During this interactive session, we will work through many of the stages of a Fermi Estimates lab that we have been using with middle school math and science students in the South Bend / Mishawaka area. Fermi Estimates are an exciting way for students to investigate topics of interest to them. Questions that our students have chosen to investigate include "How many people in the world are talking on cell phones right now?" "If your hai was never broken or cut from the time you were born until now, how long would it be?" "How many gumballs would reach to the moon and back?" "How much energy would be saved if our city undertook a voluntary one-minute blackout? Investigating questions of this type inevitably causes students to grapple with measurement, unit conversions, creating and using algebraic formulas, creating surveys and experiments, and conducting research to obtain needed information.
Date: Feb 11, 2011
HASTI Conference in Indianapolis
