As our final math project for the year, we tied together many of the topics that we learned about to build our own mini-golf course! Students took what the knowledge they had gained about perimeter, area, angles, mean, median, and mode and used this in the planning, construction, and playing of the course. It was a perfect project to wrap up the year!
We started by breaking up into groups. We were told that we would have 30 feet of wood and 40 square feet of carpet to work with so we had to design our courses with the idea that the perimeter and area could only be so large. We sketched them out, measured each of our angles and then divided each angle by 2 so that we could determine how to cut the wood so it would come together perfectly. Once these were done, we started to build. They took a while to put together, test, and then make changes to according to what we found worked and what didn’t, but it was worth it because they came out great in the end!
Once the holes were completed, each person in the group played the hole ten times a piece. We recorded our data and then we used that to find the mean, median, and mode of the scores. We used our mean and rounded it to determine what par for each hole was. We then had a little competition in class to see what our best scores could be. Ali, Ashley, Aiden, and Joe had our best scores!
After we finished playing, we invited all the other classes to come play the course as well! We had tour guides that led groups of students through the holes, while others stayed at the holes to help show the best angles to take to try to get a hole-in-one or the lowest score possible. All the students who came looked like they had so much fun and we all did a great job of helping them out!
It was such a great time and we loved tying in so many different math topics to finish up the year! We hope we Mr. Avery invites us back next year if they do this project again so we can play it again!
Wow! This is amazing and inspiring! I can’t wait to share this idea with my third graders tomorrow. We worked on making arrays with equal groups today and I know that mini-golf will be a great addition to our lessons when we begin working on area. Thanks for sharing Mr. Avery!
Hi Mrs. Felter,
We’re so glad that you enjoyed the project! I think this would definitely work perfectly for arrays. If you do some variation of this project, we’d love to see the results when you’re finished! Thanks!
Sincerely,
Mr. Avery’s Class
Dear Mr. Avery,
I had so much fun on that project. It will be something I will remember forever. Seventh grade is going great, for the first two days but I really miss you and Ms. Girard.
I will comment again soon!
Joshua H.
Hey Josh,
Great to hear from you! I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying the middle school so far. I think you’re going to love it up there. I’ve heard nothing but good things! How are your teachers so far?
Come visit sometime soon! Miss Girard and I would love to see you!
Sincerely,
Mr. Avery
Dear Mr. Avery,
I love my teachers I’ve gotten lost once or twice but it is fine. I will try my best to come visit and will love to see you too.
Talk to you soon,
Josh H
As a golfer and a math teacher, I absolutely LOVE this idea. Is there anything else you can share that might help me to include this in my curriculum next year?!
Hello Avery Bunch,
This is stunning work. No only do you have the chance to apply some of the knowledge you have gained, you have fun in applying it.
The activity also shows how maths can be a part of everyday life. Judging angles and forces for each shot is a practical skill. Recording ten attempts at each in order to determine mean, median, and modal scores is a very practical skill, especially if you intend working in science.
I hope you all have a wonderful vacation. 🙂
Ross Mannell
Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia