Integers in Elevation - Google Earth Activity

In my opinion, integers are one of the hardest things to teach. Trying to introduce the concept of negative numbers is a struggle. One of the ways we frequently see the concept of integer operations tested is in questions involving elevation. When I first introduced the topic of elevation and integers to my students this past year I got some knowing nods but mostly blank stares. I couldn't figure out why they were looking at me like I had just sprouted antlers until I realized -- most of these students have never been outside their neighborhood or city. I teach students who are mostly from lower income communities. These students have never seen the ocean so when I say "sea level" they don't have a picture in their minds to connect that with. They've never stared in wonder at a mountain in Colorado. They've never swam in the ocean and seen how water puddles in the marshy areas nearby.

I needed a way to build some prior knowledge with these kiddos so they could have a visual when they see these types of questions. I also wanted them to have a general knowledge of land forms and the wonders that are in this big, beautiful world. I needed a way to bring Mount Everest and the Dead Sea into our classroom.

Enter Google Earth.

I love Google Earth. I like that I can fly around to any spot on the globe. While this doesn't technically count as travelling, I can show my students some great spots in the world.

So, to teach integers and elevation I thought I could make a worksheet with different high and low elevation spots in the US and the World and ask them questions about it, so I did that. But, I wanted to take it further. I opened up Google Earth and began dropping pins in some spots I had found that were good examples of elevation.

 I added a description that included the country, an interesting fact, and the elevation. I also added a picture to help them add to their bank of knowledge.

I put all of the locations into a folder and saved it. I then created a blank worksheet that students will fill in as they follow the path on Google Earth and then answer questions about it.
I haven't used this activity yet. I plan on using it in the fall when we do our unit on Rational Numbers. It might take a bit of time, but I think it will be worth it to help my students build more real-world knowledge.

If you want to try it out, you can purchase the worksheets here (includes a blank copy to be used with Google Earth and a copy with the elevations already filled in for a less techy activity. Also includes answer key and directions page). If you don't want the worksheet but want to use the paths I created, click the links below to download. They should automatically start downloading as a .kmz file. Then when you click, they will open in Google Earth. (If you do not already have Google Earth on your desktop, they won't open. Download Google Earth for free here.)

If you try it, let me know what you think and how I can tweak it to make it better! For more Google Earth Activities, visit this website. They have great, free activities for teachers and I wish I was as awesome at Google Earth as they are.

Enjoy!


Google Earth Files: 
Part One includes 8 elevation spots in the US
Part Two are the highest and lowest points on the globe.
Part Three are some interesting spots in the world such as lowest known point under water, lowest on dry land, highest passable road, etc.
The Zip File includes all three Google Earth files and an instruction page.

Elevation Activity - Part One
Elevation Activity - Part Two
Elevation Activity - Part Three

Zip File with all three Activities and Instruction Page

Making Math Class Suck Less

Let's face it, math class can be boring. Taking math. Teaching math. All of it can be just plain boring. Math isn't a favorite for most kids and, after teaching math for a few years, I can easily see why. Every day is pretty much the same routine: paper, pencil, procedures, problems. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. It's a hard fact though, that kids need to practice the skills they learn in math class in order to develop fluency and ease with computations. However, with the increased attention to and pressure from high stakes standardized testing, math class can easily become an endless routine of problem-strategy-solve over and over and over. Students need to learn the skills...and they need to practice the skills...and they need to apply the skills in order to be successful on these tests AND to know how to do real-life math. Which is really the goal, right? We want students who can walk in to buy a car and not get taken advantage of. Students who can budget their money and calculate tax. Students who can build and create and manage and do all the other life skills that is touched by math every day.

They need to know these skills and they need to practice and apply their learning. So, how can we make it better. How can we do our job but make math class something that students don't dread. I don't have the magic bullet answer, but I have been trying to implement some new things over the last couple of years to make it a little better. None of these are groundbreaking and none will revolutionize your classroom, but maybe you can take one or two and try it to mix up your class a little bit.

1. Lose the Paper

Sometimes they draw a Pokemon. You just have
to let it go.

All day every day our kids are doing worksheets. All the time. My favorite way to mix it up is to go paperless for a day. Here are some ways to do that. If you have small, personal whiteboards and dry erase makers, let students do their work on the whiteboards. This saves paper and is more engaging. It also allows you to do a quick check for understanding. You can pose a problem, students work it out and then hold their whiteboards up for you to check.

Don't have personal whiteboards? Use the big whiteboard. Partner students up and give them a problem to solve. One person writes while the other coaches and checks. Don't have enough big whiteboard space? Use the windows. I'm lucky enough to have a wall of windows in my classroom and my students love doing their work on them.

If that isn't enough, most desks and tables can function as dry erase boards, but make sure you check. Not all desks and tables are erasable and it can make quite a mess....not that I'm speaking from experience or anything...

2. Lose the Pencil

Window writing. A great way to mix-it-up. 

Chuck the pencil out for a day, or for part of a lesson, and have kids just talk it out. Pose a problem and don't let them use their pencils. Let them talk about it, verbalize their steps or what they need to do. A teacher told me to try this and I honestly thought she was nutty. Turns out, it's great!
 Often students just grab a pencil and write down the first number and operation they see without thinking. Not allowing them to write makes them stop and think about what they need to do.  

