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Math Community
Display the Math Community Chart for all to see. Give students a brief quiet think time to read the norms or invite a student to read them out loud. Tell them that during this activity they are going to choose a norm to focus on and practice. This norm should be one that they think will help themselves and their group during the activity. At the end of the activity, students can share what norm they chose and how the norm did or did not support their group.
Tell students they will continue to use trigonometry to solve for side lengths of right triangles.
Display the Information Gap graphic that illustrates a framework for the routine for all to see.
Remind students of the structure of the Information Gap routine, and consider demonstrating the protocol if students are unfamiliar with it.
Arrange students in groups of 2. In each group, give a problem card to one student and a data card to the other student. After reviewing their work on the first problem, give students the cards for a second problem and instruct them to switch roles.
Your teacher will give you either a problem card or a data card. Do not show or read your card to your partner.
If your teacher gives you the problem card:
Silently read your card and think about what information you need to answer the question.
Ask your partner for the specific information that you need. “Can you tell me _____?”
Explain to your partner how you are using the information to solve the problem. “I need to know _____ because _____.”
Continue to ask questions until you have enough information to solve the problem.
Once you have enough information, share the problem card with your partner, and solve the problem independently.
Read the data card, and discuss your reasoning.
If your teacher gives you the data card:
Silently read your card. Wait for your partner to ask for information.
Before telling your partner any information, ask, “Why do you need to know _____?”
Listen to your partner’s reasoning and ask clarifying questions. Only give information that is on your card. Do not figure out anything for your partner!
These steps may be repeated.
Once your partner says they have enough information to solve the problem, read the problem card, and solve the problem independently.
Share the data card, and discuss your reasoning.
The purpose of this discussion is to review students’ strategies for finding unknown side lengths of right triangles.
After students have completed their work, share the correct answers and ask students to discuss the process of solving the problems. Here are some questions for discussion:
Highlight for students that drawing a diagram and labeling it with the information provided is an important strategy. It’s too easy to forget something or mix up information without a clear diagram to work from.
Math Community
Invite 2–3 students to share the norm they chose and how it supported the work of the group or a realization they had about a norm that would have worked better in this situation. Provide these sentence frames to help students organize their thoughts in a clear, precise way:
The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa (BURJZH kha-LEE-fah) in Dubai (as of January 2024).
Someone is standing on the bridge about 250 meters from the bottom of the building. They have to look up at about a 73-degree angle to see the top. How tall is the building? Explain or show your reasoning.
The largest masonry building in the world is City Hall in Philadelphia (as of January 2024). If you’re standing on the street about 1,300 feet from the bottom of the building, you have to look up at about a 23-degree angle to see the top. How tall is the building? Explain or show your reasoning.
If students struggle with the city hall question, prompt them to draw a diagram with the information they know.
The purpose of this discussion is to reason about differences between exact answers and calculated answers.
Display this image of the Philadelphia City Hall:
“The exact heights are 829.8 meters for the Burj Khalifa and 548 feet for City Hall. Why don’t those numbers match your calculations?” (Rounding or measurement error. An angle that's slightly off can make a big difference when we work with large numbers.) “Is it reasonable to assume you are accurate to the nearest tenth in this case?” (No, the provided measurements were rounded to the nearest ten meters or hundred feet, so our usual rounding scheme doesn't apply.)