Explosives and Chemical Warfare
School: Harborside Academy
City/State: Kenosha, WI
Grade(s): 10
Format(s): Report: Science
Subject(s): English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Studies
Project Overview
These booklets were created by tenth grade students at Harborside Academy in Kenosha, Wisconsin as part of a learning expedition called World of Conflict.
This project was the Algebra 2/Trigonometry component of a learning expedition that covered all tenth grade subjects. Students employed Cramer’s Rule of Matrices to analyze chemical compounds used to make explosives, which they also studied in chemistry class. Students each chose a chemical or explosive weapon, then created a system of equations to calculate the mass of each element within their weapon. They also used software to design the layout of their booklets.
How This Project Can Be Useful
- Highlights a high school-level math and chemistry project
- Unusual example of interdisciplinary collaboration at an upper high school level
- Compelling example of making math and science come alive, by embedding it within a historical study
- Highlights a topic that is appealing—the study of weapons—for many high school students
- Encourages students to look at historical events from a different perspective
- Combination of booklet design and math challenges students both creatively and academically
- The collaboration of high school level science, math and humanities is evident throughout the book; this project is a fine model for teacher collaboration in a secondary setting