Pythagorean Theorem: City Project

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Pythagorean Theorem is one of my favorite subjects to teach! It is one of those straight-forward mathematical concepts that is easy to teach (at least the 7th grade version is) and that the kids like and understand without me jumping through too many hoops.

An interactive application of this concept that I started using this year is having the students build a city which allows them the opportunity to apply the concept in real-life. (This activity is modified from a factoring activity that I have done for years with honors students.)

I present the students with the project instructions, questions, and rubric on day 1 of the project.  I also specify that their city should be 90% made of recycled materials.    This is all that I tell them, I keep the directions vague on purpose.  I have found that this allows students to be more creative.

Project explanation, requirements, and rubric can be found here. A fancier (but not free) version of this project can be found here.

About a week into the project (to allow their creativity to spark) I begin asking the students if they have any questions.  I again answer these questions vaguely.  I made the mistake of showing an example one year and... you guessed I got 23 VERY similar versions of the example that I showed.

Being vague allows for awesome results (sometimes)!



What are some ways that you can use this project (or a variation of it) to get your students interacting with your content?

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