Susan Williams Student ID: s229131 ASSIGNMENT 1: Curriculum through numeracy Date due: Monday 15th August, 2011

Measurement: Weight, Capacity and Temperature VELS Level 3

Learning how to accurately read measurements to prepare food for an Anzac Day event

Inspiration for this numerate learning experience came via a recent request from my eight-year-old daughter who wanted to make zucchini slice all by myself. During this process, I observed her behaviour based on her prior assumptions about measuring and the need for accurate measurement.

This unit of work comprises a series of activities in which Grade 3 children will learn how to measure volume, mass and temperature through preparing food for an Anzac Day morning tea for their peers. They will learn how to accurately measure ingredients to prepare Anzac biscuits and old-fashioned lemonade which they will serve at the event. The students will also research and prepare group presentations about the cultural significance of Anzac Day.

While designed to meet the requirements of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) for mathematics, the activities also have been integrated with Victorias Literacy/English and Humanities curriculum and address elements of the learning standards for Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Design, Creativity and Technology, Personal Learning, and Civics and Citizenship.

TEACHING SETTING This unit of work would be undertaken in Term 2 to coincide with Anzac Day celebrations (April 25). I have designed this learning experience for a hypothetical class of around 2530 Grade 3 children from mostly middle-to-higher socio-economic backgrounds and spanning a wide range of learning abilities.

THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE The overall focus of this learning experience is to show children the need for accurate measurement. Under the VELS for Mathematics (Level 3) Measurement, chance and data, students need to estimate and measure volume, capacity and mass using appropriate instruments and units of measurement.

The students will have some prior knowledge about the use of measuring instruments in everyday settings (such as cooking) but I am envisaging there will be gaps in their understanding, in particular with regards to the relationship between the need for accurate measurements and achieving a successful end-result. I am also focusing on progressing the children from an instructional-based learning mode (where an adult assists the measuring process) to a point where they can achieve an accurate reading independently.

The students will examine the ingredients of both recipes and learn how to accurately read millilitres on a measuring cup and grams on circular scales, and determine what unit of measurement is used for the ingredients. They will also gain skills in measuring temperature.

Both recipes will need to be quadrupled to cater for the number of guests attending the event (approx. 100 Grade 3 children). The children will need to apply multiplication strategies to problem-solve in an everyday context (VELS for Mathematics, Level 3, Working mathematically, VCCA, 2008).

During this unit, the children will be involved in reading and interpreting the recipes, identifying the appropriate measuring instrument and unit of measurement for each ingredient (VELS English, Level 3, Reading). The activities relating to the group presentations address the Speaking and listening component of VELS English. (Students need to be able to vary their speaking and listening for a small range of contexts, purposes and audiences and project their voice adequately for an audience, use appropriate language features, and modify spoken texts to clarify meaning and information. (VCCA, 2008) I have also integrated the VELS for Humanities (Level 3), under which students must describe and sequence some key events in Australian history. (VCCA, 2008)

Other areas of VELS which have been integrated into this unit are: Information and Communications Technology: ICT for creating [Students] follow simple plans and use tools and a range of data types to create information products designed to inform, persuade, entertain or educate particular audiences. (The students will be using the internet to research Anzac Day and prepare an oral presentation.) Communication: Producing Use a list of steps and are able to choose appropriate tools, equipment and techniques to alter and combine materials/ingredients and assemble systems components. Communication: Analysing and evaluating Test, evaluate and revise their designs, products, in light of feedback from others ... Consider how well a product meets an intended purpose. Personal Learning: Building social relationships Cooperating with others in teams for agreed purposes, taking roles and following guidelines established within the task. (VCCA, 2008)

THE ACTIVITIES I decided to make all the activities group-based for several reasons. I wanted to integrate the range of ability levels and provide the opportunity for different children to emerge in a leadership role. Practical maths can bring about a role-reversal because some children who may struggle academically are often very competent and confident with hands-on activities group work allows them to move into a position of confidence and gain recognition/respect from their peers. Group activities will also enable the students to engage in appropriate discussion and problem-solving skills.

