possible engineering constraints, and revise their procedure to meet the needs of their client (Lesh and Doerr, 2003; Mousoulides et al. 2008).

Reading - Key Ideas and Details: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; . .

Reading - Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media. . .

Speaking and Listening - Comprehension and Collaboration: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations . . .

Speaking and Listening - Comprehension and Collaboration: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats . . .

Speaking and Listening - Comprehension and Collaboration: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, use of evidence . . .

Speaking and Listening – Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning . . .

Speaking and Listening – Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.

Kindergarten

Reading Passage 1Dear Students,

Here at Thneed Inc. we have your thneed needs covered. We sell every kind of thneed you need in every color. We have thneeds for adults, kids, and dogs.

We used to make our thneeds from the truffula trees. Our founder, Mr. Oncler, started our company when he discovered that truffula tufts make much softer, more comfortable thneeds than any other fabric on the market. The thneeds were so wonderful and popular that soon the forest of truffula trees was laid bare. This was bad news for the playful Bar-ba-loots frolicking in the grass, graceful Swomee Swans gliding through the calm streams, and Humming Fish singing their songs for all to hear. We are currently planting seeds to regrow the truffula trees. truffula trees take a hundred years to grow, so we will need to make thneeds from a different material. Our goal is to create a fully sustainable, zero-waste production model.

We are considering four types of fabric: cotton, polyester made from recycled water bottles, silk, and wool. We want to be Earth friendly. That means we do not want to do things that harm the Earth or the plants and animals that live on it. We also want our thneeds to be soft and comfortable.

Please look at the data table we have provided and write back to us to let us know which material would be best and how you chose that one.Thank you for your help!Mr. Lorax, CEO of Thneed Inc.

Data Set 1

Letter Template 1

Dear Mr. Lorax,We think that the most important category to consider is______________________________.We decided that you should make your thneeds from ________________________________ because________________________________.The way we made this decision was____________________________________

Reading Passage 2Dear Students,Thank you so much for writing back to me!What everyone needs (besides thneeds) is a Truffula tree so that the brown bar-ba-loots can play beneath them and eat the Truffula fruits. The Humming fish will come back and splash around making the comforting humming sound. We need to make money to buy land So we can plant trees and give the Lorax a hand.Please look at the cart we provided for you and help us decide just what to do.

Data Set 2

Letter Template 2

We think that the most important category to consider is______________________________.We decided that you should make your thneeds from ________________________________ because_______________________________.We did/did not change our procedure because________________________________

1st Grade

Reading Passage 1Here at Thneed Inc. we have your thneed needs covered. We sell every kind of thneed you need in every color. We have thneeds for adults, kids, and dogs.

We used to make our thneeds from the tuffula trees. Our founder, Mr. Oncler, started our company when he discovered that tuffula tufts make much softer, more comfortable thneeds than any other fabric on the market. The thneeds were so wonderful and popular that soon the forest of tuffula trees was laid bare. This was bad news for the playful Bar-ba-loots frolicking in the grass, graceful Swomee Swans gliding through the calm streams, and Humming Fish singing their songs for all to hear. We are currently planting seeds to regrow the tuffula trees. Tuffula trees take a hundred years to grow, so we will need to make thneeds from a different material. Our goal is to create a fully sustainable, zero-waste production model.

We are considering four types of fabric: cotton, polyester made from recycled water bottles, silk, and wool. We want to be Earth friendly. We have a problem with soil eroding away slowly over time. It would be nice if we could do something to stop the soil from eroding away. We also want our thneeds to be soft and comfortable.

Please look at the data table we have provided and write back to us to let us know which material would be best and how you chose that one.

Job Requirements for Working at Thneed Inc.

Data Set 1

Letter Template 1

Dear _________________________________, The price of fabric for thneeds from lowest cost to highest is: ________< ______< ________< _______Our team, __________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking: The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

Reading Passage 2Thank you so much for writing back to me!Onceler reminded me that when cloths, such as thneeds, get worn, or stained. Or badly torn people throw them away. The problem is some of that trash does not decompose, or biodegrade – it will stay and stay. That is sad news for the Lorax who does not like trash to pile up and up. Please look at the new data and consider which fabrics will biodegrade (decompose) and which will not.I have also changed the last column of the graph to show the amount of money we will profit from selling 10 thneeds. Please look at this new data and tell us if you have changed your decision or if it is the same.

Data Set 2

Letter Template 2Dear _________________________________, Our team, ____________________________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking:

Our procedure for ranking (did / did not) change. (If procedure changed, explain how and why. If procedure did not change, explain why not).

