Living the Story Problem Tillamook Students Learn Math in the Real World
story by Suzie Boss; photos by Jill Sumerlin and Suzie Boss
An adventurous math teacher leads her students out of the classroom and into the community. With service learning projects that integrate real-life problems into mathematics, students build a strong foundation of both skills and deeper understanding.
Tillamook, Oregon—Sharp nails and heavy hammers. Saws that can cut a finger as easily as a board. Steps and ladders from which to tumble. There are enough perils on a typical construction site to make it seem like a giant booby trap. What teacher in her right mind would use such a setting as a classroom for young adolescents?
Jill Sumerlin, for one. Since 1998, the veteran teacher has been combining math with service learning to engage students at Tillamook Junior High. Her eighth-graders have honed measurement skills while helping to build houses for the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. They have also mastered concepts of algebra by taking an inventory of forest snags and woody debris alongside staffers from the Oregon Department of Forestry, and applied their understanding of area, perimeter, and volume to helping Oregon Fish and Wildlife workers reseed a thinned tract of forestland.
"These are live-action story problems," Sumerlin says, explaining her motivation to get her students out of the classroom and into their small community on the Oregon coast for service learning experiences. She has discovered that integrating math into the real world often means crossing into other content areas, as well, such as science, technology, and language arts. "This takes learning deeper," she says.
blueprint for learning
Teaching across the curriculum raises a host of challenges that aren't addressed in traditional textbooks. Sumerlin, who started teaching back in 1970 and received the Presidential Award for Excellence in secondary math in 2000, had never taken her students on a field trip before embarking on her first Habitat project. "I was nervous," she admits, imagining not only the potential dangers of construction work but also such health hazards as allergic reactions to building materials or insect bites.
To address these and other concerns, Sumerlin and two colleagues at Tillamook Junior High spent a whole year planning their first integrated math service learning project. In particular, they thought hard about the math skills that could be used by students in the course of helping with home construction. "A lot of projects are described as interdisciplinary. But too often, incorporating math means just adding a graph or a chart. It's always the same type of math. We wanted to take students into a more sophisticated understanding," Sumerlin explains.
Their curriculum development was guided by both the Oregon state math standards and assessments of student achievement. "Math involves a lot of measurement. That's a strand in our content benchmarks," Sumerlin says. Measurement was also a perennial challenge for many Tillamook students. "One of the weakest areas found in our students' scores was in the measurement sections." So measurement emerged as a logical focus for the curriculum.
The teaching team developed a workbook of measurement exercises that would give students a foundation of understanding before they headed out of the classroom. "We didn't have to buy new books or fancy equipment," Sumerlin says. Instead, teachers "rummaged around" to assemble materials such as blueprints, scale drawings, and rulers that had been left behind when a shop class was disbanded. "Using a ruler seems simple, but a lot of students never learn to use it correctly. Rulers are great tools for learning about fractions, too. You can see right on the ruler that 2/4 is the same as 1/2. This was a chance for a lot of practical application." Although eager to incorporate hands-on materials, teachers didn't toss out the math textbook. "We still wanted to use traditional things in class," Sumerlin says, and help students build a strong foundation of skills they could apply to solving real-life problems.
building on the foundation
Once students demonstrated their understanding of measurement using the packet of materials, they were ready to head to the work site and apply what they had learned. Volunteers from the Habitat program were on hand to help as groups of students "swarmed over the house, measuring steps, the height of outlets, window openings, wall heights," Sumerlin recalls.
The measurement "scavenger hunt" was a warm-up for the next activity: installing insulation. "Students were expected to solve the problem of how to cut the insulation to fit and still have time (in the half-day work session) to install it." That meant careful measuring, planning, and teamwork. Watching the activity unfold, teachers were impressed with the level of engagement. "We could see students working together, planning ahead, solving problems, engaged in what they were doing," Sumerlin says.
Because they were working with real materials, building a real house, students were motivated to get their math right. "They didn't want to waste materials," she adds. "They were frugal. That's not what you might expect of students this age."
In a nifty metaphor, students' understanding of mathematics continued to build while the house took shape. By the time the house was constructed and ready to paint, students had invested class time learning to calculate area. Armed with an understanding of geometry, they calculated wall areas to allow for window and door openings. They compared the square footage of wall areas to the coverage per gallon of paint. They figured out how long it would take to paint per square foot of area, then estimated the value of their painting effort if the work were done professionally. "There were a lot of connections," Sumerlin says. "Students realized the value they put into that house."
