My Favorite Lesson

 

 I have used this lesson for 2 years and it has been the biggest hit both times. If you ever have to deal with proportions, scale drawings, unit rates, and ratios then you need to print this lesson and use it next year (or this year)! I have a unit that teaches all of these topics in both my 6th grade and Pre- Algebra class and so this project is such a great review/application. My students loved a good mystery hunt and so this lesson was perfect. You are given clues and trying to find who robbed the bank.

here is the link for the original activity: Highway Robbery

First I go around and give each group different clues so that they can't ask the group next to them for help but have to rely on their own group members. I give each group a suspect list and each student gets a clue sheet. I really love how this project covers every topic that was in the unit so they get a review of everything. I typically spend a day on the activity. Once it took a while for my 6th graders to catch on to what they needed to do so we ended up taking two days and if anyone finished early I just gave them clues to find a new suspect. After each clue is completed they are able to at least cross off one or two suspects due to the information found. After they finish all the clues then they should have found their suspect. I would check to make sure they had found the right guy or show them where maybe they took a wrong turn.

The thing I made the biggest deal about was that a proportion (with units if applicable) must be included with every question asked. They needed to solve using a proportion always. This way I made sure they were solving using methods they had just learned.

They kept saying why can't we do this everyday... if only. 

Go now and save it because you will want it if you teach those topics.