Christina Dyson ITEC 7530

Authentic Instruction
Method of Instruction
Problem-Based Learning
Standard
Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively,
including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media.
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media
and formats.
c. Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other
cultures.
d. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.
Subject and Grade Level
Geometry 10
th
Grade
Description of Lesson
This lesson is the second of two Geometry lessons intended to develop ideas of polygons and
polyhedra, or 2- and 3-D objects with flat faces, respectively, through the lens of waste and
waste management. In this lesson, students will continue to consider the impact of their waste
from the perspective of how much size (volume) it takes up. Students will extend their
exploration of 2-D objects and their properties (especially area formulas) to create a clear
understanding of the properties of 2-D objects and the extension of area to volume by way of
layering.

Introduction
Review ideas about area and the goal of answering the question, How long will a landfill
last?
Discuss area and extend questioning to ideas about layering or stacking bottles.
Body
Volume Conjecture - Develop basic conjecture to describe the volume of a stack of
papers using length and width to describe the area of the base, and the number of papers
to describe the height.
Cube vs. Rectangular Prism - Explore similarities of solving for volume of a cube and
rectangular prism.
Christina Dyson ITEC 7530

Two Prisms for Different Perspectives - Explore similarities of solving for volume of two
rectangular prisms, one with the long side as the base and the other with the short side as
the base.
Other Prisms - Is there a way to use the same ideas to develop an idea about the volume
of other prisms? (i.e., triangular prism, rhombus prism)
Exploration
Prism vs. Pyramid - If the prism has one unit of volume, how much volume does a
pyramid with the same height and identical base have?
Explore - Students construct prisms and pyramids, collect data, and draw conclusions.
Explain - Confirm or reject hypothesis. Clarify formula of volume for prisms and
pyramids.
Conclusion
How Long? - With their understanding of volume clarified, explore further the question
of How long a landfill will last? by creating a drawing of the landfill, determining the
volume of that landfill and then determining its life expectancy based on the volume of
waste dumped into the landfill per week.
2
Student Objectives:
Students will critically analyze the waste production of the individual, the class, the
school, and the community;
Students will extend ideas about area to 3-D objects by making conjectures about
volume;
Students will make generalizations about the 3-D objects, pyramids and prisms and their
volumes;
Students will test conjectures by designing and completing a simple experiment;
Students will apply knowledge of 3-D objects to design a landfill based on set parameters
and city guidelines;
Students will determine the life expectancy of the landfill they design according to
community statistics about waste volume (degradation will not be considered to allow for
linear model).
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Lesson Procedures:
4
Getting Started To start things off in this lesson, we want to remind students of the need for the
geometry in which they are about to engage.
Have the students think for a moment about what information they would need to know
to answer the question, How long will a landfill last? Have them recall their list from
the previous lesson and add or take away as needed.
o Students will use the internet to research landfills and their approximate life.
Many of the ideas about information they will need to solve the problem will be
considered in this lesson. Some that will specifically be dealt with in this lesson are listed
here:
o Students will use the internet to find the answers to these questions.
Know how large the landfill is.
Know how tall the landfill can be.
Know how much trash we make.
Christina Dyson ITEC 7530

Know how many trash truck loads are taken to the landfill in a day, week,
month, or year.
From here we will focus on the main question of how long a landfill will last? by first
dealing with understanding how many bottles will fit in a trashcan?
Later we will extend our understanding of this question and have the students design their
own landfill and determine its life expectancy.

Students will watch this video. Twenty-First Century Waterfall Video (1 min. 10 sec.)
Provides a quick representation of the amount of plastic bottles used by the U.S. It shows the
amount of plastic bottles recycled every second and then the amount of bottles not recycled
every second through a plastic bottle waterfall. Nice effect to help realize the magnitude of the
use of plastic bottles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZbTXDkrD1o.
This video will help students determine how many plastic bottles can be held in a landfill.

Plastic Recycling Facts from Earth 911 This Website page provides a brief overview of some
plastic bottle facts. Many resources are provided at the bottom of the page, but this information is
a quick way to see the impacts of plastic bottle usage.
http://earth911.org/recycling/plasticbottle-recycling/plastic-bottle-recycling-facts/
This video will help students see the impact of plastic bottle usage.
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Volume Conjecture Now that students have had a chance to discuss and think about volume as
being a measurement of the amount of space a 3-D object takes up, we will provide students
the opportunity to create their own conjecture about the volume of prisms.

Check with on-site resources for more information about classifications of prisms. Ask the
students:
For the stack of papers, can you come up with a formula that can serve as the formula for
the volume of all stacks of papers?
Can you generalize that formula to work for any prism?
o Do not approve or disapprove of the student conjectures. Simply suggest that they
ensure that their conjecture will work for all cases. Have them actually test their
conjecture with the next three sections.
Have students test the validity of their conjecture by creating sample prisms. Have them
first compare the process of solving for the volume of a cube and then for a rectangular
prism. Do this mentally or have them draw examples.
o Remember that a cube has the same measurement on each side. A rectangular
prism could actually be a cube, but for now well say that the base of the prism
has to be a rectangle and the height can be as tall or short as you want(e.g., 5 units
wide, 7 units long, and 10 units tall).
o Students can sketch these shapes by hand, but Geometer Sketchpad will allow
them to use the computer to construct their conjectures.

Two Prisms for Different Perspectives Now have students continue to explore the validity of
their conjecture (or revised conjecture) by having them compare two rectangular prisms. An
Christina Dyson ITEC 7530

example is provided below, but the idea is that the prisms will be identical. However, one (A)
will lie with the largest side as the base and the other (B) with the smallest side as the base.
Have students think about other ways to orient the prism. Does it change the volume?
The third way to orient the prism is to have the 3 x 12 side to be the base. The volume
remains the same. The volume of each prism is 3 x 8 x 12 = 288.
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Other Prisms To wrap up the conjecture section, have students consider a way to extend their
formula to work for the volume of all prisms. A few prisms are provided below. Can we
generalize the formula to successfully work for prisms like these?

Have students discuss possible ideas about the relation between the volume of a prism
and a pyramid. Have students organize a list of hypotheses they brainstorm.
o Students can use a Word Processor to make a list of hypotheses.
Pose to students that they develop the best way to make use of the supplies at hand to
effectively create an experiment to collect data and either confirm or reject their
hypothesis.
o Excel Spreadsheet can be used to record data.

Explore Allow students ample time and opportunity to develop ideas about possible hypothesis

Explain At this point, students will either rejoice in their hypothesis or begin to defend or
recant their original stance. All of this is fine! In fact, having students consider what ideas led
them to construct their original stance and what new information has led them to believe
differently could act as a great math journaling activity.

How Long? It has come to the point that we actually have all the mathematical knowledge that
is needed to attack the main question: How long will a landfill last?

Below is a basic outline of a project that students could deal with over the course of a couple
days. The main parts of the project are 1) Clarification of the Problem, 2) Restrictions and
Guidelines for Landfills, 3) Landfill Capacity, 4) Landfill Life Expectancy, and 5) Taking
Action. A few suggestions for assessment of this project can be found in the resources section of
this lesson.
Building restrictions for your community can often be found at your local Community
Development center at your City Hall.
If you cannot find any information about real guidelines in your community, suppose that
students are provided with a quarter section of a square mile. Allow students to determine
the size of the roads, parking lots, and buildings. Suppose that any point in the landfill
must be at most 300 feet from a road to allow for easy access for dump trucks. Require
that the landfill is built on flat land and can be no more than 100 feet tall.
A detailed explanation of how to actually determine the capacity of a landfill is provided
in the resources section and you can find more about taking action in Waste Not, Want
Not and in the resources section of this lesson.

The following parts outline items that need to be included in a presentation for the teacher.
Students may use any Web 2.0 presentation tool for the presentation.
Christina Dyson ITEC 7530


Clarification of the Problem:
In a short narrative, describe the need for a landfill in your town. What amount of trash is
produced by your community each day/week/month? Describe what you feel would happen if
there were no landfill in your region.

Restrictions and Guidelines:
Explore information about what specifications are required by your city for constructing a
landfill. How much land do you have? Is there a need to have an office or parking lot on the
land? What type of access do the waste trucks need to the landfill? Do the city guidelines limit
the maximum height of the landfill, and, if so, what is that limit?

Landfill Capacity:
What are the dimensions of each section of the landfill? Use the dimensions of the landfill and
your knowledge about area and volume formulas to determine the ultimate maximum volume of
the landfill.

Landfill Life Expectancy:
Create a plot or graph which describes the rate at which trash enters the landfill and how it
relates to the maximum volume of the landfill. What does this tell you about the life expectancy
of the landfill (disregarding degradation)?

Taking Action:
Create a plan for your class/school/community which outlines ways to reduce its production of
waste. Set this action plan in a way which provides dates and benchmarks to help ensure that
action is being taken. Provide resources about places people can find answers and explore
options to help inform your community about these resources.
In the project, consider offering credit in other areas for the completion of this project. Maybe
offer an English grade for a persuasive essay, a Science grade for a report on the scientific
background of landfills, or a Social Studies grade for reporting on governmental roles or policy
research.