CareerZone Lesson Plan Registry http://www.nycareerzone.org/resources/lessonplans

Everyday Math

Author(s): Margaret Doyle (www.successlink.com) and ideas incorporated by The Career Zone Team

Grades: 6 - 8

Subject: Career Development and Occupational Studies

Learning Context: Students will: 1. Employ research techniques using CareerZone on a specific career. (ELA 1), (MST 1), (CDOS 1) 2. Construct an interview questionnaire and learn elements of conducting an interview. (ELA 3, 4) 3. Learn about their parents'/guardians' occupation. (ELA 1), (CDOS 1) 4. Gain knowledge about how math is used in a specific job in the workplace. (ELA 1), (MST 1, 3), (CDOS 1) 5. Prepare a written report and make an oral presentation. (ELA 1, 4), (CDOS 1, 2)

Procedure: 1. The teacher will begin the lesson by having a class discussion about the use of math in students' daily activities. For example, time, money, measurement, probability, etc. The teacher will also ask the children why they think we need to learn math in school. The teacher should call on several students to get a variety of responses. If necessary, the teacher can guide them to say that math is used in many jobs, and we need to understand math to prepare us for our future career. 2. Next, the teacher will discuss with the students that they are going to work on a project that will let them research their parents'/guardians' career and discover how math plays a part in their career. The teacher can briefly explain the assessment and expectations. 3. The teacher will have the students pick one of their parents'/guardians' to research for their project. 4. The teacher can review note taking and research skills with the class. (This can also be done a previous day.) 5. The teacher will demonstrate how to use CareerZone by using a computer with a projection device for the entire class to view. 6. Next, the students will be able to research their parent/guardian occupations on CareerZone. The teacher can help the students find the cluster in which the occupation falls under or they can make a search. (Students will need to take turns, depending on the number of computers.) 7. The students need to scroll down the list to find the occupation. Once they find it, they need to read about the career while focusing on the mathematics aspect of the job. 8. The students must take notes on the information found at CareerZone. 9. The next step is for the students to create interview questions for their parent/guardian regarding their career. The questions can be generated by using the information from CareerZone. The teacher can discuss possible interview questions, focusing on how mathematics is used in their job. (Sample interview questions are: How many hours do you work a day, week? What type of schooling is required for your job? What are some of your daily routines at work?) The students must create 8-10 interview questions. 10. The teacher can give examples of different types of interviews (questionnaires and oral interviews with note taking). The students can choose their own method for conducting the interview. Everything must be turned in so that the teacher can check the students' work. 11. After conducting the interview, the students will compile a written report citing their sources. They need to explain their findings and discuss the interview in their report. Also, the report needs to include how math is used in the parents'/guardians' occupation. 12. The last part of this project is for the students to give an oral presentation to the class. The students can use index cards, PowerPoint, etc. to give their presentation.

Instructional/Environmental Modifications:

Materials and Supplies: 1. Paper 2. Pens/pencils 3. Computers with a projection device for the entire class to view CareerZone.

Time Required: This project can take about 3 days depending on class size and the number of computers. It will take approximately 20-30 minutes of outside time for the interview aspect of the project.

Assessment Tools and Techniques: 1. Did the students participate in class discussion? 2. Did the students take notes while researching the occupation at www.nycareerzone.org? 3. Did the students create 8-10 interview questions, including questions about mathematics? 4. Did the students create a written report about the occupation, including the sources used, information form CareerZone, and the interview? 5. Rubric for presentation: www.teach-nology.com/cgi-bin/presentation.cgi

Reflections: A great expansion activity is to invite the parents/guardians to the class to speak about the math connection in their career.