Do You Like Your Job?

Developed by Mr. Ryan Michaud (ryan.michaud1@maine.edu)

Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion

Introduction
        If you really like your jobs you are going to have to work hard to keep them. You will be using the Pythagorean Theorem to prove you are all assets to your company hence keeping your jobs. You will have to use various forms of the Pythagorean Theorem in order to accomplish the goal of keeping your positions in this highly prestigious company. Can you imagine that knowledge and application of the Pythagorean Theorem could save your job?
Diagram of Pythagorean Theorem Pythagorean Theorem Pythagorean Theorem Diagram Pythagorean Theorem

Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion

Task

   You are employed under Mr. William Martin  while working for Martin Construction . Your boss is extremely moody and lives with a "what have you done for meLand Diagramlately" attitude meaning your job is never safe unless you are producing. So be wary that unless you are a productive member of the team your job will most likely be eliminated resulting in great disappointment because obviously you all like your jobs. You are a team of construction managers working for Martin Construction and your jobs are currently in jeopardy. You will work as a team to determine if a plot of land is large enough to meet your boss's minimum square footage and perimeter requirements. You will design a proposal either for or against purchasing the given piece of land and present it to your boss: the mean and unkindly Mr. William Martin. You will present your argument in the form of a persuasive letter to your boss who is currently vacationing in the Carribean as well as a podcast (in form of phone message) that he will be able to listen to from his winter home in Aruba. 

Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion

Process
                Step 1.) You will divide into groups of 3 and each pick a role/responsibilities from the list below. If you are having trouble determining who will fulfil each role then the oldest person in the group will be Jamie, the youngest in the group will be Jesse and the remaining member will be Alex.
Everybody: Evaluating the task, solving necessary equations, working collaboratively, staying focused on task, contributing to group discussions

Jamie Jebidiah: Co-authoring the persuasive letter, creating script for podcast
Alex Zentgraf: Co-authoring the persuasive letter, editing script for podcast, handling technological aspects of loading podcast
Jesse Andrews: "Starring" in podcast, editing the persuasive letter, creating script for podcast

                Step 2.) Next you will need to calculate missing values on the land diagram in order to find area and perimeter of land diagram.

                Step 3.) Now that you know both the area and perimeter you can determine if the piece of land meets Mr. Martin's minimum square footage requirement of greater than 30,000 square feet and perimeter requirement of greater than 2,000 feet.

                Step 4.) With the information that you gathered in steps 2 and 3 you can now write a draft of your persuasive letter to Mr. Martin and submit the draft to Jesse Andrews to editing. 

                Step 5.) Jesse Andrews can now edit the persuasive letter and return the edited version to either Jamie or Jebidiah

                Step 6.) Now with the edited version of the letter in hand, the final draft of the letter can be prepared and mailed to Mr. Martin at his home in Aruba along with your calculations to ensure accuracy. His address is listed below:

                            

                            William B. Martin    

                            167 Highland Ave.

                            West Houte, Aruba 20394-00967

                Step 7.) With the letter and work in the mail you should now begin writing the script for your podcast

                Step 8.) Once Jamie has completed the script for the podcast Alex should edit the podcast as necessary

                Step 9.) With the edited version of the podcast you are now able to run through the podcast and begin recording your message to Mr. Martin.

                Step 10.) Once you have recorded your message to Mr. Martin you can post the podcast and persuasive letter to the class wiki's artifact page.

                Step 11.) Please write a blog entry addressing the following questions: If you were to do this WebQuest again what would you do differently? What was one thing that you would have liked to have seen added? What was one thing that you would have liked to have seen removed? What did you find to be the most difficult part of the WebQuest? Least difficult? Did the team aspect work well or would you rather do it alone? Why? Did you find the resources to be useful tools?


Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion

Resources

Below are some resources that you may find helpful while completing the task:

Persuasive Letters
Podcasting
Pythagorean Theorem
Pythagorean Theorem

Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion

Evaluation

You will be evaluated using 3 grades for this given task. The first of which will be the grade recieved on the persuasive letter based on a rubric (Excel). This portion of your grade will be worth 40% of the total grade on the webquest. You will be than graded on your podcast using a rubric (Excel) with this portion accounting for 40% of your grade. Finally you will be assessed based on your work inside you group with this grade being the average of your self-evaluation  and the evaluation conducted by your peers. This portion will be 20% of your final grade.

Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion

Conclusion

    Congratulations!!! Now that you have completed the WebQuest it is time to look back at what you have accomplished. All the members of your team were able to save their jobs by using the Pythagorean Theorem to solve a real life problem. You applied knowledge that you gained throughout the unit to save your employment as well as receive the promotion to Co-Lead Engineer with the other members of your group. Again congratulations on the promotion and completion of this important task.

Pythagorean Theorem Cartoon

Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion

Click here for my Student Sample Podcast

Click Here for my Student Sample Letter