Instead of lecturing on pyramids and how to find their area, I was thinking that I could spice this lesson up by having my students go on Google Earth to actually see the great pyramids of Giza. Simply by typing in "Giza Necropolis" into Google Earth, you are transported to Egypt in a manner of seconds.
Additionally, we could turn this into a lesson on math history by looking into how ancient Egyptians used math to construct the pyramids. We could also look into the exchange rate between the US dollar and Egyptian pound over time, or at the parabolic path of a flight from Spokane to Cairo and the equation of the parabola it creates. Finally, the class could compare the pyramids in Egypt to the pyramids in Central America and see what mathematical differences are present in each of the structures. The possibilities are endless!
I'm sure this lesson could be adapted to shapes other than pyramids, but I just can't think of many other examples (other than a simple cube) off the top of my head. Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas!
I LOVE this idea!! We did something similar in my geology class and it was so much fun! I also learned a lot (after struggling through some technical difficulties). It was a good way to actually see evidence of what we had been studying. I also like how you brought up being able to integrate this lesson into other subjects! I think in elementary it is important to teach across all subjects and show how they are interconnected.
ReplyDeleteHi Naomi! This is such a great idea for a geometry lesson!! This has got me thinking about other monuments in the word and how we could relate them to math as well (ie Great Wall as perimeter, Grand Canyon as volume, etc.). This has really helped me think of how I can connect my math classroom with the outside world. Thank you for sharing!!
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