South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

If You Hopped Like a Frog. (Grade 6-8)

Master Teacher

Rose Clark Kebe

Time Allotment

Two or three 50-minute class periods

Overview

We are doing to do a ratio! Ratios are a comparison between quantities. Ratios compare numbers. This relation ship can be expressed with a colon (:), by placing them between the amounts present or write them as fractions. You will be able to form ratios that show parts to whole, whole to part, or part-to-part for any group. The ratios are equal if they are equal when written as fractions. So let's hop out of here and get started with ratios!

Subject Matter

Mathematics

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Perform arithmetic operations involving ratios.
Understand and use ratios and proportions to represent quantitative relationships.
Build conceptual understanding of ratio.
Create and write ratios and proportions from applied situations and explain the reasoning used.

South Carolina Curriculum Standards

(These Standards can be found online at www.myscschools.com/offices/cso .)

Numbers and Operations.

I. D Understand and use ratios and proportions to represent quantitative relationships.

1. Connect the concept of ratio and fractions by determining the equivalence of two ratios.

2. Create and write ratios and proportions from applied situations and explain the reasoning used.

Media Components

Video

The Zany World of Basic Math, Module 10: Ratios and Percents: "Ratios" (2:30)

This video explains and demonstrates ratios. The video also provides examples of how to express ratios.

To access this video clip , log on to your account at ETV's StreamlineSC Web page ( http://etv.streamlinesc.org ). In the search by keyword box, type in the The Zany World of Basic Math series title and hit go. Stroll down to Zany World of Basic Math Module 10 and then Ratio Click and download that segment to your desktop.

( Note to Teacher: If you don't have an account with ETV's StreamlineSC , check with your media specialist about signing up for an account.)

Web Sites

Determining Ratios

http://www.aaamath.com/B/g62b_fx1.htm

Students will be given a problem to determine the ratio. The activity tracks time, correct, and incorrect answers.

Trackstar

http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp

Students will practice his/her skills about ratios. They will have to answer questions to answer questions.

Materials

Pencils

Book- If You Hopped Like a Frog by David M. Schartz and illustrated by James Warhol (Scholastic, Inc., 1999)

Fruit-5 bananas, 4 oranges, and 3 apples

Equipment

Computer Lab (one per student)

LCD projector

Prep for Teachers

Download and preview video clip.

When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction , a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Ask your class if they have ever heard or stated the following statements:

I have eyes like a hawk!

I have a nose like a hound dog!

He eats like a pig!

He runs like a tiger!

Have you ever used any of these phrases? ( Yes ) What do you think the person was saying? ( They all are comparing a human to an animal .) What is a comparison? ( Looking at this to find similarities and differences ) Why do we compare? (Accept answers with similarities and differences) Let's take a closer look with a story.

Step 2: The story If You Hopped Like a Frog is about a boy who wanted to hop like a frog and eat like a snake. He wondered how he could do these things being his size. This book helps students create a focus on comparisons. The book is available at most public libraries or can be purchased.

Begin reading the book If You Hopped Like a Frog by David M. Schartz and illustrated by James Warhola.

Provide students with an idea of what the book is about by asking how far do you think you could jump if you were a frog. Start reading the book. After reading " . you could lift a car!," ask can an ant lift a car? (No) So why do you think you would be able to lift a car? (Peoples are stronger than an ant's strength.) Continue the story until you read, "If you ate like a Shrew." Ask students what kind of animal is a shrew? ( Shrews are very small and very aggressive mammals. Shrews are related to moles; they are not rodents. They need to eat their own weight in food every day!) Read the section about the shrew.

Tell the students you want to jump ahead in the story to the most interesting comparison found in the book, "If you grew as fast in your first nine months as you did in the nine months before you were born." Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking: How tall do you think you would be? (Accept all answers) How much do you think you would weigh? (Accept all answers) Continue to read the height and weight. Stop the book there and let them know if they want to know more please check out the book and finish reading it. Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking the students what did we compare today and what were we comparing? (Accept all acceptable answers.)

Now the story introduces comparisons, like relates comparisons to math! Introduce the video clip from StreamlineSC , The Zany World of Basic Math, Module 10: Ratios and Percents: "Standard Deviants: Ratios."

Learning Activity

Step 1: Before starting the video, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to look for the definition of ratio and the names of the parts of a fraction. PLAY video clip. STOP clip when you hear the girl with the green shirt, leaning on a chest of drawers say, "like fractions, ratios tell you how much you got in comparison to the whole." Ask what is a ratio? ( Comparison of two numbers by division, or relationship between two quantities ) When would you use a ratio? (Comparing stocks, prices, items, etc.) What is a fraction? ( small part of an item forming a piece of a whole or the quotient of two rational numbers) What are the two parts of a fraction? (Denominator [bottom number] and numerator [top number]) Let's see what else we can find out about ratios!

Step 2: RESUME video clip. STOP when you hear the man with glasses and brown shirt say, "and they are all for me, (laughing)." Check for comprehension by asking how many cups of coffee? How many cups of expresso? How many cups of cappuccino? (5 regular, 4 expressos, and 2 cappuccinos)

Step 3: Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking students to look for how ratios are formed? PLAY the video clip. STOP when you hear "that eleven would be the denominator because it represents the whole." How can you make a ratio out of this information? (Accept all answers) Check for comprehension by asking what would be the numerator? (5, 4, or 2)

Step 4: RESUME video. Play to the end of the clip. Check for comprehension by asking what role fractions play in ratios? (shows how to express ratios) What ratio preferred jujitsu masters in the classroom? (27:55) What are two ways we can express this ratio? (27:55 [colons] or 27/55 [fraction bar])

Step 5: You will give additional examples by having three types of fruit. You should have five bananas, four oranges, and three apples. Check for comprehension by asking what is the ratio of bananas to this group of fruit? (5:12) What is the ratio of oranges? (4:12 or 1:3 Explain giving answers in simplest forms.) What is the ratio of apples? (3:12 or 1: 4)

Step 6: Visit the Web site http://www.aaamath.com/B/g62b_fx1.htm Explain and remind students that with ratios and fractions all answers need to be in simplest forms. Tell them that ratios are formed with colons, slashes, or with the word "and." Explain that ratios represent how one number is related to another number. Students will visit the Web site, before they start teacher will explain how to use the site. Provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction by asking them to pay close attention to expressing the ratio by using colons, start button, timer, number of problems correct and incorrect. Students will be allowed solve as many problems in two minutes as possible. Click on start to stop the clock. After the two minutes, click on report and record your data, such as number of problems correct, incorrect, and percent correct.

Check for comprehension by asking students to write a brief reflection about at least one Web site.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Students will work in cooperative pairs to calculate if they hopped like a frog, how far could they hop? The teacher will provide groups with the fact that a frog can hop 20 times its body length. Each student will find the length of his/her body from head to feet in inches. And then multiply this number by 20 and see how far each would hop in inches. The challenge to this activity would be to convert the inches into feet, yards, and miles.

Step 2: Visit Web site Trackstar at http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp . Students will complete a trackstar #270763-If I Hopped Like A Frog. Student will answer the questions in the annotations.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Health: Have students gather data of different aged students to see the ratio of height to changes with age. Direct students to make a scatter plot and find an average for each age. Students may find a box and whisker plot provides a clearer comparison of all the data.

Community Connections

Pediatrician-A local pediatrician can come talk with the class about babies and birth charts. The doctor can explain how a baby's weight, height, and head size is charted and compared (ratio) to his/her developmental stages from birth to age two. The doctor can explain how these three factors are important in a child's development

Student Materials

Paper
Pencil
An open mind to learning