So this summer during TMC I went to Hedge and John Mahlstedt’s middle school morning session. It was so much fun, and it inspired me to have a zombie apocalypse this year with my 6th grade students. This year is also my first year doing 6th grade, so I decided to do a mini-trial run (with hopes of expanding it next year). So, let it begin…
DAY 1 (45 min)- The students had just finished taking a test, and I was sitting at my desk when I said out loud, “Oh my gosh! I just got this crazy email..this is insane! I don’t know how to explain…Let me just show you this video clip that came with it…” The kids are intrigued. I showed them a short video that I actually found on YouTube about a fake newscast giving breaking news about a disease/chemical spill that resulted in zombie-like behavior. The kids were IMMEDIATELY discussing:
- Is it real!?
- We need weapons!
- Where is it happening?
- Who did you get the email from?
- We need guns! But seriously, it this real??
- How long do we have before the zombies get here?
I was hoping the students would ask that last question, and when they did I latched on. “Okay guys, we need to get a good idea of how much time we have before the zombies get here. The email said it started in the Central Mercado in Zone 1. Work with your groups and report back” (So, yeah I live in Guatemala, we have zones and “mercados”.)
However, this part didn’t really go as planned because I thought they would get math-y with it. Instead, they did what normal people would probably do in this situation and estimate off the top of their head: “3 hours, no 5 hours! Definitely not more than a day!”
So, in an effort to get them thinking more deeply, I googled how far away the school is from the Central Mercado, and that got them thinking about how fast the zombies could walk that distance. It turned into a whole-class exploration of multiple students pretending to be zombies and (per my request) some students timing how fast they could walk a few meters. From here, the students could connect the dots themselves to figure out that it would take about 12 hours for zombies to reach Colegio Maya (I personally think the students’ zombie walks were on the slow side. But I tried not to let my Walking Dead bias affect the students’ creativity.)
From here, I asked the students what they wanted to do next. One student wanted to stay put, another student wanted to drive home (towards Mercado Central...), and almost everyone else wanted to find a boat and go to Europe...interesting.
Me: “Well, majority rules! We need to steal a car so that we can drive to a boat and try to go to Europe! Now, we are going to go outside to scope out the cars with your team members.”
This was so much fun to see! The last 10 minutes of class I let the students choose two cars per each group to “escape” with. They were running around like their lives were dependent on it (because they were) and having great conversations about gas milage, durability, and maneuverability.
Let me just say that most of the kids knew pretty early on that this “zombie thing” wasn’t really real (especially after I started making them do math), but there were a few kids who were still slightly worried until I made them go to second period. I think it sealed it for them that there weren’t really any zombies if they still had to go English. 6th graders are adorably gullible.
DAY 2 (90 min)- The students were so excited to come to class today! The first thing I did was show them another video clip from Hedge and Mahlstedt to “update” them on the status of the crisis. It showed a destroyed downtown area and basic apocalypse chaos. (And just so you know, zombies freeze when we are not in math class, so we still have plenty of time before they arrive.) Now that the students have decided which cars to escape in, we have to figure out where we are going!
The night before I looked up the miles/gallon and tank capacity of their chosen cars. Because they are 6th graders, the information they wrote down about the cars was maybe not the most accurate. So I figured it would be easier if I looked up the stats versus having the students take class time to try to figure it out (especially the ones that were vague and just said things like “minivan” or “motorcycle”). With this information, they were just about ready to try to figure out how many miles they could go in their car when I threw them a curve ball: “You don’t think that you have a full tank of gas, do you? That wouldn’t be realistic!”
Using the gas gauge pictures that Hedge and Mahlstedt provided during TMC, I had students randomly select two (one for each car). You either got really lucky (about ¾ a tank left) or really unlucky (1/10 a tank left). I let them choose which gas gauge went with each car, and they were off trying to figure out how many miles they could drive. Admittedly, this was very time consuming. I had spent about 2 weeks on proportions, but this was the first time they had to deal with so much information upfront: miles/gallon, tank capacity, gas gauge, two cars, etc. Plus, the problem was a two-step problem. So once one group figured it out (with some prodding from me), I sent them around to other groups to help out. After they had figured out how far they could go with their specific car and that amount of gas, I sent them another curve ball: “You don’t think it’s going to be that easy do you?! It’s a zombie apocalypse! Of course things are going to go wrong!”
I downloaded an app on my ipad called “spinny wheel” and I created what I called “The Wheel of (mis) Fortune”. There were about 6 options on the wheel all having to do with gas levels
- You found a gas station, you gain 20% more gas.
- Other teams stole your gas, you lost 35%.
- Your car is leaking gas, you lost 47%
- etc.
Each group had to spin the wheel twice (one for each car), and then calculate the distance they could go with this new information. The students loved spinning the wheel and they also loved watching other groups get bad news... so sweet :)
This second time around that students had to calculate the miles their car could travel went a lot smoother since the main mental work was done the first time. But, I liked this step because it gave the students some repetition to let the process sink in a little, and I got to re-teach the concept to a few students who slipped through the cracks the first time.
When students finished figuring out how far their cars could go, this is where the real debating happened. In the final step of the zombie apocalypse, I had students pull out google maps and figure out where they were going to travel. It had to be a group decision, and they could go only the number of miles afforded by the car that could travel the least number of miles (unless they decided to ditch that car and go on with only one). During the last 15 minutes of class, they were to give a 1-2 minute presentation on how far they could travel, where they decided to go, and why. At the end of class, students would vote on which group survived the apocalypse, and you could not vote for your own group. Students were so passionate about their survival strategies that I most often had to cut the groups off after 2-3 minutes just so that we could get to every group!
This second time around that students had to calculate the miles their car could travel went a lot smoother since the main mental work was done the first time. But, I liked this step because it gave the students some repetition to let the process sink in a little, and I got to re-teach the concept to a few students who slipped through the cracks the first time.
When students finished figuring out how far their cars could go, this is where the real debating happened. In the final step of the zombie apocalypse, I had students pull out google maps and figure out where they were going to travel. It had to be a group decision, and they could go only the number of miles afforded by the car that could travel the least number of miles (unless they decided to ditch that car and go on with only one). During the last 15 minutes of class, they were to give a 1-2 minute presentation on how far they could travel, where they decided to go, and why. At the end of class, students would vote on which group survived the apocalypse, and you could not vote for your own group. Students were so passionate about their survival strategies that I most often had to cut the groups off after 2-3 minutes just so that we could get to every group!
Overall, I really enjoyed the activity. It was a really engaging idea and a great way for students to apply proportions to a situation they could (somehow) really relate to. All you have to do is mention zombie apocalypse to a group of 6th graders, and you will get a seemingly never ending debate going. Next year I am hoping to expand this project by a day or two by adding the elements of food and water. There is so much that could be done here, and I think the students would enjoy playing with the topic for a little bit longer as well. Hedge, Mahlstedt, you guys are the best! Thanks again for the wonderful ideas and resources!
