Book Creator | Curriculum Challenge

Curriculum Area:

Grade 7
Mathematics
Geometry (area & perimeter), Measurement (formulas), Data Handling (reading, interpreting and displaying data)

The National Curriculum Statement in South Africa aims to produce learners that are able to:

(a) identify and solve problems and make decisions using critical and creative thinking;
(b) work effectively as individuals and with others as members of a team;
(c) organize and manage themselves and their activities responsibly and effectively;
(d) collect, analyze, organize and critically evaluate information;
(e) communicate effectively using visual, symbolic and/or language skills in various modes.

Learning objective:
By the end of this project, learners were expected to be able to complete the following:

- Read and analyse a large amount of information from a table/spreadsheet.

- Use scale to determine the correct dimensions on enclosures

- Critically decide which were the best animals to incorporate into the zoo (dependent on: minimum enclosure size required, cost of feeding the animals, cost of fencing and appeal to visitors)

- Calculate minimum enclosure size using an appropriate formula

- Determine shape dimensions and perimeter according to area requirements

- Planning an overall layout of a zoo that is both appealing and functional

- Draw (freehand, with ruler, compass and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions

- Use formulas to determine the price of enclosure fences (costs of fencing determined by size/strength of animal)

- Use formulas to determine the total cost of feeding the animals in the zoo

- Research the requirements needed for animal enclosures (food & enclosure enrichment) and then design an adequate enclosure for one of their animals

- Create charts that better display information (animal appeal pie chart & cost of feeding bar chart)

- Incorporating charts into an attractive-looking advertisement for the zoo

- Converting a 2d model of a zoo into a 3d model and increasing the size by 3

- Use block coding to code the Sphero Ball on a tour of our 3d zoo

- Use green screen and video (iMovie) to create an engaging and informative video of our zoo

- Predict whether our zoo will be successful or not depending on our animal appeal graph, and cost of feeding information.

- Work effectively in a small group

- Identify real-world situations where perimeter and area are usefully applied

Have you ever wondered what it would be like planning, designing and building a zoo?

To what extent does mathematics have in these initial stages of the process?

Are we able to design a zoo that is both functional and appealing for our potential visitors?

Please go through this book to see the processes taken to provide you with our finished product - A guided tour through our magnificent zoo!

the inspiration behind the project