March 9, 2010

You watch Scooby Do

We have read Math Curse
And, of course
You love Math!
Now you are ready
To write a

MATH MYSTERY!
 Almost everything in life can be thought of
as a math problem. For this assignment, we
Explore Math will form teams to collaborate and write our
own math inspired short stories that are of
Mysteries… the mystery genre. The stories must include
five math problems.

at home… In order to satisfactorily complete this

project, every group member must keep a
math mystery journal and compile a portfolio
at school… that will include everything we come across
on our journey.

anywhere you go! At the end of this assignment, you will have
written a short story that uses math to solve
a mystery.
 For this assignment, you will be divided into teams. Each team will be
responsible for creating their own math-based short story. Teams should
assign specific roles to each team member, and each member should be
responsible for completing their share of the assignment.
Remember, communication with teammates is very important. Teams will be
given time to work together in class, but they will also be encouraged to
discuss the assignment outside of class either through meetings, phone calls,
texting, or online chatting.
Mysteries are stories that have a plot
involving a crime or other puzzling event
Are you familiar with any of these
which is not solved until then end. Mysteries Famous Mysteries?
often have a surprise ending in which the Sherlock Holmes
truth is finally revealed.
Agatha Christy
Common elements of a mystery include: a
crime, a detective or other person Nancy Drew
attempting to solve the crime, multiple Hardy Boys
suspects and possible endings, clues, a Numb$rs (watch the video below!)
chase scene!

Media
Elements

For more inspiration, click this link on Mystery Writing.

 Short Stories We Have Read
What is a Short Story?

A short story is a fiction work that The Librarian and the Robbers
usually has a single plot,
a small number of characters, and
takes place in a short period of time.
Your short story should be no more
than 3000 words.
Components of a Short Story – Plot,
Setting, Characters, Theme
What will the Title of your story be?
Short Story Math
Problems

Math has never been so funny. When

Mrs. Fibonacci tells her class, "You know,
you can think of almost everything as a
math problem," the Math Curse begins
for the little girl in the story. Getting
dressed, eating breakfast, waiting for the
bus -- EVERYTHING becomes a math
problem. How will the math curse ever
be broken? By using math, of course.
You will use a few different types of Math Challenges
math problems throughout your Click on lines for more information:
story. You must include at least one
Fibonacci Sequence
of the math challenges listed on the
right. Sieve of Eratosthenes
Then at least four math problems of Perfect Numbers
your choosing, from lessons that Roman Numerals
you have already covered. This
Other Numeric Systems like Hindu,
could include addition, subtraction,
Arabic, Chinese
multiplication, division, time of day,
measurements, temperature, Statistics
number theory, etc.
Before beginning this project, we will
discover what we already know about
math, short stories, and mysteries.
First fill out your KWL sheet, so we can
start to compile information into our
portfolios that will hold all the
information, ideas and knowledge that
we gather in our journey.
What do we already know?
What do we want to learn?
It is important to remember that
recording your thoughts, ideas, and
research materials will benefit your
team’s success. Use your journals to
record all information and use your
portfolios to compile all hard copies.
The rubric you follow will depend on
the type of medium you use to present
your short story. Copies of all rubrics
should be filed in your portfolios,
regardless of which medium you choose
to submit your short stories.
Again – all information must be copied
and compiled in order for your groups
to be successful. You must collaborate
and consider everyone’s ideas and
opinions then decide how to use as
many of these ideas as possible in your
final project.
Observe the math problems
around you.
How long does it take you to get
ready for school?
How much warmer is it outside
compared to yesterday?
Brainstorm and log ideas into
your journals.
You will work as part of a
team to write a short
mystery story that includes
five math problems. Each
story will be loaded into the
class wiki. There are two
formats you can use to write
your short stories:
• Microsoft Word
• Comic Life
All projects will be stored in a wiki that was created for this class.
A wiki is an editable website. To see the class wiki, check out
Math Mysteries Wiki . You can first create your document in
Microsoft Word or ComicLife then upload or paste it into the
wiki.

By using a wiki, your team’s story will be available for anyone to

read on the Internet.
One option for telling your story is the traditional way – write your words in
rough draft format, then edit, and revise to produce the finished piece.
Microsoft Word should be used.

Many famous short stories have been published on the Internet. Check out
An Elephant’s Child by Rudyard Kipling. It took him over 70 years to get on
the internet. You’ll be published after this assignment!

To see short mysteries written by other students, check out Read Student
Writing !

For instructions on how to upload or paste your story into a wiki, check out
Loading Your Story into the Wiki .
Another option for telling your story is to create a comic. ComicLife (www.comiclife.com) is a
website that allows you to create a story in a comic book style. You can upload pictures and
insert text in word balloons just like in the comics you see in the newspaper every day. Using this
website, your group can create a comic, then save and upload it into the class wiki.
For a quick tutorial, check out the You Tube video below.
To see comics written by other students, check out Read Student Comics !
For instructions for how to upload your comic into the class wiki, check out Loading Your Comic
into the Wiki.
As for all our projects, a rubric will
be provided so that you can
understand how your work will be
assessed. There is a rubric for the
text and a rubric for ComicLife.
Each student will be assessed on
- the quality of the story
- the accuracy of the mathematics
- contributions to the team
To see the rubric for text click this
link => Wiki Rubric
To see the rubric for ComicLife
click this link => ComicLife Rubric
Printouts of each rubric will be
handed out in class.
Practice digital citizenship

Draw conclusions

Contribute to your team

Develop content

Use technology for your learning!

This is our last project which will bring a
very great year to an end!

You will have four weeks to work on this

project. The due date is May 28, 2010.

Please have fun while learning!

 To view these slides and other class
materials, please visit our wiki at
www.math-mysteries-materials.wikispaces.com