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Lesson Plans > Mathematics > Grades 6 - 8 > Building Staircases: Understanding Slope
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Kinesthetic Learner
Kinesthetic Learner
Visual Learner
Visual Learner
Auditory Learner
Auditory Learner
Technology Integration
Technology Integration

Building Staircases: Understanding Slope

Learn to understand and calculate slope

Grade Level: 6-8

Concept: Understand and calculate slope

Estimated Duration: 40 minutes
 
Objectives
Students will be able to:
  • understand the importance of slope
  • use blocks to model the slope of a line
  • calculate the slope of a line on a coordinate grid

Materials

White board
Yard sticks
Blocks
Grid paper
Hand-out with exercises to define slope

Differentiation Strategies

These strategies are used to meet the varied needs of all learners:
  • for various grade levelsVarying academic levels: uses mixed-ability groups that allow students to learn from one another,  uses small- and whole-group discussions to ensure all students participate
  • for visual learnersVisual learners: incorporates staircase diagrams and lines on a coordinate grid
  • for auditory learnersAuditory learners: group discussion identifies that there are limitations with using English language to describe the slope of a line
  • for kinesthetic learnersKinesthetic learners: using blocks to build models of slope engages students
 
Key Vocabulary
slope
coordinate grid
coordinate pairs
 
Procedures

Warm Up

  • for visual learners  Lay one yard stick flat on the ground.  Lay another yard stick vertically against a wall.
  • for auditory learners  Have students use terms to explain, to a partner, the positions of these yard sticks.
  • Have students share the terms they came up with to describe the position of the yard sticks.
  • Explain that it is hard to describe slope using everyday language, but it is easy to describe with mathematics.
  • for visual learners  Write and define the term slope on the board.

Direct Instruction

  • for visual learners  Build one staircase with a slope of 1 using blocks (by placing together one block, then two blocks, then three, etc.) and one staircase with a slope of 2 using blocks. Balance a yard stick on each staircase, and ask students how they might calculate the slope of the yard stick.
  • for visual learners  Create a diagram on grid paper illustrating the staircases within a coordinate grid.
  • for auditory learners  Explain how to calculate the slopes of each of the yard sticks.
  • Compare the numerical values with the everyday expressions the class came up with during the warm-up activity.

Practice

  • for various grade levels Create mixed-ability groups of three students each.
  • Distribute blocks, yard sticks and grid paper.
  • for kinesthetic learners  Assign each group a slope and have them build a model of a staircase with that slope.
  • On grid paper, have students illustrate the staircase and show how they calculated the slope.
Assessment
  • Have each group show their staircase, illustrations, and calculations to the class.
  • for visual learners  Distribute a worksheet in which students calculate the slope of a line.
  • for auditory learners  Invite students to come to the board to show how they found the slope.
Closure
  • for auditory learners  Ask students to describe the position of the yard sticks from the warm-up activity by estimating the slope.
  • Point out that mathematics can define the position of these yards sticks much more accurately than everyday language.
  • Applied learning: Ask students to describe objects they encounter in their everyday lives that have slopes (e.g. ramps, slides, ladders). 
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