TGray+Unit+Plan

**Unit Plan**

 * First and Last Name: Tiffany Gray**


 * School District: Mansfield Middle School**


 * School Name: Mansfield R-IV School**


 * School City, State: Mansfield, Missouri**

**Unit Title Using Data to Influence People's Decisions**
The Mansfield Community Center is preparing for their next pee-wee basketball season. Each year they must determine what fee structure they will use for the season. As many of their costs have recently changed, they have asked for some input on determining the fees. The amount charged should result in a good participation, but not be so much that it prevents people from signing up. However, it shouldn't be so low that the MCC cannot realize a profit from the program.
 * Unit Summary:**

In this unit the students will discuss fixed and variable costs of running a business, in particular the sports programs offered by the MCC. Students will have a Q&A session with the MCC director, collect information, create and distribute surveys, analyze information gathered, graph the data, determine and justify how much families will be charged, and create a presentation of their findings and recommendations to be shown to the director of the MCC.


 * Subject Area:** Middle School Math


 * Grade Level:** 8


 * Approximate Time Needed:** 10 50-minute class periods

If I were to develop my own taxonomy for classroom learning, it would be a blend of Bloom's revised taxonomy (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating) and Costa and Kallick's Habits of Mind. Although the habits of mind are new to me, I think Costa and Kallick took into account many of the things that I do as I adapt my teaching methods to the varying personalities, work ethic, learning styles, and behaviors of students within my classroom. I must always consider prior knowledge (remembering) in order to ensure that my students can understand and apply. Once we've successfully managed those steps, we can work toward analyzing and evaluating. I would say that I rarely implement the creating step. In my opinion this step would require a significant span of time be devoted to one topic. Sadly, due to the lack of transfer of knowledge that many students exhibit and the GLE's that must be covered, I must reteach some information that my students should know already and then don't have extra time to explore the material in depth which would be required to get them to the "creating" step. However, I do try to implement creating while working on longer projects after the MAP test.
 * Habits of Learning Taxonomy:**

I think I'll begin discussing Costa and Kallick's habits of mind with each class that I have. I think "defining" some of these habits, will enable students to identify strengths and weaknesses, areas they are comfortable in vs. not comfortable, and areas they need to focus on. It will also let the students know that as an educator, I recognize their different learning styles and behaviors and that each of them can contribute to the learning that takes place within my classroom.


 * Targeted Content Standards and Benchmarks:**

GLE's: D1: Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize and display relevant data to answer them
 * D1C: Select, create, and use appropriate graphical representation of data (including scatter plots) and box plots (box and whiskers)

D2: Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data
 * D2A: Find, use, and interpret measures of center, outliers, and spread, including range and interquartile range
 * D2B: Compare different representations of the same data and evaluate how well each representation shows important aspects of the data

A1: Understand patterns, relations, and functions
 * A1D: Identify functions as linear or non-linear from tables, graphs, or equations

A2: Represent and analyze mathematical situations and structures using algebraic symbols
 * A2A: Use symbolic algebra to represent and solve problems that involve linear relationships

A3: Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships
 * A3A: Model and solve problems using multiple representations such as graphs, tables, and linear equations

NET's: 1b. Create original works as a means of person or group expression. 2b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats 2d. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems. 3c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. 4a. Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. 4c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions. 5a. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology. 6a. Understand and use technology systems.

P21 - Life & Career Skills: a. Time Management: set goals for completion; create timeline or checklist when necessary b. Work Independently: be accountable for the task assigned and complete the task on time c. Task Completion: contribute to the completion of the team's task by having individual tasks completed to merge with other team members' work d. Effective Team Work: recognize that each member must be able to contribute and his or her ideas should be valued; when ideas or concepts differ, the team members must work together to reach a compromise or consensus


 * Student Objectives/Learning Outcomes**:
 * Students will collect and analyze data from the community center recreational league enrollment information to determine if the community center can realize more profit by lowering their sign-up fees which might increase the number of participants in the recreational league.
 * Students will generate questions to ask at a question and answer session with the director of the MCC regarding fixed and variable costs associated with running a sports program.
 * Students will create a survey to assess if the number of children in kindergarten through 3rd grade who sign up to play in the recreational league would increase if enrollment fees were lowered from the existing fee structure.
 * Students will analyze and organize the information gathered and then create multiple scenarios to show opportunity costs that would lead to greater profit potential for the MCC's recreational league.
 * Students will use the information they've gathered regarding fixed costs and variable costs to create linear equations.
 * Students will create a persuasive multimedia presentation which will be presented to the director of the Mansfield Community Center to share their findings and create a discussion that would identify the additional profit potential and exposure that might be available if the MCC would lower their fee structure.