I am also hoping that the hands-on group work will be a better learning environment for children from non-English speaking backgrounds and those with disabilities, as there will be less barriers to them being able to participate/contribute in a meaningful way. The above reasons have led me to adopting a ManipulatingGetting a sense ofArticulating framework for thinking (Mason and Johnson-Wilder, 2006). The children will be manipulating the ingredients (initially experimenting with sand and water and later the recipe ingredients) and getting a sense of the relationship between accurate measurement and what is needed for a successful outcome (biscuits and lemonade), and then be able to articulate their findings (did the recipes work?).

I also wanted to incorporate elements of other frameworks of thinking to broaden the learning experience. I would be moving continuously through Scaffolding-and-fading (Mason and JohnsonWilder, 2006) as the groups will perform each step independently but will be checked (evaluated) by the teacher for accuracy (success) along the way. This will also enable me to conduct a formative assessment of the childrens developing understanding of the concepts.

It will be important for the children to talk about the process and their findings (were the recipes successful?) in order to consolidate the learning outcomes (DoingTalkingRecording). (Mason and Johnson-Wilder, 2006) Session 1: Introduction and warm up activities Cultural tools: measuring cup, circular scales, thermometers

I will start with a brief introductory session at the whiteboard to discuss the Anzac Day event and the recipes we will be making. The recipe will be displayed for the class and children asked for ideas on how we will calculate required quantities of biscuits and lemonade. What maths strategy will we use to calculate this? How will we work out how much of each ingredient? I will focus on getting the children to articulate their thinking process.

We will then talk about how we will go about measuring the ingredients and what sorts of instruments we will use for each. Moving from the floor into groups at tables, we will examine and discuss the measuring instruments (scales and measuring cup) and the units of measurement (grams and millilitres).

I want to encourage the children to discover that if you do not read the instrument correctly it is possible to get an inaccurate reading. So I will ask the children to perform a series of tasks in their groups e.g. pour sand into the container until the gauge reaches 400g and to take readings from above the cup looking down, and then again at eye level, and ask for feedback about any discrepancies in results.

By getting the children to perform the tasks in a controlled manner I can conduct a formative assessment of how they are tracking against the desired learning outcomes.

We will then move on to temperature. On their tables, the children will have cups containing iced water (enough for each child to participate). The children will measure temperature of the iced water. I will then keep adding hot water to enable the children to measure the temperature at each stage (final stage to be a safe level of heat). This is aimed at giving the children a sense of temperature variation which we can then link to the oven. (Children can imagine how hot an oven temperature must be in comparison to safe heat levels experienced in this session.)

Session 2: Cooking the biscuits Cultural tools: cooking utensils, recipe ingredients, measuring cup, circular scales

This session will involve the children using a range of mathematical activities. Before we break into groups to start the cooking, we will create a list of criteria on the whiteboard about what constitutes a good biscuit. (How big will we make the balls? How far apart to place them on the trays? Will they change shape?) In this way, the children will be imagining and expressing (Mason and Johnson-Wilder, 2006). This list will also later be used in our final evaluation, giving the children a stake in developing criteria for their own assessment.

The children will also generalise and specialise (Mason and Johnson-Wilder, 2006) about what is involved in making biscuits e.g. all the ingredients have to be combined in a bowl and measured to some extent and they will have to be baked but they will probably ignore the causal relationship between measuring accurately and achieving a good result.

Preparation of the recipe will be done in groups and the teacher will lead the children through the process, step by step, but children will complete all stages independently in their groups.

Session 3: Making the lemonade: Using the same procedures as above, the students will prepare the lemonade. This could be a stand-alone session or incorporated into Session 2 above.

