RET at UC

Research Experience for Teachers (2013-2014)

Disaster Relief - Precise Calculations When It Matters Most

Carlo Miraldi's Poster
Author: Carlo Miraldi
Unit Title: Disaster Relief - Precise Calculations
When It Matters Most
Grade Level: 11 - 12
Subject: Pre - Calculus
Estimated Duration: 8 days
Unit Activities:

Pre/Post Test:
Unit Assessment  

The Big Idea (including global relevance)

Disaster Relief

Accurate and Effective Through Precise Calculations. When disasters strike, many nations will come together to help with relief efforts. All those efforts need to be coordinated and precise in order to be effective and save the most lives. This unit will allow students to dig deeper into the kind of math involved when planning for a disaster relief effort.

Essential Questions

How does Math contribute to the best possible disaster relief plan?

The Hook

To introduce the importance of disaster relief, we will watch several different videos covering both the severity of the actual disasters and then the behind the scenes work that is involved in providing relief after these disasters strike.









These videos will help the students connect with the situations and realize the necessity for precise and accurate calculations while lives are in danger. The goal is to have the students want to be as accurate as possible by using bearings, Law of Sines, and Law of Cosines so that their plans can be detailed and not just guesses or estimates.


The Challenge

Design a detailed relief plan based on an infamous world disaster. This challenge will be the final activity after students will have already completed several small scale local challenges to build up to the culminating challenge. This plan will need to include accurate calculations for navigational directions, acceptable supply weight, fuel consumption, and flight times. Groups will present their final plans for students to vote on the best one.


Guiding Questions

  • Based on Disaster Relief, what are some essential questions that interest you?
  • What are some challenges when planning for disaster relief?
  • What are some guiding questions you need to have answered before we begin?
  • How do we give accurate navigational directions?
  • How do we calculate missing distances that are necessary for planning?
  • How do you design a detailed disaster relief plan?
  • How do you present your plan to be evaluated by peers?


ACS (Real world applications; career connections; societal impact)

Natural disasters are happening all around us. With camera phones and social networking we are able to feel more connected to each of these events even if they occur halfway around the world. Recently with Katrina in New Orleans, the earthquake of Haiti, and the tsunamis in India and Japan students should easily realize the need for accurate navigational directions and precise calculations in a time of need when lives are on the line immediately following a disaster.

The United States of America has always been compelled to help anyone in need all across the world. When we do give our time and money to help those in need, we want to know that it is being utilized effectively in the best way possible.

Disaster Relief Coordinator with the military, Red Cross, or Matthew 25 Ministries. Any product supply distribution logistics.

Misconceptions

Unit Lessons and Activities

  • Lesson 1: Understanding Disaster Relief
    • Activity 1: Essential Question (1 Day)
    • Activity 2: Learn Necessary Skills (1 Days)
  • Lesson 2: Designing a Disaster Relief Plan
    • Activity 3: Test Necessary Skills (2 Days)
    • Activity 4: Design a Plan (5 Days)
  • Evidence of CBL: Activity 4
  • Evidence of EDP: Activity 4


Additional Resources

Library and internet for research on disasters.