Prime Time Math: Emergency is an educational CD-ROM designed to engage the class in a real-world dramatic story about professional people using math in compelling situations. In this particular story, we follow an emergency team as they treat a girl who has arrived by ambulance. The team works quickly as they try to diagnose and treat the patient. Vital signs and data are gathered to assist the team gain an overview of what they are facing.

When the students do Prime Time Math: Emergency, they will use math and medical data to participate in the diagnosis of this girl. Just like the medical team in the story, they will be using math to respond to a medical emergency- a real world problem.

This software will be used during the unit "Ratios, Proportions and Percent". This lesson was created for an eighth grade math classroom and is designed to connect math skills to real-life situations. The following lesson is intended for small groups of four students, and allows each student to play the part of Doctor A, B, C or D (the medical team). Together, this team of doctors will gather information from watching the video Acts I-III and answer questions that will help in the diagnosis of the girl. The students will use the data obtained to work with percents, ratios and rates.

The Computer Lab will be used for this lesson, which actually will take 2-4 days to complete. The class can watch at the same time or work in individual groups at separate computers (if enough copies of the program are available). The software will already be installed and the role of the teacher will depend on the needs of the students. The software is relatively self-guided but the teacher is essential in the students getting the most from the program. The teacher will play the part of the facilitator, coach and evaluator throughout the lesson. The medical terms might be a bit confusing but a little prep work on these terms will make the lesson flow much better.

Students will be able to:

• Use computation to solve real-world mathematical problems
• Work with percentages and rates
• Calculate volume measurements and rates
• Graph values that change over time

Software: Prime Time Math: Emergency

Materials for each group (Supplied in teacher software package): Worksheet for Doctor

A-D, Infosheet for Doctor A-D, and Group Worksheet

Materials for each student: Homework Sheet (optional)

The sequence will depend on the background knowledge the students have with medical terms.

1. The students will go over the medical terms included in the video prior to the start of the group work (if needed).
2. The class will be split into groups of 4 students with each student taking on the role of Doctor A, B, C or D. Each group will work on a separate computer in the Computer Lab.
3. Each group will be given their group packet, which includes Infosheets A-D, Worksheets A-D and the Group Worksheet.
4. The students will read the Infosheet to help them understand the topics they will be focusing on.
5. The group will watch Act I and gain a grasp of the basic story line.
6. The group will watch Act I again. This time they will take notes, which they will use to answer the questions that follow Act I.
7. Each Doctor should fill out their specific Worksheet A-D.
8. The questions following Act I should be answered by each individual Doctor. The team of Doctors should confer to answer the group question. Besides answering the questions on the screen, a separate piece of paper needs to be kept as an answer sheet for the group.
9. Act II will follow the same guidelines when the lesson is continued tomorrow.

 

10. Act III will be seen the following the day and this ties the entire scenario together (no worksheets or homework sheets for this Act)

Each group will need to hand in their group packet at the end of class. The teacher will look to see how the questions were answered and make sure that the work used to solve each question was appropriate. Students will be asked to write any questions or comments they may have at the bottom of their group answer sheet. Each student will also receive an assignment, which they will work on individually for homework. This will be discussed tomorrow before the start of Act II and then collected for grading.

Table of Contents for Software Evaluations | Table of Contents for Lesson Plans | Emergency Evaluation