Project:

INVITATION

How can we use technology to help students master the process of solving word problems? How can we provide students with opportunities to create word problems rather than just solve them? How can we make word problems fun and interesting? How can we combine the teaching of math skills, language arts skills, and science content?

TASKS

Students navigate through an interactive multimedia mystery, solving word problems as they go. After discussing how word problems are constructed, they research animal migration and then use this content area to create their own word problems, which they string together with hypertext links to create a "migration game" for others to play.

TOOLS

Computers; the Internet (optional); Sherlock (optional); iMovie (optional).

AppleWorks; Math Mysteries: Whole Numbers; World Book Encyclopedia.

Mighty Math: Calculating Crew (optional).

Projection device (optional).

INTERACTIONS

Students work in groups of four while the teacher guides them through the solution of several word problems; then, after a class discussion, they break up into pairs to complete the rest of the project. Pairs work separately through Phases 2 and 3, and in Phase 4 they interact with other pairs as they play each other's migration games. The teacher acts as facilitator in Phase 1, and then provides guidance and assistance to groups for the remainder of the project.

<STANDARDS

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SITUATIONS

Students work in the classroom or another location where computers are available. The whole class segment of Phase 1 will take about a half hour per problem; the second part of Phase 1 can be completed in two or three hours, with another half hour for discussion. The research in Phase 2 and the making of migration games in Phase 3 will each require several hours. Phase 4 can be completed in about an hour, but more time is recommended.

ASSESSMENT

The teacher can use a simple checklist to evaluate the creativity, clarity, and realism of pairs' species descriptions.

Migration games are assessed through a peer evaluation process. Each time a game is played, the pair of student players completes an evaluation form the teacher has created; the responses on all the completed forms are then averaged to form a composite peer assessment of the game. The evaluation form can make use of a simple numerical rating system for each of several assessment criteria, including such items as "We could always tell what a problem was asking for," "The problems were interesting and creative," and "The problems weren't too easy or too hard."

Teachers can place electronic or paper copies of students' migration games in students' portfolios.

In the real world, and in their study of science and social studies, students confront mathematical problems not in the form of equations, but in the form of word problems. But word problems can present quite a challenge to students. For this reason, it is important for students to be given opportunities to master the many skills involved in solving word problems.

In this project, students gain familiarity with the syntax of word problems and practice solving them by exploring an interactive multimedia mystery. Then they create their own word problems for others to solve, based on the mathematical aspects of a species' seasonal migration.

Phase 1: Solving word problems

Guide your students through several of the problems on the Math Mysteries: Whole Numbers Whole Class CD. These problems will allow you to model the process of solving word problems, and will prepare students for the next part of this phase. Use a large screen display system and have students work in groups of four with worksheets as described in the Math Mysteries teacher's guide.

When students seem ready, have them pair up and begin exploring the Cruise Chip! mystery on the Math Mysteries CD. As they navigate through the ship and solve the problems presented by the various characters, pairs should pay careful attention to the wording of the sentences that make up the story problems. How do you know when you need to add? subtract? multiply? divide? What words give you clues?

When all students have solved the mystery, bring them together as a class and discuss what they've learned about word problems. Create a list of clue words used in word problems and relate each one to a mathematical operation. Craft several word problems together as a class, using some of the words on the list, and then solve them as a class. Include extraneous information in at least one of the problems, as is done in many of the Math Mysteries problems.

Phase 2: Learning about migration

Have the same pairs of students research the topic of animal migration, which will serve as the context for the word problems students will create in Phase 3. Pairs can begin to learn about the process of migration in general by reading the article "Migration" in World Book Encyclopedia.

Pairs should then focus on the migration patterns of a few different species or types of animals. The goal is for students to understand some of the facets of migration that can be described mathematically, such as the following: a certain number of animals migrate together; a certain number die or get lost along the way; the trip is a certain distance and takes a certain amount of time; there are often stopping points along the way; the migrating animals often lose weight during the journey. Pairs can begin this portion of their research by exploring the relevant sections of the World Book Encyclopedia articles "Animal," "Butterfly," "Bird," "Fish," "Whale," and "Insect." If they want more information on a particular animal, students can use Sherlock to search the Internet. Students can use the Step-by-Step Cards "Searching World Book Encyclopedia" and "Searching With Sherlock 2" for help with their research.

Each pair can now make up a fictional but realistic migrating species, based on one of the types of migrating animals they have researched. The pair should describe the species and its migrating patterns in a short description written in AppleWorks. The species description should note the summer and winter home of the species, the distance between the two locations, the number of animals that migrate together, and so on.

