🚚 The Great Food Truck Race: A Radicals Competition

 

🚚 The Great Food Truck Race: A Radicals Competition

Kicking off a new unit on radicals can feel a bit dry with all the new rules and properties. So, instead of just diving into definitions, what if we started a new business venture? Welcome to the start of a new adventure and the grand opening of two brand new food trucks!

Kicking off a new unit on radicals can feel a bit dry with all the new rules and properties. So, instead of just diving into definitions, what if we started a new business venture? Welcome to the start of a new adventure and the grand opening of four brand new food trucks!

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📜 Mission Briefing

• 🎯 Mission Objective: Students will be able to simplify, add, subtract, and multiply radical expressions, including binomials.

• ⏳ Class Time: 1 x 50-minute period

• 📚 Subject & Level: Secondary Math 3 / Algebra 2

• 👻 The Adventure: This is Day 1 of our Radicals Unit! The class is divided into four new food truck businesses: the "Radical Rolls," "Square Root Scoops," "The Function Fries," and "The Exponent Eats." They are all competing in the "Great Food Truck Festival" to see who can win the most customers!

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🎒 The Armory

• 📋 Supply List:

  • Projector/Smartboard

  • Student whiteboards & markers for each team

  • A large whiteboard or poster paper for the "Festival Map"

  • Four different colored markers to win over customers

  • "Customer Orders" (Problem Cards): A deck of 20-30 cards, color-coded by size. Customer Orders Cards

    • Green (Snack Order): Simplifying radicals. (Worth 1 Customer Block)

    • Yellow (Lunch Rush): Multiplying or multi-step adding/sub. (Worth 2 Customer Blocks)

    • Red (Catering Gig): Binomial problems. (Worth 1 Block + Choose an opponent and STEAL 1 of their blocks!)

    • Google Doc Lesson Link
      

• 👕 Costume & Prop Ideas:

  • Become the "Head Festival Judge!" Wear a chef's hat and apron and carry a clipboard to "taste test" (check) all the solutions.

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🗺️ The Walkthrough

• ✨ Introduction: The Grand Opening (Approx. 10 mins) As the Head Judge, you announce the competition.

  • The Story: "Welcome, Chefs, to the Grand Opening of your new food trucks! Today is the first day of the Great Food Truck Festival, where four brand new businesses will compete for the city's Golden Spatula award. Let's learn our most important kitchen rule before we open the windows for our first customers!"

  • Instructions: Introduce the core concept of simplifying radicals using the "kitchen" and "complete dish" analogy. Briefly show how this applies to the other operations.

• ⚔️ Activity: The Food Truck Festival (Approx. 25 mins)

  • Objective: To practice all radical operations in a competitive, team-based game.

  • The Story: "The festival is open! The customers are hungry! Radical Rolls, you're up first. Here's your first order."

  • Instructions:

    1. Divide the class into the four food truck teams.

    2. Teams take turns in a set order drawing a "Customer Order" card.

    3. The team works together on their whiteboards to solve it within a 60-second timer.

    4. If correct, they win their customers on the Festival Map. If they draw a Red "Catering Gig" card, they also get to choose which competitor's block to steal!

    5. If incorrect, play moves to the next team in the rotation.

• ⚔️ Mid-Check: The Health Inspector (Approx. 7 mins)

  • The Story: "Alright chefs, hold the orders! The health inspector is here for a surprise spot check! Let's see if your kitchens are up to code."

  • The Activity: Launch a quick 5-question Kahoot for a fast-paced, whole-class check. Email trailgirl360@gmail.com if you want me to share this with you. 

• 👾 The Final Order (Approx. 8 mins)

  • The Story: "Great job with the inspection! Now, there's one last, special catering order from the mayor's office that you must complete on your own."

  • The Activity: Students complete the Final Catering Order on idocourses.com. This serves as the individual exit ticket.

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🏆 The Level Clear Screen: Chef's Self-Assessment

• The Story: "The first day of the festival is over! The results are in. Now, back to the kitchen for your performance review. How well did you run your truck today?"

• The Activity: On their Unit Check-off Schedule, students complete their Self-Reported Grade.

  • 10 (Head Chef!): I can handle any order, no matter how complex. My truck is the best in the city!

  • 8 (Sous Chef!): I'm confident with most orders but might need to double-check the recipe for the big catering gigs.

  • 6 (Line Cook!): I can handle the lunch rush with my team but need more practice on my own.

  • 4 (Dishwasher...): I'm still learning the kitchen and sometimes mix up the orders. I need more training.