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Middle School Classroom Math/Science Lesson Plan Topic: Using 2D/3D Visualization Software to Analyze Data

Team Members: Becky Ibele, Vivian Smith
E. B. Aycock Middle School, Greenville, North Carolina
Table of Contents:
  1. Overview
  2. Objectives
  3. Materials and/or Software Required
  4. Prerequisites
  5. Module Description
  6. National Standards Addressed
  7. Assessment Techniques
  8. Areas of Focus
  9. Appropriate Grade Level(s)
  10. Relevant Links and Related Resources

Overview:

Mathematical Application: Students were given , prior to the presentation, a formula from their Algebra 1 text. This formula gave each student a way to calculate total interest lost on financing a loan, based on input variables of percent interest rate and duration of loan repayment period. Each student was also given a personal hypothetical mortgage interest rate and repayment period. Next the students use the formula to generate a spreadsheet in Excel and this is graphed using the visualization capability of Excel. EasyViz software is also used to graph the data. Students will discover how rapidly accumulation of interest accelerates, especially for larger percentage interest rates and longer repayment periods. Scientific Application: Geographical data from the Chernobyl meltdown, data from satellite measures of glacier mass, and cancer statistics will be compiled in Excel spreadsheets and graphed using various software. Students will learn how the bits of data are related to each other in the total picture. Data from Excel can be graphed to show spikes and depressions in the data profile.

Objectives:

Students will learn how to create various graphs from a large Excel spreadsheet.

Materials:

Microsoft Excel, EasyViz, Gnuplot, Perl and Internet access

Prerequisites:

Science and Math students should have knowledge of how to use Excel spreadsheet. Math students should have studied the behavior of exponential functions, using a graphing calculator.

Module Description:

Math: Students will discover, using Excel and EasyViz visualization that the growth of total interest lost will accelerate as loan duration and/or interest rate increase. Students should better appreciate the financial consequences of assuming a large debt. They will have practice using a sophisticated mathematical formula and be aware that visualization software can help them better understand the total range of possibilies. Science students will also appreciate the ability of sofware technology to reveal trends in environmentally generated data, via nuclear radiation statistics or glacier mass recordings. Students of Health Science will discover ways to see geographical trends in appearance of cancer.

National Standards Addressed:

National Math Standards: All students should understand and perform transformations such as arithmetically combining, composing, and inverting commonly used functions. . . using technology to perform such operations on more complicated symbolic expressions. . . interpret representations of functions of two variables National Science Standards: Science in Personal and Social Perspective --Personal Health --Populations, resources and environments --Natural Hazards --Risks and Benefits --Science and Technology in Society

Assessment Techniques:

Math students will go to the front of classroom and demonstrate physically where their individual data fit into the total picture. Science students will print out their graphs to give to the teacher.

Areas of Focus:

Algebra, Finance, Environmental and Health Science

Appropriate Grade Level(s):

7th and 8th grade Science Classes, 8th and 9th grade Algebra

Relevant Links and Related Resources:

Math:
Interest Rate Calculator
Science:
See Seasonal Snow Cover
Glacier Data
Cancer Data Set

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