Global Awareness Instruction - Math Mosaic

I created my Global Awareness Lesson based on an activity that I found on the ePals (www.epals.com) site, called “Math Mosaic”.  This activity was posted by a partner class from Pakistan.  In this activity, students create math “mosaic” pictures by combining various 2-D shapes.  I extended the instructional goals of this activity to meet my sixth grade math standards by having my students calculate the area of their compound or “mosaic” shapes by combining various area formulas that they have learned this school year.  I chose this specific activity because it was posted by a math teacher with students ages 11-13, which is similar to my situation as a teacher. 

I did not actually complete the activity in class yet, but I would use the following timeline to complete the activity: 1)  have my students connect with our partner class through ePals, using class e-mail and hopefully a Skype session, 2)  have my students create their “math mosaics” and share their creations with our partner class, 3) have  my students discuss creating and finding the area of compound geometric shapes with their partner class, and 4)  have my students calculate the areas of the compound designs that our partner class created.  This lesson was a good fit for a global awareness activity because I wanted my students to learn how math is used globally.  My hopes are that my students would be able to communicate with the partner class and ask questions about how they use geometry in their everyday lives, how they calculate the areas of various shapes, and if their mathematical calculations and formulas are similar to or different than what we use.  I want my students to learn that math is universal and that students all over the world are working on learning similar objectives that they are.  I also want my students to learn more about global communication and the opportunities they have for collaboration by using technology.