8-10 yrs old
11-13 yrs old
Art and Design
Math & Economics
Technology
During this lesson students will design their own floor plan and then use this floor plan to create their house within a Minecraft world.
June 8, 2018
OneNote screenshot with floorplans
Floorplans and info within OneNote. This was a great was for students to always have access to information. Tasks and questions documented in OneNote.
Minecraft and Algebra Problem
An extra task using Minecraft to solve a great problem!
Recognise the need for a formal unit larger than the square centimetre to measure area.
Where are square metres are used for measuring in everyday situations? eg floor coverings (Communicating, Problem Solving) .
Record areas in square metres using words and the abbreviation for square metres (m2), eg 6 square metres, 6 m2.
Discuss strategies used to estimate area in square metres, eg visualising repeated units (Communicating, Problem Solving)
Background Info
1. Teacher to lead discussion in relation to measuring larger areas. Draw reference to prior learning, i.e. using square centimetres to measure area of school books, pencil cases etc. Establish that a larger unit of measurement would be required to measure the area of the classroom. If necessary have a students place 1cm squares on the floor and ask them if this would be an efficient measurement strategy!
2. Introduce/revise the square metre as a unit of measurement. Establish that the area of the classroom could be measured using square metres.
3. Inform the students that they will be designing and then constructing their own house using Minecraft Education Edition. Provide students with the opportunity to view many floorplans online. These sites may be helpful - https://hotondo.com.au/new-home-designs/airlie-220/ http://www.gjgardner.com.au/offices/south-australia/house-designs/coolum-247-estate-12636.aspx
4. Provide students with some 1cm grid paper to design their own floor plan (all rooms to be square or rectangular in shape). Inform them that each 1cm square will be scaled to one metre square (1 Minecraft block) when built.
5. Begin constructing house in Minecraft by first laying the foundation. After this have the student build all exterior walls and interior walls to one Minecraft brick in height. This is an ideal time to remind the students to cross-reference their design with the beginning of their build.
6. Students then complete construction of their house. Each student had the option to make their house as high as they wanted to.
7. Following the completion of their house the students were required to answer the following questions -
a) What is the area of each individual room in your house?
b) What is the total area of your house?
c) If flooring costs $? per square metre, what would it cost you to cover each room?
d) What is the total cost of flooring for your house?
The following questions were answered in a Class OneNote and signs were also placed in their house to communicate this information.
After this the students were able to become interior designers and decorate their house!
1. Work individually or within a group of no more than 4 to design, construct and then answer all questions related to this learning activity.
2. Clearly establish rules, roles and responsibilities within your group. Who is responsible for building what? All communication to be constructive.
3. Stay on task at all times ...... never an issue, the students love this task.