8.G.C.9 GeoMath: Finding Volume and Surface Area

“Today’s students are used to and expect continuous connection to information and people. Forcing them to put their personal technology away during class contradicts their lives and gives students one more reason to expect what they learn in school will have little relationship to reality.” – Robert Beichner google earth

It’s that exact expectation from students, that what they are learning in math class has little to do with the real world, that is going to drive me to the brink of insanity. I know that my geometry students are in desperate need of an answer to their two daily questions “when will I ever use this?” and “why do I have to learn this?” Well, I finally took the advice of Robert Beichner and decided that, for this lesson, I won’t ask the students to put away their “personal technology”. Instead, I am encouraging them to use their computers to learn about the importance and relevance of finding surface area and volume of different geometric objects by applying it to the real world.

How? Well, it’s quite simple really. If we want students to understand real world connections, what better way than to look at the ‘real’ world? Okay, Google Earth isn’t technically the real world. However, it’s a pretty good visual representation. Teachers and student can now go to the website www.realworldmath.org to find a wide variety of ways in which you can use Google Earth to teach math, science, and history. One of the lessons involves “flying” around the world to different famous buildings to find the volume and surface area of each. Google Earth even provides a brief history lesson along the way. Students will be able to see the applications of different formulas for volume and surface area unfolding before their eyes. Google Earth and the link mentioned above are great resources to get the students involved in real world applications of math all while using their beloved technology. I’ve used Google Earth in the classroom before and it’s quite amazing how willing students are to stay on task because navigation the app is fun, visual, and mathematical relevance is obvious. You never know, you may get one day’s break from the “when will I ever use this?” and “why do I have to learn this?” questions. Trust me, the opportunities are endless. Literally…Google Earth even includes outer space.

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