Don t Let the Bedbugs Bite!

Transcription

1 Don t Let the Bedbugs Bite! Three boys are talking about their bedtimes. Joey goes to bed at the same time each night. Maurice says his parents make him go to bed five times a week at 9 o clock at night. They let him stay up an extra hour the other two nights a week. Samuel says for three days a week he goes to bed two hours earlier than the latest time Maurice gets to stay up. The other times Samuel stays up as late as Maurice s latest bed time. They realize that all of them have at least one common bedtime, and they all get up at 7 o clock in the morning. They are confused about who gets the most sleep during a week. Please explain to them how you figured out the answers to the following questions: Who gets the most sleep during the week? What is their common bedtime? TM Don t Let the Bedbugs Bite! - Page 1-

2 Grade Level 3 5 Don t Let the Bedbugs Bite! Three boys are talking about their bedtimes. Joey goes to bed at the same time each night. Maurice says his parents make him go to bed five times a week at 9 o clock at night. They let him stay up an extra hour the other two nights a week. Samuel says for three days a week he goes to bed two hours earlier than the latest time Maurice gets to stay up. The other times Samuel stays up as late as Maurice s latest bed time. They realize that all of them have at least one common bedtime, and they all get up at 7 o clock in the morning. They are confused about who gets the most sleep during a week. Please explain to them how you figured out the answers to the following questions: Who gets the most sleep during the week? What is their common bedtime? Editor s Note: This teacher presented the task above with the chart seen. To encourage your students to choose their own problem solving strategy, it is recommended that you leave the chart off when presenting the task to your students. - Page 2-

3 Context This task was given to students who were working with charts as a problem solving strategy. What This Task Accomplishes This task requires students to read, understand and translate a problem mathematically. It requires them to be organized in their approach. It also requires them to apply concepts of time to a problem solving situation. Time Required for Task This task took one 45 minute period. Interdisciplinary Links This task could lead to a study of typical bedtimes of students the ages of those in your class, and the average amount of sleep students get. This could be written up into a report for parents who are wondering what an appropriate bedtime might be for their child! Teaching Tips You may want to discuss the word common with students before they attempt the task. To make the task more or less complicated, you could adjust the number of students or the bedtimes to be fractions of an hour. Suggested Materials Pencil, graph paper, lined paper, and some students may require a Judy clock. Possible Solutions Joey goes to sleep 7 nights a week at ten o clock. He sleeps 63 hours per week. Maurice goes to sleep 5 nights a week at nine o clock and 2 nights a week at ten o clock. He sleeps a total of 68 hours per week. Samuel goes to sleep 3 nights a week at eight o clock, and 4 nights a week at ten o clock. He sleeps for a total of 69 hours per week. Samuel sleeps the longest. The common bedtime is ten o clock. - Page 3-

4 Benchmark Descriptors Novice The novice will have difficulty organizing the information presented and therefore will achieve an incorrect solution. Apprentice The apprentice will have a partially corrrect solution. There may be some problems in calculating the hours of sleep or in understanding information that needed to be inferred. The apprentice will use some math language, and representations will be attempted. Practitioner The practitioner will have a correct solution to the problem. All work will be shown, and the approach will be evident. Math language will be used throughout, and representations will be complete and detailed. Expert The expert will have a correct solution. The approach and reasoning used will be explained, and math language and representations will assist in communicating the solution. The expert will go beyond the requirements of the task and make mathematically relevant comments or observations about the solution. Author Kim Royle teaches at Diamond Elementary School at Fort Stewart, Georgia. She is currently working with language and reading services but has experience in teaching reading, language arts, and math in grades 3 through 9. - Page 4-

5 Novice The student seems unclear on how to use the chart provided. No conclusion is made. - Page 5-

6 Novice (cont.) Little or no understanding is demonstrated. It is unclear what the student is trying to do. - Page 6-

7 Apprentice Work is somewhat organized. Part of the solution is correct. A representation is attempted. Some parts of the solution are unclear. Some math language is used. - Page 7-

8 Practitioner The student shows his/her work. - Page 8-

9 Practitioner (cont.) The approach is explained. Correct answers are achieved. - Page 9-

10 Expert All parts are correct. Work is well organized. All work is shown and labeled. - Page 10-

11 Expert (cont.) The student explains his/her approach. Math language is used throughout. The student makes a relevant math observation. - Page 11-