INTERDISCIPLINARY UNITS: STRENGTHENING OUR CONTENT THROUGH MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS- MATH & SCIENCE

Ilka R Nieves and Robyn Hegele

Each Interdisciplinary unit must: • Clear sense of purpose • Stand alone while being significant, engaging, relevant and challenging • Enable students to demonstrate development of both (discipline’s) objectives • Allow students to display disciplinary understanding • Statement of inquiry should be conceptual and contextual and based on student learning • Demonstrate profiles and enrich learning

How this translated into our unit: • Purpose-to develop and test an independent variable using math to inform the conclusion • Student’s were challenged while being reflective of the appropriate practices of a scientist and mathematician.

• Vocabulary used in Math was used in Science and vice versa • Student’s demonstrated Scientific Knowledge while charting and graphing data • “How do we use science to gather and analyze data to influence the safe development of bridges?” • Students should be reflective to analyze what profile they are demonstrating through their assessment/experience

Science- Interdisciplinary Criterion B, C, D • Interdisciplinary Criterion B: Synthesizing • graph, chart, independent variable, problem, hypothesis, procedures, conclusions and communication • Interdisciplinary Criterion C: Communicating • conducted research on beam bridge designs and semantics • documented their sources using true MLA format • will make a newspaper headline about their findings • Interdisciplinary Criterion D: Reflecting • section for reflection each day of their learning and questions • drawing conclusions

Other semantics to consider • How will you get your assessment to the other discipline?

• Statements of Inquiry don’t need to be the same, but could be.

• Change your first go around • Must have a common planning day