TECNOLÓGICO DE MONTERREY

PREPA TEC
Calculus I

Calculus Core Activity-Phase 2 – Construction of a model

General Instructions:
 You will work in teams of 3 or 4 students
 You will need construction paper or cardboard (enough to build 8 boxes), scissors and/or cutter
knives, glue, tape, rulers.

Initial procedures
 Each team member should build 2 figures in the form of the assigned shape rectangular prism (de-
fined by the table at the end of the document) with the particular specifications assigned to your
team.
 All figures should have different measurements. Take pictures of the process of building the boxes (to
be included in the final document).

The container to build…

Should be an open/closed box (rectangular prism without/with a top). The volume is A cm3,
where the length of the base of the container should be B the width of the base.

Here you have an example of how to do it:

1) Imagine you are part of team 1. The volume you have to use is 800 cm3 (as specified in the table at the end of
this document)
2) As a student, you will choose a value for the width (W) of the base.
No width could be repeated on the table in your team.
The range for the measures for the width you can use goes from 4 cm to 9 cm. Don´t use a measure for
width less than 4 cm or great than 9 cm.
If someone in your team has chosen 4 cm, that measure could be used only one time by that
person. This means someone else must choose, for example, 4.5 cm; the next one, will use
4.75 cm, and so on.
Imagine you have decided to make a box, width of 5 cm.
3) If the width is 5 cm, then the length is 10 cm (double or twice the value of the width, as specified in the table
at the end of this document).
4) If the width is 5 cm and the length is 10 cm, then you can use de volume formula for a prism
V=W*L*H to isolate height. In this example, 800 cm 3 = (5 cm)(10 cm) (H). The height will be of
800/50 = 16 cm.
5) That means that Length L = 10 cm / Width W = 5 cm / Height H = 16 cm.
6) With these measures, you can build your box.

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 TECNOLÓGICO DE MONTERREY
PREPA TEC
Calculus I

Construct a table where you register the following information

Figure # Built by (Name of the student) Length Width Height Volume (cm3) Surface area (cm2)
(cm) (cm) (cm)

10

To calculate the volume of the box, you need to use the following formula: V =W ∙ L∙ H
To calculate the surface area of the box, you need to use the following formula:
A=W ∙ L+2 L∙ H +2 H ∙ W – open box or
A=2W ∙ L+2 L ∙ H + 2 H ∙W – closed box
Make sure to include all the procedures to find the volumes and surface area for all boxes.
Explain and justify the formulas and procedures that you used.

Final Reflections (answer, as a team, all the questions with a complete and developed an-
swer. Avoid to write only a sinlge sentence and construct a well defined reflection for each
one).
 Which of your boxes requires the least material to be built?
 What is the relationship of this with the cost of producing and using the box as a container for a new product?
 Do you think that if you build more boxes, you can find a better option, allowing you to reduce the cost of the
box?
 How can you guarantee that the box you choose to use, as the container of this new product, is the best one?
The one with the least cost?

Make a document (PDF) where you include all of the information mentioned
above. Due date: Your teacher will communicate this date.

One student per team will upload the final document (no links to google docs or similar) on
Canvas on the space indicated by your teacher

The document must include:

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 TECNOLÓGICO DE MONTERREY
PREPA TEC
Calculus I
a) Cover Page with: Institution’s logo, title of the project, due date, group # of calculus, complete name of your teacher of
calculus, ID and complete names of all the students.
b) Title of the project: Key Activity – Phase 2 – Construction of a model
c) Document’s Body:
a. Table from the previous section.
b. At least three photos of the building process per each student.
c. Answers for the final reflections.
The grade of this project will be considered as your second partial collaborative activity.
This phase of the project (core activity), will be evaluated based on:
Building your boxes Presentation

 Participation
 Photos of the particular process of Mathematical data Use of appropriate
making the boxes for EACH stu- Clarity & precision Reflections mathematical
dent (at least three photos of calculations terminology and
per student in the team) notations
20% 50% 20% 10%

Penalties:
1) -5 points if the Cover Page doesn’t contain all the listed elements.
2) -5 points if the title project is not “Core Activity - Phase 2 – Construction of a model”.
3) -2.5 points per each photography that is not included (3 per each student).
4) -10 points if the table misses some data.
5) -10 points if there some answer for the final reflections is missing.
6) -5 points for each procedure error

Take care of the final document because you will be using your findings to complete the Key Activity to-
wards the end of the semester.

TEA A B Type of box

M
1 800 Twice Open

2 1000 Twice Open

3 1200 Twice Open

4 1500 Twice Open

5 2000 Twice Open

6 800 Triple Closed

7 1000 Triple Closed

8 1200 Triple Closed

9 1500 Triple Closed

10 2000 Triple Closed

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