Article

Study “Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century”

By Catherine Fosnot

Professional DevelopmentMay 24, 2011

Measuring MelonsJason is selling fruit at the Farmers' Market. To attract

customers to his booth, he has made up a contest! He has these photos of combinations of fruit on display. His contest is

to find out how much each fruit weighs.

Melanie looks at his photos and tells him, "I know how much one melon weighs.“ How might Melanie have figured out how much one melon weighs? How much does each type of fruit weigh?

Let’s Get

Warmed Up

8.25 lbs. 9.5 lbs. 11.5 lbs.

Introduction Paragraph

& A Brief

Historical Look at

Constructivism and Its

Foundation

ReadEach group will do a Role Play showing what math learning and a classroom environment looked like in

their selected decade:• 60s• 80s

• Today

1960s• Video clip of “I Love Lucy” theme song

1980s• Video clip of “Cosby Show” theme song

Today• Video clip of “Two and a Half Men”

theme song

The Biological Foundation – Cells as Open

Systems &

The Cognitive Science

Foundation

Read Making Connections

Test each topic on your paper brain to determine which ones

stimulate mathematical connections (light up). Record your findings on the t-chart and

respond to questions.

Constructivist Pedagogy vs.

Constructivism as a Learning

Theory

ReadGet the “Gist”

Each group will write a brief gist (one sentence).