In case you are trying the MARS MAP Classroom Challenges for the first time, it is recommended that you read the Brief Guide for teachers and administrators before you get started.
Before the lesson, students attempt a task individually. You review their work and create questions for students to answer in order to improve their solutions.
A whole-class introduction poses the problem of finding the areas of 'tilted squares' drawn on a square grid. Students share different approaches for calculating areas and are offered three generalizable methods that they might use. Students are asked to find possible areas of 'tilted squares' at a specific tilt. This requires a systematic approach.
In a whole-class discussion results are shared and organized. The method is generalized into the Pythagorean theorem.
Finally, students work individually on a new assessment task.