	Searching World Book Encyclopedia
	Searching With Sherlock 2
	Searching World Book Encyclopedia 2001

Phase 3: Making math migration games

This is the fun part. Pairs make up word problems about the migrating species they just created which will be linked together to construct a migration game for others to play. Players will have to solve each problem correctly to continue on their "migration route" and reach their "winter home," much like students had to solve the word problems in the Cruise Chip! mystery to find the stolen chip.

A pair's first task is to make up about ten word problems. Among these problems, all four basic mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) should be represented. Problems that involve rates or proportions can be used as well. Each problem should give all the information needed to find a solution in complete, grammatical sentences, and should clearly identify what is being asked for. To make a problem more challenging, pairs can add extra information that isn't actually needed to solve the problem. Pairs may find it easier to generate problems if they think about a particular group of animals making a migration journey during a particular year.

Each problem a pair creates is written as a separate AppleWorks word-processing document. Listed after the problem should be three or four possible answers, only one of which is correct. These answers should all be on separate lines. If they choose, a pair can add illustrations to their problem pages, which they can create in AppleWorks or import from some other source or application.

After all the problems are written, each pair creates three additional AppleWorks documents:

An introduction page, which describes the game and the situation to the player

A wrong answer page, which pops up when a player chooses a wrong answer and directs the player back to the first problem

A destination page, which congratulates the player for reaching the end of the migration route

Finally, each pair creates the appropriate hypertext links between these pages and the problem pages, using AppleWorks (see "Technical Tips and Hints" for help):

The introduction page has a link to the first problem page.

Each wrong answer on a problem page is linked to the wrong answer page.

The wrong answer page has a link back to the first problem page.

The right answer on a problem page is linked to the next problem page, except for the right answer to the last problem, which is linked to the destination page.

The destination page contains a link back to the introduction page.

Pairs should test their completed migration games to make sure the links work as intended, and they should make sure that the right answers they've given are indeed correct.

Phase 4: Playing the games

Each pair offers its game for other pairs to play, and plays the games of several other pairs. After a pair of students finishes another pair's game, they fill out a peer evaluation form created ahead of time.

At a reasonable stopping point, pairs come back together as a class to discuss their experiences. How is writing word problems different from solving them? What do you need to be concerned about to write a good word problem? What are the hardest kinds of problems to write and to solve? Why?

Vocabulary: Annual, Hypertext, Migration, Species.

Phase 3: Problem pages can be named "problem 1," "problem 2," and so on, and they should all be saved and kept in the same folder on a single computer.

Phase 3: To make a hypertext link in an AppleWorks document: (1) select the word or phrase you want to appear as the link; (2) choose Create Link from the Format menu, then Document Link from the submenu; (3) click Choose in the dialog box that appears; (4) select the file to link to and click Open; (5) click OK.

Phase 4: To start playing a migration game that isn't already open, a player only has to open the beginning or introduction file in AppleWorks. After the game is played, the player should "reset" it by following the link back to the introduction page. All the problem pages can remain open on the desktop of the computer for the next player, because the introduction page will cover them up.

PREPARATION

If students do not have strong skills in basic computation, you may want to have them work with Mighty Math: Calculating Crew before you begin this project.

Decide which of the seven problems on the Math Mysteries Whole Class CD you will explore with your class in Phase 1. Reproduce the worksheets you'll need for these selected problems.

Create a peer evaluation form for students to use in Phase 4 (see "Assessment" for details).

Click the icon at the right to see a simple example of a complete "Sample Migration Game."

Sample Migration Game

OPTIONS AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

Pairs can make their migration games a little more forgiving to the player who chooses a wrong answer. Instead of having one wrong answer page that always takes a player back to the first problem, they can create a wrong answer page for each problem that returns the player to that problem. These wrong answer pages can be identical except for their hypertext links.

Track the migration of a specific species using the Journey North Web site (see the "Resources" section, later in this project). Discuss the issue of "tagging" species.

If it is the appropriate season, organize a field trip to visit a site where a migrating species can be observed. Students can use a digital camcorder to document the field trip and, using iMovie, create a desktop movie with an introduction that includes some of the facts they've learned about migration. For help using iMovie, go to the Desktop Movies in Education Web site.

Challenge students to create a map, or floor plan, of the cruise ship environment in Math Mysteries by paying attention to the rooms, hallways, decks, stairs, and ladders they encounter as they navigate through the mystery. Students can draw their maps in AppleWorks, and you can compare students' maps to the one reproduced in the Math Mysteries teacher's guide.

Have students make word problem games like the one in this project that use a different content area for the problems, such as sports statistics, money management, or cooking.

THE HOME-SCHOOL CONNECTION

Students can invite family members to play their migration games. They can bring the games home on disks to play on the home computer, or they can invite their family members to school to play the games. Another option is to print all the pages and bring them home for family members to solve the problems.