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

2nd Grade

Supporting Activities

Reading Passage 1Here at Thneed Inc. we have your thneed needs covered. We sell every kind of thneed you

need in every color. We have thneeds for adults, kids, and dogs. We used to make our thneeds from the tuffula trees. Our founder, Mr. Oncler, started our

company when he discovered that tuffula tufts make much softer, more comfortable thneeds than any other fabric on the market. The thneeds were so wonderful and popular that soon the forest of tuffula trees was laid bare. This was bad news for the playful Bar-ba-loots frolicking in the grass, graceful Swomee Swans gliding through the calm streams, and Humming Fish singing their songs for all to hear. We are currently planting seeds to regrow the tuffula trees. Tuffula trees take a hundred years to grow, so we will need to make thneeds from a different material. Our goal is to create a fully sustainable, zero-waste production model.

We are considering four types of fabric: cotton, polyester made from recycled water bottles, silk, and wool. We want to be Earth friendly. When cloths, such as thneeds, get worn, or stained. Or badly torn people throw them away. The problem is some of that trash does not decompose, or biodegrade – it will stay and stay. That is sad news for the Lorax who does not like trash to pile up and up. Please look at the new data and consider which fabrics will biodegrade (decompose) and which will not.. We have a problem with soil eroding away slowly over time. It would be nice if we could do something to stop the soil from eroding away. We also want our thneeds to be soft and comfortable.

Please look at the data table we have provided and write back to us to let us know which material would be best and how you chose that one.

Job Requirements for Working at Thneed Inc.

Data Set 1

Dear _________________________________, Our team, ____________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking:

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

Reading Passage 2

Thank you for your help. As you know, things will not change unless someone like you cares an awful lot. The hard work you have done shows that you do care.I want to use the profits made from selling thneeds to help regrow the truffula trees. The more money I make, the more trees I can plant.Can you look at the data chart and consider the profit that can be made from each type of fabric? Please let me know if this changes your procedure or your decision at all.

Data Set 2

Letter Template 2

Our team, ____________________________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking: Our procedure for ranking (did / did not) change. (If procedure changed, explain how and why. If procedure did not change, explain why not). The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

Our team, ____________________________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking:

Our procedure for ranking (did / did not) change. (If procedure changed, explain how and why. If procedure did not change, explain why not).

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

3rd Grade

Reading Passage 1:Here at Thneed Inc. we have your thneed needs covered. We sell every kind of thneed you need in every color. We have thneeds for adults, kids, and dogs.

We used to make our thneeds from the truffula trees. Our founder, Mr. Oncler, started our company when he discovered that truffula tufts make much softer, more comfortable thneeds than any other fabric on the market. The thneeds were so wonderful and popular that soon the forest of truffula trees was laid bare. This was bad news for the playful Bar-ba-loots frolicking in the grass, graceful Swomee Swans gliding through the calm streams, and Humming Fish singing their songs for all to hear. We are currently planting seeds to regrow the truffula trees. Truffula trees take a hundred years to grow, so we will need to make thneeds from a different material. Our goal is to create a fully sustainable, zero-waste production model.

We are considering four types of fabric: cotton, polyester made from recycled water bottles, silk, and wool. We want to be Earth friendly. It would be nice if we could do something to stop the soil from eroding away. Thneed inc. would like to be able to have good soil for planting tufulla trees in the future. We also want our thneeds to be soft and comfortable.

We want to make a profit from selling our thneeds so we can donate money to the truffula tree planting club. Please round the cost per 100 square meters of fabric to the nearest $100 and create a graph of the rounded cost to make it easier for us (especially the barbaloots) to understand.

Please look at the data table we have provided and write back to us to let us know which material would be best and how you chose that one.

Data Set 1

Softness Soil ErosionCost per 100 square

meters of fabric.Cost per 100 square meters of fabric rounded to the nearest

$100.

Cotton

Can be soft and smooth or rough, depending on

the weave.

Cotton production is one of the leading causes of soil erosion.

$927

Silk

Exceptionally smooth and soft to the touch.

Planting mulberry trees to feed silk worms can prevent soil erosion.

$1,861

Wool

The softness of wool depends on the quality. Very soft wool can be expensive, cheap wool can be scratchy

If sheep are not given a large enough area to roam they may overgraze an area and cause soil erosion.

$1, 469

Polyester from recycled plastic

Can be somewhat soft when it is made into fleece. Many Polyester fabrics feel rough or plastic like.

