PART I: Teacher Notes

SECTION ONE: RATIONALE

The overall objectives of my STEM unit are to help students learn how to apply the algorithm to
calculate distance and graph their results with the aid of Google Earth and basic Excel
spreadsheet and graphing processes. I created these objectives by first looking at what skills
students in upper elementary/middle would need to acquire. Since learning math though rote
memorization and stereotypical worksheets proves difficult for many students, I utilized Google
Earth as a tool to allow for students to have a new way to apply their knowledge. From there, I
wanted students to take their recorded data and put it into a graph. This is skill is important for
students because it: 1) helps them to be able to transfer recorded data into a visual graphic and 2)
helps them to better understand how to read graphs. There is a potential for student
misconception when it comes to tools rather than content, so it is crucial that teachers make sure
to model each of the processes to the whole class, in addition to allowing students time to
explore the tools ahead of time.

SECTION TWO: STUDENT DOCUMENT ADDITIONS

I feel that my student documents are fairly straight forward, especially when put in context of my
detailed lesson plans. However, these can go awry if teachers are unfamiliar with the tools being
used. Below I have listed resources that I think would be useful for teachers if they were new to
these tools or wanted to brush up on their skills:

Google Earth Tutorial videos

o http://www.google.com/earth/learn/beginner.html

Excel Easy Tutorials for beginners on Excel functions

o http://www.excel-easy.com

Microsoft Office Tutorials on basic PowerPoint presentations

o http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/create-your-first-presentationRZ001129842.aspx

The Math Forum Speed, Distance, and Time formula

o http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/61520.html

Microsoft Office How to copy graphics between Excel and PowerPoint

o http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/copy-excel-data-or-charts-topowerpoint-HA010204555.aspx

SECTION THREE: LESSON PLANS

Lesson One
Title: What is Google Earth?
Objective
SWBAT determine distance (in miles) between multiple locations using Google Earths
placemarkers with 100% accuracy.
Materials Needed
Teacher laptop/desktop, projector, student computers/laptops/iPads with access to the Internet
and Google Earth (1 per student), Student Worksheet (see Appendix B one for teacher)
Anticipatory Set
The teacher will begin the lesson by showing the class Stand By Me by Playing for Change
(this can be accessed at the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsTVg40ExM&index=21&list=PLC122061BDC373B4B). After the video, the teacher will let the
class know that they will be working using Google Earth, a tool that allows people to see places
all over the world. Finally, the teacher will provide the overall unit objectives and lesson
objective to students.
Lesson Content
The teacher will provide an introduction to Google Earth, modeling using a laptop connected to a
projector. He/she will then cover how to find specific locations, create place markers, and
briefly model how to record distances in the Student Worksheet (see Appendix B) for the next
lesson.
Next, the teacher will open up the floor for students to explore the program, finding different
locations (e.g., distance between their house and the school), creating their own place markers,
and looking at various features of Google Earth. Students who are unfamiliar with the program
can get one-on-one help from the teacher or their peers at this point. The goal is for students to
have time to search and play around Google Earth to better understand its inner workings.
Wrap Up
The teacher will call all of the students back to talk after their time for exploration. Students will
be asked to discuss what they learned, which tools they found most useful, and what was difficult
during their exploration. If the teacher wanted, they could also use this time to have a contest to
see which student lives closest/furthest away from the school, state capitol, etc.

Lesson Two
Title: Search for the Capitol!
Objective
SWBAT determine distance (in miles) between multiple locations using Google Earths
placemarkers with 100% accuracy.
SWBAT create predictions of distances between capitols using their geographical knowledge of
the United States within 250 miles of the actual distance.
Materials Needed
Teacher laptop/desktop, projector, document camera, laptops/desktops/iPads with access to the
Internet and Google Earth (1 per student), Student Worksheet (see Appendix B, one sheet per
student), pencils
Anticipatory Set
The teacher will use the projector and document camera to show the entire class the Student
Worksheet (see Appendix B). He/she will go through it step by step, making sure to reiterate
that students should record their data as they work and that time must be rounded to the nearest
half hour.
Lesson Content
Students will go back to Google Earth, using what they learned from the previous lesson, and
create place markers to look at the distance between their school and the state capitol building
(Salem, Oregon). From there, they will select three other state capitol buildings collecting their
address online and find the distance between the capitol building in Salem, OR to each of the
other capitol buildings. Students will be recording their data while they work in Student
Worksheet (see Appendix B).
Wrap Up
Students will be given time to share which state capitol buildings they selected. For fun, they
can ask the class to predict how far they think it is from the Salem state capitol building before
providing the actual distance in miles.

