Students use house blueprints to learn about polynomials

Students in Brooke Callan’s Algebra 1 class at Pattonville High School did a creative assignment to learn more about using polynomials.
 
“I hung up large blueprints of house designs around the classroom and students had to find the perimeter and area of the different rooms.”
Every layout was the same, but the rooms on each blueprint had different polynomial dimensions.
 
“The reason for that was so students could have conversations beyond their group about how to figure out the solution, but when it came to their actual answers, they wouldn't be the same,” Callan said.
 
It promoted collaboration, and freshman Shawn Ward stepped up to help another group understand the process and get the correct answer.