Mathematicians

Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen

$math problem$

Overview

Second graders learn new math facts and skills. It is important that they learn about mathematicians who made math discoveries and contributed to the field of mathematics. Learning about mathematicians will help them understand the importance of mathematics and inspire them to do their best in their math studies. In this lesson, students will use Michigan eLibrary to do their research.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Be able to research a mathematician.
Be able to summarize their research in a paragraph or two.
Be able to find and use copyright-free Google images. (from Pics4learning, Pexels, or Pixabay, etc.)

Vocabulary

Vocabulary Words:

Mathematician: A mathematician is a person skilled in or an expert in mathematics.

Pre-planning

To prepare for this lesson:

You will need a computer and internet access for each student (unless students are working together).
Bookmark the website Michigan eLibrary for the students.
You will show them how to use World Book Kids and locate famous mathematicians and do some research on a mathematician.
Create a document for the students to use for their assignment.
You will show students how to copy and paste images into the document. Students can click ctrl c to copy and ctrl v on their keyboard to paste the image.
You will show students how to resize the image of their mathematician once they copy it onto their document.
You will show students how to find copyright-free or public domain images from:

Accommodations

See the Accommodations Page and Charts on the 21things4student website in the Teacher Resources.
Struggling students might use an app that reads the text aloud to them.
Struggling students might work with another student on the assignment.

Steps

Directions for this activity:

The teacher will explain the term mathematician and show the students an example of a mathematician from the World Book Kids site.
The students will choose (or be assigned) a mathematician from the World Book Kids site to read about.
The students will summarize in a short paragraph or two in their document what they learned about their mathematician.
The students will copy and paste an image into their document from a copyright-free public domain website.
The students will resize their image once it is on their document.
The students will share their findings with the class or just submit them to their teacher.

Assessment Options

Different options for assessing the students:

Observations
Check for understanding

MITECS Competencies & ISTE STANDARDS

MITECS: Michigan adopted the "ISTE Standards for Students" called MITECS (Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students) in 2018.

Empowered Learner
1a. Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
1c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.

Digital Citizen
2b. Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.