Which is More Ice Cream?
Common Core State Standard:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.C.9 Know the formulas for the volumes of cones, cylinders, and spheres and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
Task:
If you gave your students an option of a waffle cone with two scoops of ice cream or a waffle cone with double the diameter with just one scoop of ice cream, the scoops of ice cream matching the diameter of the waffle cone they chose, which would they choose? If they wanted more ice cream, how would they be able to determine which option holds more? Or the opposite, if they wanted less ice cream how would you determine which option to get? In order to answer this question, we give students the opportunity to model this by using GeoGebra to solve this mathematical problem. GeoGebra is an application where students can create 2D and 3D representations to help model and solve various geometric shapes. An example of this is shown below. Students will model the two spheres to compare and contrast the sizes and evaluate them with the use of the volume formula. This modeling problem will be beneficial to middle school math teachers because it is an engaging problem that will capture student’s attention, because who doesn’t like ice cream, while solving a real life problem, along with allowing the students to visualize the problem while gaining advanced technology skills. Kahoot will be used as our assessment resource, here students will answer questions on a device such as a tablet or smart phone that is connected to the website where the teacher has created the assessment. Kahoot is an online assessment tool that is set up like a game. Students are presented with a question and must select one of the four possible answers. Scores are tracked and the students that answers the most questions correctly wins. This helps create a relaxed environment that shows their understanding of how to find the volume of a sphere. We will explore this question in the following lesson.The lesson plan for this problem can be found in the document attached below. Links to both GeoGebra and Kahoot are also provided below.
GeoGebra Model Sample
Lesson Plan Document:
Ice Cream Modeling Lesson Plan
Technology Aids: