Part 1: Understanding by Design - Stage 1Established Goals:

What content standards and program or mission-related goals will this unit address?

The mission related-goal to be addressed in this unit is to enhance students’ ability to make sense of problems and work towards solving them. In this regard, the relevant ISTE Standard to be addressed in this unit is Standard 1: Creativity and Innovation. Additionally, the unit will address Pennsylvania’s Common Core State Standard CC.2.3.2.A.2 for Mathematics.

What standards, competencies, and outcomes will this unit address?

Based on PA’s Standard CC.2.3.2.A.2, the competency to be addressed in this unit is the use of understanding of fractions to partition shapes into halves, quarters, and thirds (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2014). Students are expected to be creative and innovative in partitioning shapes in different sizes based on insights they have obtained from fractions. Through this process, the unit is expected to enhance students’ problem solving skills.

What habits of mind and cross-disciplinary goals, for example, 21st-century skills and core competencies, will this unit address?

The 21st-century skills and core competencies to be addressed by this unit is improved problem solving skills. This will be achieved through enhancing students’ comprehension of learning material and creativity and innovativeness.

Transfer:

What kinds of long-term independent accomplishments are desired?

Students will be able to independently use their learning to apply mathematical concepts and techniques to solving multi-step and non-regular problems in real life scenarios.

Meaning:

Understanding

What...

They will use these concepts, techniques, and procedures to enhance their creativity and innovativeness in problem solving.
Essential Questions

What thought-provoking questions will foster inquiry, meaning-making, and transfer?

Students will understand that proportional relationships can be identified and used in problem solving settings. They will also understand that a proportion can be used for two or more similar objects and different shapes can be created using ratios and proportions.

Acquisition:

What facts and basic concepts should students know and be able to recall?

Students will know that the relationship between many geometric shapes or figures can be understood through ratio and proportion, which are critical concepts towards formulating scale drawings. They will also know that similarity is essential when comparing shapes and determining perimeter and sizes.

What discrete skills and processes should students be able to use?

Students will be skilled at ratio and proportion, which are crucial mathematical concepts that help to understand similarity and congruence. They will also learn how to use mathematical procedures to address problems in a systematic and succinct manner. Students will also be skilled at how to use symbols, generalizations, standard notation, graphing, and mathematical rules and representation in scale drawing.

Part 2: Narrative Analysis

The design of this instructional unit…