Lesson Three
Title: Race to the Capitol!
Objective
SBWAT apply their knowledge of the distance, time, and speed formula to given word problems
with 75% accuracy.
Materials Needed
Projector, document camera, paper-pencil or whiteboard and markers (for demonstration in
anticipatory set), Problem Solving Worksheet (see Appendix C, one copy per student),
Student Worksheet (see Appendix B) from previous lesson
Anticipatory Set
Using the projector and document camera, the teacher will model working through a word
problem using the basic distance calculation algorithm. Getting student feedback for solving the
problems is vital. (*Note: It is implied that students have the pre-requisite knowledge on how to
calculate distance using the algorithm before beginning this unit.)
Lesson Content
Student will be provided with the Problem Solving Worksheet (see Appendix C). The teacher
will go through the worksheet step by step with the entire class. Then, students will solve each of
the given problems by using data collected from the previous lesson. Depending on the level of
students and the time of the year, the teacher may need to model this again one-on-one or in
small groups for students.
Wrap Up
Students will come up in front of the class with their worksheets and model how they solved the
word problems using the document camera and projector. It is crucial that students explain how
they got their data, how they transferred the data to their second worksheet, and each step in the
mathematical problem solving. If there is time, the teacher can again look to see which students
had locations that were the closest and furthest away (based on distance in miles) from Salems
state capitol building.

Lesson Four
Title: Show Your Findings!
Objective
SWBAT create a graph (line, bar, or dual bar) on Excel based on the given data that includes:
title, X axis label, Y axis label, key, and data with 75% accuracy.
Materials Needed
Teacher laptop/desktop, projector, laptop/desktop/iPad with access to Internet, Microsoft Excel,
and Microsoft PowerPoint (1 per student), Student Worksheet (see Appendix B) from previous
lesson
Anticipatory Set
Teachers will be creating an anchor chart with pictures of different types of graphs (see
Appendix D). Students may or may not be familiar with different types of graphs (if they are,
this can be removed an alternative anticipatory set can be used) so the purpose is to assess the
predicted and actual best uses for specific graphs. It is intended to get students thinking about
what types of graphs would be best for recording their own data sets.
Lesson Content
The teacher will demonstrate on his/her own computer (projected to the students) how to transfer
the table data findings into Excel, and from there how to create two different types of graphs
either a line graph or a dual bar graph (see Appendix E for examples). From there, teachers can
show how to create a few blank sides in PowerPoint with inserted text and their graph. Some
students may need this modeled again, so the teacher should model once whole class, and then
help students (or students can help their peers) if follow up is necessary.
Students will then work on their own on Excel and PowerPoint to create a basic presentation on
their findings. They must include text and either a line graph or bar graph showing the distance
(in miles) to each of the capitol buildings they selected.
(*Note: It is important to recognize that this lesson may span over several days, especially
depending on the previous experience students have had with Excel and PowerPoint.)
Wrap Up
Students will share their presentations to the whole class or within small groups. A teacher using a checklist, rubric, or observation - can assess this portion if desired.

SECTION FOUR: ASSESSMENT

This three-part assessment should be given to students after concluding Lesson 4 as a summative
assessment of what they have learned. Part I addresses students skills at using Google Earth,
Part II assess students skills at applying the distance formula, and Part III assess students skills
with graphing on Microsoft Excel. For the implementation of this assessment, students can
receive Part I and Part II stapled together. Once they have completed both, the teacher will allow
them to go and work on their Excel spreadsheet (Part III). This assessment can be completed in
one session or split into two different sessions.

Name ________________________________

Date ___________________

The Race Continues: Part I

1. Begin by opening up Google Earth.

2. Create a placemarker on the state capitol building in Salem, Oregon.
3. Create placemarkers for the following state capitol buildings: Alaska, Connecticut, and
Iowa. You can find the names and addresses of these capitol buildings using a search
engine (e.g., Google, Yahoo, Bing).
4. Fill out the following chart with the data you find.
5. When you are finished, please move on to Part II!

EXAMPLE

Alaska

Connecticut

Iowa

City, State, & Full Address

Predicted
Distance to
Salem (miles)

Distance to
Salem
(miles)

Travel Time
(hours)*

476 miles

8 hours

Boise, Idaho
450 miles
700 W. Jefferson St, Boise, ID 83702

*Please round the travel time to the nearest half hour for example, if the travel time was 2 hours and 18 minutes,
record the time as 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Name ________________________________

Date ___________________

The Race Continues: Part II

Work through the following problems using the data from your The Race Continues: Part I worksheet.
Please remember to show all of your work and to label your answers.

1. If you were travelling using a go kart that goes 20 miles per hour, how many hours would it
take to go from Salems capitol building to Alaskas capitol building?










