Assignment 3 - Origami Polyhedra

The dodecahedron our group made:



Benefit of the project:
• Hands-on activity
• Help students to visualize the 3 dimensional worlds. For instance, finding information about edges, vertices, faces and etc
• Avoid boredom in the classroom
• Incorporate other subjects such as Arts
• Make students familiar with the background and history of polyhedra

Weaknesses of the project:
• Time-consuming due to making origami: it might be annoying for students, and as a result it might lead to frustrations and confusion.
• Time wise: it might be hard to fit this project into the curriculum.


Uses of the project :
• Make the students to feel for 3-D world
• Make them familiar with what geometry is, in particular polyhedra
• A fun classroom activity to follow

How to modify the project:
• Avoid making the students to do the origami: give them other options for origami. For instance, cut the segments and tape them together. This way, it is less time-consuming, and it gives the students the same result.

Extension of the project:
• We can ask our students to think about volume, surface area, and some other physical properties



Our project (Surface Area):

• Grade level : Grade 9

• Purposes:

- To make a fun activity in the class
- Avoid boredom about the teaching subject
- Make the students to get a notion for a 3-D object/world,
- Practice the concept of “Area” in mathematics.


• Description:

There are two choices for this project:
1. Students must build a “Reasonable” shape object such as a house, car, flower, and etc using at least two 3-D objects.
2. Build a complex structure using only one type of 3-D object of their choice.

Students must choose only one of the above options.
For either one they must follow the below criterions.(2-3 people per group)

- Students must hand in an informal proposal for this project.
- They need to build the structure.
- They need to write a report including the followings:

i) How they got the surface area of the object they made in details. This includes a verbal explanation and diagrams.
ii) Measuring and calculating the surface area of the object in two different units. ( ex. cm and inch)


• Time:

- First session: 20 min for proposal in the class.
- Second session: A full class time for material and making objects.
- Giving them a weekend for the final work.


• Production: Reports and structures.


• Marking Criteria:

- Communication ( how well they explain the work) - 35%
- Calculations(how they got the surface area and units) - 50%
- Structure ( what they made) - 10%
- Creativity - 5%

Two Column Problem Solving

Memorable moments from my short practicum

On the last day of school, every student was on the hallway and read to go home after the last class. I was walking on the hallway to the office. On my way, someone called me, saying”Miss Wu”. I was surprised that someone called me on the hallway. I looked at her. She is one of the students I taught in the grade 9 class, Karen. She said good bye to me, and we had a little chat since it’s my last day of the short practicum. Honestly, I felt so warm when she called me and said good bye to me because some students actually remembered me and called me outside the class even I only taught them for a couple days. I could see that I have built some relationship with students and this made me feel happy and warm.


For the first day I was teaching , it's a math 9 class. I wrote down important notes on the board, and I assumed the students would copy down the notes. So, I didn’t say “Copy this down”. However, when I was walking around the classroom to help them working on the worksheet. I was surprised that not many of the students actually copied down the notes. I asked a couple of them, "Why don’t you copy down the notes?" The reply I got was "I don't know we need to copy it down." After the class, I told my sponsor teacher about this, and she said students need rules and instructions. We need to tell them what do to, otherwise they won't do it.So, the next day, I told them,”This is notes, and it’s important. You need to copy them down. So later on, when you got stuck, you have something to look at.” This time, it worked out better than last time. Most of the students copied down the notes. I was surprised that we need to tell the students precisely what to do.