No effect on soil erosion.

$748

Letter Template 1

Dear _________________________________, Our team, _______________________________________, has attached our graph of the prices and determined the following procedure for ranking:

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

Reading Passage 2Some raw materials use more energy than others to become fabric. Energy is used to heat some of the materials, it is also used to run the machines that spin the yarn, dye the yarn, and weave the cloth. Most of the energy used in factories today causes pollution. The Humming-Fish are very concerned about pollution getting into their pond, so we are trying to use as little energy as possible. Kilowatts and kilowatt-hours are useful for measuring amounts of electricity. Kilowatt-hours are what show up on your electricity bill, describing how much electricity you have used. New, energy-efficient refrigerators use about 300-400 kilowatt-hours per year. The typical American home uses about 7,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.Please show the kilowatts used to make 100 square meters of fabric on a graph. Use the data we gave you before plus the energy usage data to let us know which fabric it would be best for us to use.

Data Set 2

Softness

Soil Erosion

Cost per 100 square meters of fabric rounded to the nearest 100.

Energy Consumption Kw (to produce 100

square meters of fabric)

Energy Consumption Kw rounded to the

nearest 100

Cotton

Can be soft and smooth or rough, depending on

the weave.

Cotton production is one of the leading causes of soil erosion.

$900

387 KW

Silk

Exceptionally smooth and soft to the touch.

Planting mulberry trees to feed silk worms can prevent soil erosion.

$1,800

1142 kW

Wool

The softness of wool depends on the quality. Very soft wool can be expensive, cheap wool can be scratchy

If sheep are not given a large enough area to roam they may overgraze an area and cause soil erosion.

$1, 500

187 kW

Polyester from recycled plastic

Can be somewhat soft when it is made into fleece. Many Polyester fabrics feel rough or plastic like.

No effect on soil erosion.

$700

332 kW

Letter Template 2

Our team, ____________________________________________, has attached our graph of the energy usage and determined the following procedure for ranking for fabrics:

Our procedure for ranking (did / did not) change. (If procedure changed, explain how and why. If procedure did not change, explain why not).

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

4th Grade

Reading Passage 1Here at Thneed Inc. we have your thneed needs covered. We sell every kind of thneed you need in every color. We have thneeds for adults, kids, and dogs.

We used to make our thneeds from the truffula trees. Our founder, Mr. Oncler, started our company when he discovered that truffula tufts make much softer, more comfortable thneeds than any other fabric on the market. The thneeds were so wonderful and popular that soon the forest of truffula trees was laid bare. This was bad news for the playful Bar-ba-loots frolicking in the grass, graceful Swomee Swans gliding through the calm streams, and Humming Fish singing their songs for all to hear. We are currently planting seeds to regrow the truffula trees. Truffula trees take a hundred years to grow, so we will need to make thneeds from a different material. Our goal is to create a fully sustainable, zero-waste production model.

We are considering four types of fabric: cotton, polyester made from recycled water bottles, silk, and wool. We want to be Earth friendly so we want to limit the amount of energy we consume. We like to use recycled and biodegradable materials if possible. It would be nice if we could do something to stop the soil from eroding away. Thneed Inc. would like to be able to have good soil for planting truffula trees in the future. We also want our thneeds to be soft and comfortable.

We want to make a profit from selling our thneeds so we can donate money to the truffula tree planting club. Please round the cost per 100 square meters of fabric to the nearest $100 and create a graph of the rounded cost to make it easier for us (especially the bar-ba-loots) to understand.

Please look at the data table we have provided and write back to us to let us know which material would be best and how you chose that one.

Will it

decompose when thrown

away?

Soil Erosion

Energy Consumption

Kw (to produce 10 square meters of

fabric)

Cost per 10 square

meters of fabric.

Cost to make one thneed. (1 thneed is made from 1 square

meter of fabric)

Cotton

Yes

Cotton production is one of the leading

causes of soil erosion.

40 kW

$90

Silk

Yes

Planting mulberry trees to feed silk

worms can prevent soil erosion.

110 kW

$180

Wool

Yes

If sheep are not given a large enough area to

roam they may overgraze an area and

cause soil erosion.

20 kW

$150

Polyester from

recycled plastic

No No effect on soil

erosion.

