What’s the best strategy for cutting down trees? From building houses to burning charcoal, humans have many different uses for wood. Unfortunately, trees are disappearing in many parts of the world, including the older and larger trees that are so critical to the environment.
In this lesson, student use cylinder volume to determine how the amount of wood in a tree changes as it grows and discuss how communities around the world can harvest (or not harvest) wood in a sustainable way.
Students will
Calculate the volume of a cylinder
Solve real world problems using unit rates
Before you begin
Students can enter this lesson familiar with the formula for volume of cylinder, or it can be developed during the second question.
How do you increase the horsepower of a car engine? Students calculate the volumes of different car cylinders, and explore ways to make engine even more powerful by changing the dimensions of an engine's internal geometry.
Were megalodons godfathers of the sea? Students model the bodies of different sharks using cylinders, and explore how the volume of a cylinder changes when its dimensions change. They learn that the megalodon was a massive ocean beast, but that its size may ultimately have led to its downfall.
What’s the best size of disposable water bottle? Students use the volume and surface area of cylinders to compare disposable water bottles and consider environmentally-friendly ways to stay hydrated.
Topic:
Geometry (G)
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Mathalicious lessons provide teachers with an opportunity to teach standards-based math through real-world topics that students care about.
How have video game consoles changed over time? Students create exponential models to predict the speed of video game processors over time, compare their predictions to observed speeds, and consider the consequences as digital simulations become increasingly lifelike.
Topic:
Building Functions (BF), Interpreting Categorical and Quantitative Data (ID), Interpreting Functions (IF), Linear, Quadratic, and Exponential Models (LE), Seeing Structure in Expressions (SSE)