One more measurement convinced the Tillamook teachers that they were on the right track. Says Sumerlin, "In the spring of 1999, we saw an 18 percent increase in the number of students who met the standard in geometry, compared to their own score from the previous year. And the only thing we changed in the curriculum was adding the service learning element, so it was a good test. We could see it was a worthwhile thing."
adding on
Since the success of that first Habitat project during the 1998-1999 school year, Tillamook teachers have continued to expand their integrated learning projects. Willing community partners have literally come out of the woodworkÑor, more accurately, out of the forests that surround this community of dairy farmsÑto team up with students for service learning.
Taking Algebra Into the Woods was launched during the 1999-2000 school year. Math teachers paired up with land managers from the Oregon Department of Forestry to help students conduct a survey of snags and woody debris. "This information is useful in facilitating debris management," Sumerlin explains. For instance, land managers armed with reliable surveys are better able to plan for reducing fire hazards. And forest fires have a powerful meaning in this community, where 240,000 acresÑenough timber to build more than a million housesÑwere lost to the legendary Tillamook Burn of 1933.
Before they headed to the woods, students spent class time learning from expert surveyors. They discovered that data-gathering procedures involve a range of skills, including how to read maps, graphs, and tables; recognize downed wood and snags in various stages of decomposition; calculate the height, diameter, stage of decomposition, and approximate age of a snag or downed wood; and keep accurate records. All of these lessons align with the benchmarks for eighth-grade math, and many also relate to science learning goals.
On the day that students and forestry folks headed into the woods to conduct surveys, "it rained, of course," Sumerlin says good-naturedly. Nonetheless, students succeeded in gathering their data. Back in class, they used their numbers to generate tables and graphs, then used those visual tools to conduct further analysis. The project was so successful that it is being repeated annually, "so students will eventually have longitudinal data to work with as they complete their benchmarks," Sumerlin said.
Another integrated project enlisted students for a fall grass seed planting project with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Reseeding thinned forestlands anchors the soil and provides forage for wildlife. Teachers saw opportunities to use the seeding activity as a springboard for teaching about calculation of area, percentages, and predictions based on germination rates and types of seeds planted. Students returned to the forest the following spring to check the accuracy of their predictions.
pride of ownership
With each new project, teachers have seen how the concrete application of math boosts student interest and deepens their understanding. "It fits their learning styles," Sumerlin says. "Some kids need to do real tasks, hands on, where they can learn by doing."
Teachers have noticed improved student attitudes toward math as a result of the integrated studies approach. Good behavior is a condition of participating in fieldwork. Students who have been challenging in the traditional classroom setting "change their behavior so they can participate. It's a good motivator, especially for some who were not motivated in math before," Sumerlin says. One girl, for instance, says she pays better attention in math class now "because I know I'll have to be able to use it on the projects we do." Another student adds, "I haven't had chances to learn math this way before. It's excitingÑand nice to get outside."
For young adolescents, the chance to contribute to the community and to work with adult mentors who use math in their careers have been powerful influences, as well. When Sumerlin first hatched the idea to have students partner with the Habitat for Humanity program, it was because she hoped "to find ways to have our students appreciate their rural place, to better anchor them in the community." She's encouraged by what she has seen so far. "Our students have a feeling of ownership" about the houses they've helped to build and the forests they've surveyed.
And teachers have embraced service learning as a powerful way to deliver education. "It's added excitement to our teaching," Sumerlin says, speaking for herself and the cadre of teachers who are committed to keeping this practice going long into the future. Recently, a group of students took on a new edible landscaping project at the junior high. "They planted edible berries, apple trees. These plants will take a long time to grow. But if our kids stay in this community," Sumerlin muses, "some day their children might harvest these fruits."
Suzie Boss, a former NWREL editor, now writes for Intel Innovation in Education. Questions To Consider
Questions to Consider
Community-based service learning experiences such as Jill Sumerlin's construction and forestry projects require creativity, careful planning, and assistance from organizations and community members. These questions may be helpful in cultivating partnerships and support:
What are the roles and responsibilities of the partners? Be specific about what you need from each person and organization. Clearly define the responsibilities of administrators, teachers, and students, as well.
How much time will be involved? Make the most accurate estimate possible. A timeline will be helpful in portraying both the amount of time required and the overall schedule for the project.
What assistance can parents provide? Parents may be able to help you connect with organizations through their workplaces, hobbies, and community interests.
What are the advantages of the partnership and the project? Try to identify how the partnership will benefit all of the people involved, not just the students.
Captions: Jill Sumerlin gives students opportunities to contribute to their community. Students working with contractors at the Habitat for Humanity construction site.
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