2. If you were travelling with a horse and buggy going 55 miles per hour, how many hours
would it take to go from Salems capitol building to Connecticuts capitol building?

3. If you were travelling with a rocket going 78 miles per hour, how many hours would it take
to go from Salems capitol building to Iowas capitol building?

Name ________________________________

Date ___________________

The Race Continues: Part III

You have made it to the last piece of The Race Continues project! Using your data from The Race
Continues: Part I, please create a graph (either line or bar) that shows the distance in miles to Salems
capitol building from Alaskas, Connecticuts, and Iowas state capitol buildings. Make sure the label
your horizontal and vertical axes and give your graph a title. When you are done, please ask Ms.
Keithley to print it out for you. Good luck!

PART II: Student Documents

Appendix A: Google Earth Instructions

Since there already has been extensive work done creating succinct and clear work on this
topic, I decided I would directly utilize an authentic document. What I liked about this
particular document is that it included a screen shot of the actual placemarker (e.g., thumbtack)
as well as provided a great tutorial video. I have included a screenshot of the document, but
since Id have the students in the computer lab for these lessons, I would have them access the
actual webpage. (Creating a new place mark. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2014, from Google website:
https://support.google.com/earth/answer/148142?hl=en)

Appendix B: Student Worksheet

Name ________________________________

Date ___________________

Search for the Capitol

Today we will begin our journey around the nation through different state capitol buildings!
Record your findings as you work in the table below.

1. Begin by opening Google Earth.
2. Create a placemarker on the state capitol building in Salem, Oregon.
3. Select three other state capitols in the USA. You can find the names and addresses of
these capitol buildings using a search engine (e.g., Google, Yahoo, Bing). You cannot use
the same capitol as provided in the example.
4. Write down your prediction for the distance between your location and the capitol in
Salem, Oregon. No cheating by looking ahead!
5. Next, create placemarkers at each of your locations to see the distance between them
and Salems capitol and the given travel time.

If you finish this assignment quickly, I have provided two extra blanks for you to fill in with an
additional Location D and Location E.



City, State, & Full Address
Predicted
Distance to Travel Time
Distance to
Salem
(hours)*
Salem (miles)
(miles)



EXAMPLE Boise, Idaho
450 miles
476 miles
8 hours

700 W. Jefferson St, Boise, ID 83702
Location A




Location B




Location C

















*Please round the travel time to the nearest half hour for example, if the travel time was 2 hours and
18 minutes, record the time as 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Appendix C: Problem Solving Worksheet

Name ________________________________

Date ___________________

Race to the Capitol!

Today we will travel to see some of the nations finest state capitol buildings! As with any great road
trip, we need to know how long it will take us to get to our destination so we can plan how much time
we have to do fun things there! Unfortunately, we dont have cars so well have to use different types
of transportation to get places.

Work through the following problems using the data from your Search for the Capitol worksheet.
Please remember to show all of your work and to label your answers.

1. If you are travelling using rollerblades that go 10 miles per hour, how many hours would it
take to go from Salems state capitol building to your Location A?





2. If you are travelling with a bicycle going 18 miles per hour, how many hours would it take to
go from Salems state capitol building to your Location B?






3. If you are travelling with a jet pack going 83 miles per hour, how many hours would it take to
go from Salems state capitol building to your Location C?






Bonus Questions:
Which of your locations is farthest away from Salems state capitol building? How many miles away is
it?
Which of your locations is closest to Salems state capitol building? How many miles away is it?

Appendix D: Types of graphs anchor chart

I am enclosing this as part of the Student Documents assignment packet although it would not
necessarily be provided to students. I would use the following format but instead of a handout
would create a larger anchor chart. Students may not be familiar with the different types of
graphs (if they are this can be used as an anticipatory set or removed entirely) so the purpose
of this anchor chart is to assess the predicted and actual best uses for specific graphs. It is
intended to get students thinking about what types of graphs would be best for recording their
own data sets. Images were selected from Creative Commons.

Name of graph: ____________________________________

Predicted uses: _____________________________________

_________________________________________________

Actual best use: ____________________________________

Name of graph: ____________________________________

Predicted uses: _____________________________________

_________________________________________________

Actual best use: ____________________________________

Name of graph: ____________________________________

Predicted uses: _____________________________________

_________________________________________________

Actual best use: ____________________________________

Appendix E: Examples of Excel spreadsheets and graphs

This document would be used after Document 4 (see above). If students are familiar with Excel,
they can proceed to creating their documents on their own. If students need more specific
instruction, the teacher would go through this process step by step with them. An example of
the spreadsheet (i.e., transferring the data from Document 2 into Excel for graphs) is as follows,
in addition to examples of graphs if students are completely stuck.

Appendix E: Examples of Excel spreadsheets and graphs (cont.)