3. Gameify

Create more games! Turn stuff into a game. If students are solving a problem, make it a race. For multi-step problems, turn it into a relay race where one student does a step and then they pass the marker. Anything to encourage competition! I created an "Olympics" type game for our unit on rational numbers and for an end-of-year review. Students are practicing the skill, but aren't just doing problem after problem. Trick them with competition!

4. Real World application

Middle school math has the great advantage of lending itself to real life more than any other subject (except maybe Science, but whatever). Bring real life into your math as much as possible. Percents, Tax, Discounts and Decimals, Integer Operations with football and elevation. Use Google Earth, use newspaper ads. Challenge students to find examples of math in real life. I offered extra credit or homework passes to students who took a picture of math in real life and wrote a short paragraph explaining how that photo represents math in real life. It cost me nothing, got kids thinking, and helped answer the "What can I do for extra credit?!?" question that comes up near the end of each grading period.

5. Get 'Em Moving

Scavenger Hunt around the room. Answers lead to the next question.

Get kids up and moving! Scavenger hunts are a great idea and so easy to create.  For multiple choice questions, post a big A, B, C, and D in four corners of the room. have students solve the question and then, after a countdown, have them go to the answer they chose. This is great to see who gets it and can also be really good for discussion. (Take caution with students becoming embarrassed for getting the wrong answer. Have a plan to help those kiddos by maybe doing this activity in "strategic partnerships")

6. Technology

Ah yes, the buzzword--technology. I don't cringe at that suggestion like I used to because I've seen what it can do to my math classroom. Even if you aren't one-to-one with devices, or your kiddos can't bring devices to school, there is a lot you can do with the technology already available in your classroom. Put a QR code on something, use apps and websites already available that make the job easy. Here are a few of my favorite ways to engage technology and use it in my room.

• Quizizz
• Socrative
• QR Codes
• Google Earth

7. Mix up the Voice

Have you ever recorded your own video lessons? This is a great way for kids to work at their own pace and have the ability to pause or rewind if they don't understand something.

With apps like ShowMe and Explain Everything, making videos is easy. It may seem like a lot of work, but after a few tries you will be a pro. If you have a team, you can split the work and each make a video for a different topic or question. This shares the load and allows your students to hear another voice! Here is a quick tutorial to using Show Me to make video lessons.

Video lessons with ShowMe.

I hope those were helpful to you as you finish out the school year and look ahead to the next and thinking of ways to make your math class suck less.*

Do you have any other great ideas for how to engage your students in learning math?

*not that your class sucks. Mine does sometimes and I'm hoping to make it better. 

Test Prep: Self-Paced Video Review

What each station looks like. Station + directions.

So, despite my deep, unbridled hate for standardized testing**, we are talking test prep today. Two weeks of getting kids "ready". We buckle down and go. I hate the idea of sitting kids down and doing endless problems. They've heard my voice all year. I'm trying to mix it up a little. Here is something I'm trying in my classroom this year, we will see how it goes.

To review, I picked the topics that I know most of my students did not do well on this year. There were 8 main topics they needed to cover. For those 8 topics we picked 4 questions.

Always good to have a few extra copies lying around. 

 To reteach, we made a reteach video using the app "ShowMe." ShowMe hosts the videos you make so we linked those to a QR code and made a poster like the one here. It includes the topic, the two model questions, and the QR code for the video. Students have a packet with the stations in them, but their page includes two additional questions to practice and a QR code that links to the answer for each so they can self-check.

So, for 6 class days, students move at their own pace through the stations. They get a reteach, a practice, and the ability to self-check their work. The other days are spent on more of a whole class review, and the last day we do a QR Code scavenger hunt. 

Gotta love working together. 

This has worked pretty well, logistically, so far.Students are working at their own pace and still getting a review of the material. I am able to work with small groups of students and monitor everyone. One thing I have loved seeing as I walk around is students explaining to each other how they got their answer or asking each other for help. They have the right answer in front of them with the QR code. Instead of just getting an answer and moving on, they know if they got it right or wrong and, usually, they are asking each other for help if they got it wrong. It's fun to see them want to find the right answer.


So, if your well of ideas for test review is dried up, give this a try!

*These specific stations are not in my TPT store because the questions they cover are straight from our district (and I don't really want to give the whole world access to my voice as I do the videos). However, I have a lot more fun activities in my TPT store for both regular instruction and test prep (especially if you teach 7th grade math in Texas).

**Disclaimer: This needs to be said. I hate testing. I hate it. I loathe the current situation our state and country are in when it comes to the ridiculous amount of time, money and energy spent on high stakes testing that does nothing to assess what our students are actually learning and what teachers are actually teaching. However, as a teacher I want to do the best at my job and that involves testing. It does not mean I brow beat my students with standards and strategies; I truly try and teach MATH, not testing. But, two weeks a year we dig deep and review over what we have learned that year. I try and make it fun while also setting them up for success.*  This does not mean I spend time and energy coming up with cute slogans and changing the words to pop songs to get my kids "pumped." I try and better use my time (and theirs) to review what they need to know in an engaging way.

*Success as defined not by true knowledge, but the ability to navigate a labyrinth of tricky vernacular that better assesses testing skills than actual application of knowledge.