Mathematics is a continuously difficult subject for so many high school students. Therefore, teaching and working with students who have had little success in high school, especially in mathematics, has been one of my specialties. Students bring with them a high level of math anxiety because of their lack of confidence in themselves. Learning is essentially a passive process for many students that offers them little opportunity to take responsible action. Because of poor attendance and many other factors, students operate with limited math skills. Many of the students can barely function in a traditional classroom setting and even more are lost in a large school setting. Therefore some give up hope of completing the challenge of an education. For many students completing anything is a challenge due to lack of self-esteem, self-motivation, and self-confidence.
To heighten the interest in mathematics this unit, will focus on bridges in the students' own neighborhood. There are many bridges which they will view and discuss as they prepare for the study of the Grand Avenue Bridge and The Fair Haven Community. Students will identify bridges in the Fair Haven Community as links to other neighborhoods, jobs, and schools. Students will investigate the query, "Does the functioning of a bridge affect me and how"? "How dependent on bridges is the socio-economic status of neighborhoods?" This hands-on unit will be an important lesson for students to understand. It will continue to link everyday math to real-life problem solving, and math can begin to "make sense" for students.
The unit is divided into several parts. The first part is the study of various maps of Fair Haven that can be obtained from the Planning and Zoning office for the city of New Haven. These maps will be instrumental in giving students a clear picture of the history, leading up to the present. Studying maps will fill the room with curiosity leading the way for a walking tour of Fair Haven, centered around the Grand Avenue Bridge. A scavenger hunt will be interwoven throughout the walking tour.