Nicole Wittels

Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational numbers lesson #1

Topic, class, and level: Number Systems and Irrational numbers, 8th grade algebra,
honors
Date for implementation: Wednesday, January 21st, 2015
Conceptual Framework:
What is the difference between rational and irrational numbers?
Standards: MA, Common Core, WIDA or other Standards for this lesson or unit:
8.NS.1 Know that numbers that are not rational are called irrational. Understand
informally that every number has a decimal expansion; for rational number, show that the
decimal expansion repeats eventually, and convert a decimal expression, which repeats
eventually into a rational number.
Knowledge/Understandings: What should the students know and understand at
the end of this lesson?
Students will understand that an irrational number is a number that cannot
be written as a ratio of two integers.
Students will know 2 is an irrational number.
Skills: What will the students be able to do when this lesson is over?
Students will be able to determine if a number is rational or irrational.
Students will be able to compare the sizes of irrational numbers.
Assessment.
Student participation during the lesson, the class activity, and homework.
Instructional Approach: (Describe activities, allotted time, and closure)
Materials, preparation, and/or on-line resources to be used:
Classification Worksheet
Index cards with numbers and tape
Homework sheet
Hook: What question or activity might spark student curiosity and motivation?
Give the students 18 different numbers. Have them separate them into rational vs.
irrational.
Activities: What question/s might encourage the student to explore and discover
the content? What will happen during the body of the lesson?
1. Start with the hook. Have students work with the person next to them to
separate the 18 numbers into rational and irrational. (5 minutes)

2. Have a few volunteers come to the board and write down which numbers
they classified as each. Tell students you will go over it after. (3 minutes)
3. Start by introducing the most basic number systems and then the more
complicated (natural numbers, whole numbers, integers, rational,
irrational). (10 minutes)
4. Give students the classifying numbers worksheet and have them fill the 16
numbers from the opener in on the worksheet. Have them check answers
with their tablemates. (10 minutes)
5. Have the students who came up to the board fix any mistakes they made at
the beginning of class. (3 minutes)
6. Go over any questions or problems that the students encountered while
classifying the numbers. (5 minutes)
7. Hand out an index card to everyone in the class. On each index card there
is a number. Tell the class not to look at their number. Have the class stand
up and hold the index cards on their forehead and to try and silently
separate into rational and irrational numbers. Then tell the rational
numbers to split into natural, whole, integer, and rational. (10 minutes)
8. CLOSURE: In the remaining time, have the students stick their numbers
onto the board in order from least to greatest. Tell the class that tomorrow
we will be learning how to approximate irrational numbers and we will fix
the order of numbers we just put up. (4 minutes)
Grouping:
The students are at table of four, so their groups are by their tables. When
they are in pairs, they are working with the student next to them. I am grouping
the students because this is new information for them and I think they need to put
minds together to come up with some ideas.
Sponge activity: (to soak up extra time)
The last activity of class will be continued next class, so if there is extra time, we
will start deciding whether people put the numbers in the correct order or not.
Homework when appropriate:
Classifying numbers worksheet.
Wrap-up: How will you help students make meaning from the lessons
activities?
The group activity near the end of class is checking to see if the students
understood the classification of numbers.
Potential Pitfalls and Reflection: What difficulties can you predict that your students
may find challenging or have misconceptions about? How will you address those
confusions?
Students may be thrown off by decimals and must remember that
irrational numbers have decimals that DO NOT repeat.