Session 4: Oral presentation Cultural tools: language, computer The children will work in pairs to record five important facts they have discovered about the origins of Anzac Day on a worksheet. As children finish this task, they can assist in packing the biscuits away for storage.

The children will come together to share the contents of their worksheets. We will then break into groups in which they will prepare their group oral presentation. Each child must present something orally.

Session 5: Anzac Day Presentation Cultural tools: language

Children serve the biscuits and lemonade to their peers, and deliver their oral presentations. (The oral presentations will be used as part of formative assessment.)

Session 6: Project Reflection and Evaluation As a class, we will revisit the criteria for success we developed in Session 1. The children will engage in Conjecturing and convincing (Mason and Johnson-Wilder, 2006) as they sample a biscuit and some lemonade and give feedback based on our criteria for success. The results will be evidence that they have measured accurately.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT I have tried to optimize student engagement through the inclusion of the following strategies: Using kinesthetic, aural and visual activities to cater for a wide range of learning styles. Providing opportunities for children to perform the cooking tasks independently. Allowing the children to sample the end result. Children love food! Including a vast range of tactile activities the students are doing, rather than just listening.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In designing this unit of work, I have tried to create a numerate learning experience that is more than simply a set of activities. In our text, Designing and using mathematical tasks, Mason and JohnsonWilder make the point that it is possible for students to engage in an activity while completing missing the point of it (2006). This struck a chord with me and it was with this in mind that I did my lesson planning. I have tried to incorporate the three aspects of mathematical activity: behaviour (exploration of procedures required for accurate measuring), emotion (engagement and motivation of students via a multi-sensory experience) and awareness (achievement of a satisfactory end result by following an established set of procedures) (Mason and Johnson-Wilder, 2006). Each childs learning will reflect the degree to which they participate in the sequenced activities and the degree to which they are engaged in the overall learning journey. In this unit, the learning will take place as the children are motivated to carefully manipulate the ingredients using the measuring instruments and then enjoy and share the results of the success of their work.

REFERENCES Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (2008, January). Retrieved from http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au Mason, J. and Johnston-Wilder, S. (2006). Designing and using mathematical tasks, St Albans: Tarquin Publishing, p 69, 71, 74-77, 79-84, 92, 94-95

APPENDIX

Recipe: Anzac Biscuits 150g plain flour 220g sugar 100g rolled oats 90g desiccated coconut 125g butter 1 tablespoon golden syrup or treacle 2 tablespoons boiling water 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 180C and lightly grease two baking trays. Combine the flour in a bowl with the sugar, rolled oats and coconut. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the golden syrup over medium heat. Combine the boiling water with the bicarbonate of soda to dissolve. Add to the butter mixture and mix well, then stir into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Drop teaspoons of the mixture onto the trays, allowing room for spreading. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

The origins of Anzac Biscuits During World War 1, the wives, mothers and daughters of Australia soldiers were concerned about the nutritional value of the food being supplied to the men at Gallipoli. They wanted to sent the soldiers food from home but were faced with the problem of transporting it long distances on ships that had little, or no, refrigeration facilities. A group of women came up with a recipe for a biscuit that used ingredients that were readily available and would remain edible for over two months. Instead of using eggs as the binding ingredients, golden syrup or treacle was used. (Eggs were scare during the war.) These biscuits were first called Soldiers biscuits but due to their increasing popularity, soon became known as Anzac biscuits. (Source: The Country Womens Association Cookbook, ed. 2009, Murdoch Books Ltd)

Recipe: Old-fashioned Lemonade 70g caster sugar

Juice of 3 lemons 500ml sparkling mineral water

Put the sugar and 3 tablespoons of water in a small pan. Bring to boil, stirring so that the sugar dissolves completely, then boil for a few minutes. Add the lemon juice and let that bubble up for a minute or two. Pour into a large jug and leave to cool completely. When youre ready to serve, pour in the sparkling water and mix well. Makes approximately 625ml.