Students in Ms. Watson’s 8th grade math class worked with Gina Setzer of Setzer Machines in Lenoir. The company wanted to investigate options of purchasing a new machine to expedite the manufacturing of a specific type of part because most of their contracts deal with single part design and production. Students had to apply their math skills to produce graphs and data to support their proposal to the company. When asked, students responded, “We never had to solve a problem like this before” and ” Now I see why and how to use the math we are learning!” This business/school partnership through project based learning (PBL) was a success for the students, teacher, and business!
This Filling the Gap project was sponsored by Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the Golden Leaf Foundation (GLF).
