Culminating Task

Enduring Understanding

Math is a social, creative activity that requires effective communication with peers, perseverance, courage, and curiosity.

Purpose

The experience is meant to highlight the ways in which math learning - for individuals and groups of people - is developed through interactions between group and individual problem solving experiences over time.

This task is an attempt to highlight the parts of mathematics that are not often emphasized in school.

I’ve witnessed each of you do these types of things at different points in the year.

Now is your chance to do these things again and demonstrate mathematical understanding in a way that differs from more traditional paper-based forms of evaluation.

Logistics

The task will take place in class over four days:

1. Thursday, May 7, 2026
   • Day 0
     • All results are formative – an assessment for learning.
     • Collaborative whiteboard work and individual work.
     • Topic is quadratics.

     TIP

     Feedback will be returned to you through Edsby on Sunday, May 10, 2026.

     Until then, please review this exemplar solution for Day 0.

2. Monday, May 11, 2026
   • Day 1
     • Results are summative – an assessment of learning.
     • Collaborative whiteboard work and individual work.
     • Topic is quadratics.
3. Tuesday, May 12, 2026
   • Day 2
     • Results are summative – an assessment of learning.
     • Collaborative whiteboard work and individual work.
     • Topic is linear systems.
4. Wednesday, May 13, 2026
   • Day 3
     • A day to complete a written reflection on the experience – to consider what it means to “do” mathematics.

Sequence

For days 0, 1, and 2, the sequence of events will be:

• Whiteboard work with a partner
  • 15-20 minutes
• Individual work on a similar problem
  • 15-20 minutes
• Individual work on extension/application problem(s)
  • Remaining time until 15 minutes left
• Self-assessment
  • 15 minutes
  • Using the rubrics shared below, self-assess your work for the day.

Evaluation

The following rubrics will be used to evaluate your work on each day:

• Collaborative Whiteboard Work – Evaluation Rubric
• Individual Work on a Similar Problem – Evaluation Rubric
• Individual Work on Extension or Application Problem

Each day, Mr. Gordon or Mr. Frickey will keep track of student contributions using the following grids:

• Mathematical Discourse - Observation Grid
• Similar Problem - Observation Grid
• Extension and Application Questions - Observation Grid

Getting started

For each day, you may not immediately know how to solve a given problem.

That’s OK. What do you do when you don’t know what to do?

Here are some suggestions: