Gold Seal Lesson:
Cad Cars

Copernicus Education Gateway

Subject:

Mathematics

Grade:

9-12

ICLE Standards:

Mathematics:  Problem Solving: Acquire confidence in using mathematics meaningfully.

Mathematics:  Develop numerical recording and graphing skills.

Physical Sciences:  Develop an understanding of forces and motion.

Science and Technology:  Develop abilities of technological design.

Language Arts:  Use writing to communicate.

Performance Task:

You are a master designer of automobiles. You note that resources of materials and of fuels are decreasing. You have been assigned to the task force that designs the infrastructure of a car powered by air pressure. It is up to you to design an efficient car that uses the least amount of material possible. To help you do the best job possible, your corporation has purchased for you a CAD program and model-making materials (wood and glue). You must prove that your car is the most efficient by testing its distance traveled, acceleration, velocity and weight. The task list given to you by your corporation is as follows...

• Design your model car on CAD, using your knowledge of forces to create a strong yet lightweight car.

• Use your drawing to correctly create your model out of wood.

• Test your model using an air compressor to fill its "tank" (an empty pop bottle).

• Using a watch with a second hand and measuring tape, calculate your car's distance, acceleration and velocity. 

• Record data using appropriate graphs.

• Weigh on a balance scale.

• Back to the drawing board…

• After testing once, make any changes on CAD necessary that might increase your car's distance, velocity and acceleration and will decrease its weight.

• Make any appropriate changes to your model.

• Re-test and this time test with a CBL machine (Computer Based Learning) to get an accurate reading of distance, acceleration and velocity which can be mathematically calculated from the derived graph.

• Write a one to two page report that compares your first car to your second car and what you learned from your tests, explaining what you needed to do to improve your car and why.

Knowledge / Skills:

Perform operations with signed (positive and negative) numbers, including decimals, ratios, percents, and fractions. M.1

Understand the best procedures for statistical data collection, organization, and display. M.5

Understand and use a variety of organizational formats such as compare/contrast, cause/effect, inductive/deductive, most important to least important, and least important to most important. ELA.50

Plan and apply real or hypothetical models and constructions to facilitate investigation and learning and the solution to practical problems. 115

Rubric:

4 POINTS: The student was able to build the first model on CAD directly from printed drawings without "designing as he/she built it." The model was clean, neat, lightweight and held together when tested. The student had a clear understanding of the mathematical calculations used to compute the data accurately. He/she was able to analyze the information from the tests and modified the model so that the test results showed improvement from the first set of tests. The student's written report correctly used the data to illustrate findings and was free from grammatical error.

3 POINTS: The student had few differences between his/her car and their CAD drawing. The model showed stray strings of glue and did not fit together neatly. The student could grasp most of the mathematical calculations needed, but failed to complete all of them. The student's car improved in some, but not all of the categories. The student's report did not directly explain in mathematical or scientific terms the data found. There are few grammatical errors in the report.

2 POINTS: The student generally followed his/her CAD drawing but mostly "designed as he/she went." The model was constructed incorrectly and used materials other than the ones supplied. Parts of the car fell off when being tested. The data was recorded incorrectly and several of the calculations are incorrect. The student faired worse when re-tested after the modifications. The written report did not relate or include the mathematical data and had several grammatical errors.

1 POINTS: The student did not follow the CAD drawing at all when building his/her model. The model was not neat and did not survive the testing process. The student lacks understanding of recording and analyzing the data. No or little modifications are done to the model after testing. No report is written or does not contain any data and has major grammatical errors.

Keywords:

STATISTICS
DATA ANALYSIS
DATA COLLECTION
GRAPHS
PROBLEM SOLVING
TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
EVALUATE
COMPUTATION
GRAMMAR
COMPARE/CONTRAST
MODELS AND CONSTRUCTION

Grades:

Kg [] - 1 [] - 2 [] - 3 [] - 4 [] - 5 [] - 6 [] - 7 [] - 8 [] - 9 [x] - 10 [x] - 11 [x] - 12 [x]

ICLE Application:

D

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