Basic Productivity Tools (BPT)

Lesson Idea Name: Exploration and Investigation of New COVID-19 Cases in Cobb County
Content Area: Algebra 1
Grade Level(s): 9th Grade
Content Standard Addressed: MGSE9-12.F.IF.4 Using tables, graphs, and verbal descriptions,
interpret the key characteristics of a function which models the relationship between two quantities.
Sketch a graph showing key features including: intercepts; interval where the function is increasing,
decreasing, positive, or negative; relative maximums and minimums; symmetries; end behavior; and
periodicity.
Technology Standard Addressed: Knowledge Constructor- 3c. Students curate information from
digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that
demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
Selected Technology Tool: Microsoft Excel

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable): https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/?

CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fcases-updates
%2Fcases-in-us.html#mobility

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☐ Remembering ☐ Understanding ☐ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☒

Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☒ Level 4: Integration

☐ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

The productivity tool I have chosen for the students to use is Microsoft Excel. This will allow students
to organize their data and create a graph that best fits the data found. Students will be able to enter
the wanted demographics and then look at the graphs given on the CDC website to collect the data
they need; this highlights the representation principle of UDL. Students will also be able to then
demonstrate what they have collected on Excel by creating a data table and graph which I will be
giving them feedback on; this highlights the action and expression principle. Due to the fact that this
information is relevant to our current time and our students, I feel as though this lesson is quite
engaging for students to explore; which perfectly highlights the engage principle.

Lesson idea implementation:

Introduction (5/10 Minutes):
Students will be asked to partner up and grab a laptop. Students will then be given by the teacher
the link provided. This link will bring them to the CDC website that displays a graph of COVID-19
cases depending on the inputted information. Students will be asked to input the following into the
website: GA for the state, Cobb County for the Select County, and New Cases for the Select Metric of
Interest.
Spring 2018_SJB
 Basic Productivity Tools (BPT)
Explore ( 40/50 Minutes) :
After the students have gotten set up, they will use the exploration period of the lesson by looking at
the graph created on the CDC website via the information they inputted. They will be asked to
record the number of new cases each month starting from January 2020 to September 2020. After
recording the information, the students will then go into Microsoft Excel and create a two-variable
data table inputting their recorded information. After the creation of the table students will then
create a linear graph that represents their data via the Insert and then Linear function option on
Excel. They must pay careful attention to label their axis and provide a clear and concise title in their
graph. During this time, the teacher will be observing student progress and answering any questions.
Closing (15/20 Minutes):
After all pairs have created their tables and graphs, they will come back together as a whole class
where we, the students and teacher, will discuss some of their findings. Some questions that will be
asked in the closing include:
- From what months were there a sharp increase in new cases in Cobb county?
- From what months were there a decrease in new cases in Cobb county?
- Is the number of new cases in September an actual representation of the total number of
new cases for the month? Why is that?
- Based on the trends in the graph, can we accurately predict what October, November, and
December will look like? Why or Why not?

Reflective Practice:
The activity I created is relevant and engaging to the students and can be designed to be relevant for
any classroom anywhere in the United States. I would use this activity as an introduction into a unit
of characteristics of linears. This activity gets the students comfortable with assessing graphs and
looking at the trends of increasing and decreasing functions and how they relate in a contextual
situation. You could further extend the lesson by adding another Metric of Interest and having the
students compare multi-variable relationships between, for example, New Cases and Total Cases per
month. To further enhance this project, you can have the students input their chart and graph into
Microsoft Word and have them create a report where they answer the questions provided in the
closing portion of the lesson.

Spring 2018_SJB