In project-based learning, students are first engaged with an issue, question, or problem they want to solve and then learn content in order to answer it. This helps students connect learning to the real world because there is an obvious why to the content they are learning.

With a PBL approach, students may still create presentations, public service announcements, comics and other products; the difference is that they are responsible for choosing what product best helps them showcase their ideas and content.

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With the introduction of volume, fifth-grade students learn to measure three-dimensional space. Recognizing volume and understanding it as a measurement of a space involving cubic units is an important skill. Wixie includes a Swimming Pool Volume template to provide opportunities for a guess-and-check calculation of volume in a real world context.

Editor's Note: This blog is part of a series of posts from former math specialist Scott Loomis on the real world math templates he has created for Wixie and how you can use and modify them for your own awesome performance tasks. You can read the backstory on his experience and expertise below. 

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One could easily argue that there is no more authentic math calculation than determining the area and perimeter. There are countless examples of 'real world' applications including:

• the necessity to calculate the perimeter of a room before deciding on the amount of carpet or crown molding you need to buy, or 
• calculating the perimeter of your yard to better estimate the amount of grass seed or fertilizer required.

One of my all time favorite examples involves a mini golf course design. I remember fondly spreading out pieces of carpet and wooden two-by-fours on the floor of my fifth-grade classroom. My students then completed a performance assessment in which they had to calculate the area and perimeters of a handful of given hole designs, so they could order the correct amount of material. Finally, they could create their own design and have a friend attempt the calculations. You can use Mini Golf Measurements activity in Wixie to do the same activity.

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