30 kW

$70

Letter Template 1Our team, ____________________________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking:

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

Furthermore, the category which we considered to be most important was

Because

Reading Passage 2We are able to get a discount if we buy 100 square meters of fabric at a time. Please look at the new prices in the data table and recalculate the cost of producing one thneed.Some raw materials use more energy than others to become fabric. Energy is used to heat some of the materials, it is also used to run the machines that spin the yarn, dye the yarn, and weave the cloth. We are trying to use as little energy as possible. Kilowatts and kilowatt-hours are useful for measuring amounts of electricity. Kilowatt-hours are what show up on your electricity bill, describing how much electricity you have used. One kilowatt (kW) equals 1,000 watts, and one kilowatt-hour (kWh) is one hour of using electricity at a rate of 1,000 watts. New, energy-efficient refrigerators use about 300-400 kilowatt-hours per year. The typical American home uses about 7,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.Please show the kilowatts used to make 100 square meters of fabric on the data chart and consider the energy used when you make your recommendation.

Data Set 2 Will it decompose

when thrown away?

Soil Erosion Energy Consumption Kw

(to produce 10 square meters of

fabric)

Energy Consumption Kw (to produce 100

square meters of fabric)

Cost per 100 square meters

of fabric.

Cotton

Yes

Cotton production is one of the

leading causes of soil erosion.

46 kW

$800

Silk

Yes

Planting mulberry trees to feed silk

worms can prevent soil

erosion.

118 kW

$1,600

Wool

Yes

If sheep are not given a large

enough area to roam they may

overgraze an area and cause soil

erosion.

29 kW

$1,400

Polyester from

recycled plastic

No

No effect on soil erosion.

35 kW

$600

Letter Template 2

Our team, _______________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking:

Our procedure for ranking (did / did not) change. (If procedure changed, explain how and why. If procedure did not change, explain why not).

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

5th Grade

Reading Passage 1…We are considering four types of fabric: cotton, polyester made from recycled water bottles, silk, and wool. We want to be Earth friendly so we want to limit the amount of energy we consume. We like to use recycled and biodegradable materials if possible. It would be nice if we could do something to stop the soil from eroding away. Thneed Inc. would like to be able to have good soil for planting truffula trees in the future. We also want our thneeds to be soft and comfortable.

We want to make a profit from selling our thneeds so we can donate money to the truffula tree planting club. Please find out what it would cost to make one thneed from each fabric. People will pay more for better quality fabrics, but will also buy more thneeds if the thneeds can be sold for a lower price.

Please look at the data table we have provided and write back to us to let us know which material would be best and how you chose that one.

Data Set 1 Will it

decompose when thrown

away?

Soil Erosion Energy Consumption Kw

(to produce 10 square meters of

fabric)

Cost for 1 bolt of fabric

Number of thneeds that can be made with 1 bolt of

fabric

Cost to make one thneed.

Cotton

Yes

Cotton production is one of the leading causes of soil erosion.

46 kW

$225

25

9

Silk

Yes

Planting mulberry trees to feed silk worms can prevent soil erosion.

118 kW

$992

31

32

Wool

Yes

If sheep are not given a large enough area to roam they may overgraze an area and cause soil erosion.

29 kW

$273

13

21

Polyester from recycled plastic

No

No effect on soil erosion.

35 kW

$275

25

11

Letter Template 2Our team, _____________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking:

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

Furthermore, the category which we considered to be most important was

Because

Reading Passage 2

Thank you for the information that you provided. This will really help us to decide which type of materials we will use.

We have another problem we need your help with. In addition to the cost of the fabrics, we have to pay for the energy used to produce the fabric. The energy comes as a separate bill, and effects the cost of a thneed. We pay 15 cents per kilowatt hour for the energy used to make the fabric. Please let us know the adjusted cost per thneed.

People are becoming more environmentally aware and will not buy products if they are harmful to the environment. People like to pay lower prices for items, but will pay more for better quality. All of this makes it difficult for us to make a decision as to which fabric to use. Please consider all of these factors and let us know which fabric you think would make the best-selling thneeds.

Energy Consumption

Kw (to produce 10 square meters of

fabric)

Cost for 1

bolt of fabric

Number of thneeds that can be made

with 1 bolt of fabric

Cost of fabric to

make one thneed.

Kw cost per thneed

Cotton

46 kW

$225

25

Silk

118 kW

$992

31

Wool

29 kW

$273

13

Polyester

from recycled plastic

35 kW

$275

25

Letter Template 2Our team, ______________________________________, has determined the following procedure for ranking:

Our procedure for ranking (did / did not) change. (If procedure changed, explain how and why. If procedure did not change, explain why not).

The order that we ranked our choices from highest to lowest is:

The total cost per thneed when we add in the energy cost is: Silk WoolCotton Polyester

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