Personal Inquiry Project

PSIII Grade 7 Math

Kirsten Grant
Vincent Massey Junior High

Rational:
The New Elementary School Construction Project is a performance task that
requires Grade 7 students who have solid understanding of the curriculum objectives in
the fractions, decimals and percentage unit to apply those skills in a new and unique
situation. In this project students were asked to use their prior knowledge of the
similarities and differences between fractions, decimals and percents to determine size
components of a school building.
The main reason I decided to create an extension task for my professional inquiry
project is because I realized I had been spending the majority of my time planning my
lessons that included differentiation for weaker students and less time providing
extension questions for strong students. Throughout my practicum I was consistently
differentiating instruction, assignments and assessments to better suit the learning needs
of my students who had lower numeracy skills. Before every unit, I would prepare a
booklet with scaffolded worksheets that selected students would work on in replacement
of the in class assigned work. Although I felt I was meeting these students needs, I
noticed that I also had students on the other end of the spectrum who I knew where
capable and who could be challenged. I wanted learning to be meaningful and applicable
for them and I wanted those students to feel challenged.
The New Elementary School Construction Project acts as both an enrichment
project as well as an extension task. It is an enrichment project because students had to
use their prior knowledge of fractions, decimals and percents and apply it to a unique
setting. They had to exercise their critical thinking skills. It is an extension task because
students extend their learning of the unit in order to create a blueprint of their school that
is approximately to scale. After assessing the selected students prior knowledge, I was
able to determine that they were confident in their mathematical skills at converting
between fractions, decimals and percents and were also able to find the percent of a
number. Because they had these foundational skills, they were able to apply themselves
and complete the task.
Project Overview:
1. Pre-Assessment
Before having the students jump in and begin answering the questions of the task,
students had to demonstrate that they were meeting the curricular outcomes of the unit.
Strand: Number
General Outcome: To develop number sense.
Specific Outcome: 3. Demonstrate an understanding of percents greater than
or equal to 0%, including greater than 100%. [CN, PS, R, V]

I chose 7 students between 3 different grade seven math classes to attempt answering the
pre-assessment question. Students had to determine percents of a number in the
assessment of prior knowledge. Once they completed the questions, they were assessed
based on a rubric. From there I was able to determine if the student had the foundational

knowledge of fractions, decimals and percents that was required in order to answer the
questions in the task.
2. Designing the Task
In order to provide an authentic task I researched the requirements that governments
provide to school boards when planning and designing new school facilities. I managed
to find both an Ontario and Alberta document that included the sizes of rooms and the
student to space ratio. I designed the questions requiring students to determine percents
of a number to equal approximately the same values of those in the official documents. In
order to meet the curricular objectives I modified some numbers to make them more
manageable for the students so they would experience success.
3. Process of Completing the Task:
Once students successfully completed the pre-assessment in the following class they were
given the task booklet. They had to read the task description sheet and then first calculate
the total area of the school. After they had answered this first question, they had to check
their answer with me. I did this because if they got this initial calculation wrong, all the
rest of their answers would be incorrect, since the areas of the rooms in the school were a
percent or fraction of the total area of the school. The students then proceeded to answer
the rest of the questions, and lastly fill in the information table that included all of their
calculations.
Considerations:
Readiness - The students that I selected to participate in the project were students
I felt were eager to learn, and self-motivated.
Task that required minimal teacher intervention and one where students had
sufficient instructions to answer the questions and complete the task on their own.
An important aspect of enrichment and extension tasks that I made sure to keep in
mind while designing the task was that it challenged students to apply their
knowledge in a unique learning environment, while ensuring that task didnt
require grade eight concepts.
Findings and Observations:
Completion Time - Two students answered all twelve questions within a 50
minute class. The remaining 3 students took between 2 and 3 periods to correctly
complete the questions. It was interesting because the two students who were able
to answer the calculation questions quickly were the slowest to determine a scale
for their blueprint and complete the blueprint. They were trying to be as exact as
possible with their blueprint measurements instead of rounding the numbers.
Calculations All of the students selected to complete the extension project were
capable of finding the percent of a number. Although they had these skills, many
of them used techniques that werent efficient and logical. I intervened at these
times to teach them the proper way they should determine the percent of a number
and they continued on with the project.

Blueprint: Most students used a scale of 1 square on the paper equaled 1 square
meter. For this reason, it made the conversion from the actual calculations to the
designing of the blueprint fairly simple. If I was to do it again I would consider
providing them with a larger amount of graph paper, so they had to double or
triple their numbers.
Reflection & Conclusion:
Next time in order to improve the project I would scaffold my questions so that
the students would be more challenged and they would have to think at a higher level. I
would add some multi-step questions to the project so students would need to use some
critical thinking skills. I might also add a cost component to the assignments so that each
student would have to justify their design and bid on the project. Having them present
their findings to persons of interest would allow them to feel proud and take ownership of
their work.
From this project I learned that providing authentic learning helps to engage
students. This is a great way to engage and motivate students to go further and apply
their knowledge in unique and diverse learning situations. The students felt challenged
but not so much that they felt defeated.