Activity 5 (Small-Group Activity)
Locker Room Project

Students estimate the cost of refurbishing the locker room at their school. Use with the Student Copy and the Reference Copy.

This activity requires several days to complete. A previous trial of this activity took 8 partial class periods, in addition to outside class time. It is recommended that at least 3 students be assigned to a group so that the work can be adequately divided. Note: The student sheets have been prepared so that you can have students estimate the cost of refurbishing a room other than a locker room. Labor costs have not been included in the report because it is difficult for students to make valid estimates of the time needed to complete remodeling work. If a local remodeler were available to give students an idea of labor costs for a given project, labor costs could be added to the project.

Introduction:

• To extend understanding of the process of measurement.
• To solve measurement-related problems from everyday life.
• To collect data from sources outside of the classroom.

How Much Do We Need?

1. The measurements must be rounded up so that enough paint or carpet is purchased. Be careful not to round up too much because you have to pay for the unused material. With carpet, it is also important to consider how the seams will run (most carpet is sold in 12-foot widths). You don't want to have a seam running across the path students use to enter the room!

2. Rounding to estimate area can be done before finding wall or floor area (e.g., round an 11-foot 8-inch wall to 12 feet), or after finding area. The latter is more exact, but rounding before you multiply usually results in easier numbers to work with (e.g., you can work with whole numbers of feet).

3. 5 one-gallon cans of paint are needed. Assuming that the paint covers 450 sq. ft. as the label suggests, one can will not be completely used.

4. A square that is one yard long on each side is 1 square yard (1 yard x 1 yard = 1 sq. yd.). The same square is 3 feet on a side and so it is 9 square yards (3 feet x 3 feet = 9 sq. ft.). Divide square yards by 9 to get square feet since there are 9 square feet per square yard.

Remodeling the Locker Room

Grade

1. These projects have the following characteristics: measurements are accurate and rounded appropriately; calculations are accurate; group/individual shows excellent evidence of planning and attention to detail; assumptions and procedures are clearly expressed; proposals are realistic, creative, and appropriate.

2. These projects have the following characteristics: information is not as clear, accurate, inventive, well-planned, detailed, or appropriate, but the overall proposal is good.

3. These projects have the following characteristics: information is deficient in some respect, such as clarity, creativity, planning, or detail, but the overall proposal is adequate.

4. These projects have the following characteristics: major problems with proposal task that make it unsatisfactory, but the task has some redeeming qualities.

5. These projects have the following characteristics: little or no effort extended toward the proposal task, or completely inadequate proposal.

Closing Discussion

Use the Written Proposal Guidelines (see R5, p. 13) as a catalyst for discussion. Have students determine the reasons for their different cost estimates.