Coal mines can be a gold mine of math applications. After reading some basic information on coal mining, learners draw blueprints of a coal pillar in the shape of a composite figure. They find the volume of material from the coal pillar and determine the cost of beams that will prevent it from collapsing.

Concepts

3-d figures, volume, surface area, percents, coal mining, profit, scale drawings, proportional reasoning, composite figures

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• If available, invite a miner to talk about their experiences
  

Classroom Considerations

• Scholars must have experience with volume formulas
• Resource is intended for Virginia schools; scholars in other areas may not find the task to be relevant
  

Pros

• Includes a rubric for consistent grading
• Gives student worksheets
  

Cons

• None

Common Core

HSG-GMD.A.3