Mathematics

“I really liked the fact that we tried all together to find the best solution and we
worked in groups” (Student aged 16, boy)
“I liked that we went to the lake and experienced the real phenomenon”
(Student aged 18, girl).
“I liked that the local councillor listened to our solutions and what we had to
say. She might not be able to do something about the problem herself but at
least she listened to what we did. I understood how these people work”
(Student aged 18, girl).
“It was not a lesson from a book, it was great that we studied the theme in
depth; we discussed many details for each organism” (Student aged 14, girl,).
“I liked the fact that we were free to find our own solution”(Student aged 14,
girl).
Lesson Activities Key issues
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lessons 3-5
Lessons 6-8
Lessons 9-
10
Lessons 11-
12
Lessons 13-
14
Introducing the problem: What is the best solution to decrease the
amount of mosquitoes in our local area?
Students work in groups and proposed a working plan
Each group presents and explain their proposal
Discussion, argumentation and decision making on possible
solution:
Chemical spraying
Biological spraying to kill mosquito larvae
Introduction of new species
Genetic modification of mosquitoes
Visit to the salt lake to study the ecosystem of the area and
facilitate the understanding of the underlying problem
Students worked in their groups, and built a three dimensional
physical model of the salt lake to represent the data gathered.
They present and explain their model to the rest of the group,
justifying their decision making
Students worked in their groups, using their model as a visual aid
to help them understand the effects of the proposed solutions,
and for each proposed solution, to argue either for, or against.
Each group presented their model, justifying the solution chosen,
and had the opportunity to challenge other groups’ solutions.
A municipal chancellor visited the class. Firstly, each group
presented the proposed solution through their models showing
possible effects and justifying their choice. After the presentations
the municipal chancellor asked questions about the effects of
each solution
To promote motivation and
engagement
Facilitate students’ empowerment
Promote discussion and
argumentation on benefits and
cons associated to each solution
Guide students towards profitable
ways of working and investigable
issues
Draw attention on the role of
models to represent and study
phenomena
Value evidence-based and justified
decision making
Promote the communication and
discussion of results and the
evaluation of alternative solutions
Students developed a sense of
ownership and empowerment and
contribute to the search for
solutions with a final product
Table 1: Lesson plan for the task ‘Searching for solutions to an excessive
amount of mosquitoes in a salty lake’
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