Essential Questions:
 * Curriculum-Framing Questions:**
 * Why do we utilize data?

Unit Questions:
 * How does a business determine what fees to charge?
 * What is the difference between fixed and variable costs (expenses)? Students must be able to categorize expenses in the correct category.
 * How can students initiate change (influence decision-making) in a company's fee structure?

Content Questions:
 * Is the way data is presented important in the decision-making process or in the viewer's perception?
 * Is there are point at which sign-up fees would be too low?
 * Using the information collected/graphed/discussed, what are the total fixed costs (expenses) per player of the basketball league? How would that change if more students signed up for the rec league?
 * How much should the MCC charge as a sign-up fee for their recreational league in order to maximize participation and profit?

Promotive Interaction:
 * Instructional Procedures:**
 * As students are placed in cooperative learning groups, I must make sure that each student understands that in order for the group work/project to be successful, each partner must contribute and feel that he or she can voice his or her concerns, questions, ideas, and observations safely and without fear of being ridiculed or not valued.
 * Students will be asked to generate questions that will be asked of the MCC director.
 * Students will be asked to journal throughout the unit regarding the ideas discussed, data gathered, projects created, etc.
 * Add whatever needs to be here for what is included in the final presentation that will be shown to the MCC staff.
 * Add in info on jigsaw or NHT or TPS from module 21. Look specifically at the promotive interaction slideshow that our group did.

Instructional Design:
 * Throughout the unit, the teacher will regularly meet cooperatively and/or independently with group members to answer questions, monitor progress, assess comprehension, review journals, and troubleshoot.
 * Entry point (Days 1 and 2):
 * Review classroom norms before beginning the unit. Clarify or emphasize any that the class has had problems with in the past.
 * Begin with the question, "How many times have you signed up for an activity at the Mansfield Community Center? Keep in mind, it could be basketball, summer t-ball, softball, or baseball, tumbling, or any other program they've offered for youth."
 * Have the students line up across the room from 0 being they've never signed up to whatever approximate number is the highest.
 * In order to create the groups for this project, have the line split in the middle and wrap from one end to the other. Have the group split in the middle again and wrap back toward the person who was at the lowest and highest. This will create groups of 4 and should have 4 students with a mixture of knowledge and experience regarding Community Center programs. (If necessary, one group may end up with 5 students.)
 * Present the class with the previous session's enrollment form for pee-wee basketball from the Mansfield Community Center. Present the following scenarios that might come to the attention of the MCC staff and ask students how they think the situations should be handled:
 * Family #1: The family has 2 young boys that they would like to play basketball. In fact, one of them is said to be one of the most talented athletes to come through Mansfield School in quite some time. However, Dad has recently lost his job and the family is on a very limited budget and cannot afford to pay for both boys. Dad says if both can't play, he won't allow either one to pay.
 * Family #2: The family has 2 boys and 1 girl. Dad and Mom have been divorced for a year. Mom has been diagnosed with cancer and is struggling to keep her job and get all of her treatments. She wants to give the kids something to look forward to and something to do to give them a stress-reliever, but there is no way she has any extra money to sign-up all 3 kids.
 * Have the students brainstorm a few more examples of situations that might arise and discuss these in class as well.
 * Given the fact that there is a wide range of participation vs. non-participation, ask the students why they participated in MCC activities or why they did not.
 * For those who did not, discuss what would have encouraged them to sign up if they were given the opportunity.
 * As a class, select or identify at least 3 obstacles that the Mansfield Community Center needs to overcome to increase participation in their programs or to improve perception of the MCC within the community.
 * Ask students to share 1 positive and 1 negative experience that they have had while participating in some type of group activity such as those offered by the MCC. Have each group jot down a few of these experiences in a journal or on a wiki.
 * Student-generated questions (Day 3):
 * Divide the students into groups of 3 or 4 to develop a minimum of 5 questions that will be addressed or that can be used to direct learning in this unit. Students may use the following strategies
 * have them make a KWL chart
 * have the students generate questions that they would like to have answered and options that they might want to pursue
 * Discuss the CFQ's that I had come up with for the unit.
 * If needed, discuss these when the students reach a block OR
 * Wait until the students have discussed their questions to see how their questions are similar to or are different from mine.
 * NEED TO FINISH THE INFORMATION I HAVE IN INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN QUESTION PROMPTS & IN SNB GRAPHIC ORGANIZER FROM UNIT 24