The central problem of the Orchard Hideout unit is two people (Maddie and Clyde) who have planted trees in an orchard the shape of the circle. We learned how to calculate the distance between 2 points, how to locate the midpoint, we learned the equation of a circle (in 2 ways), how to calculate the area and circumference of a circle, and the volume of a cylinder, all with various formulas. To sum it up about what helped us with the central problem is getting knowledge about circles, coordinate geometry, and trig. Not only did we use the orchard problem, but we also used others as well. For example, we learned about finding midpoints by using a problem about where a police station should be placed equally between a select number of highways. We also used a really great tool online called Desmos (and online, easy to use, graphing calculator) to help us better understand certain aspects of the unit.

    Over the Orchard Hideout unit, I’ve definitely grown in my math skills. As someone who has always struggled with math, it’s really amazing to see how many 100%’s I got on some of my work. With the help of my teacher and my peers, I better understand the formulas and how simple it can be if you really think about it. I did stress a lot, but after I received help and understood it clearly, I thrived and got my work done a lot faster. Not only did my math skills grow, so did my confidence. What I did enjoy about this unit, is that most of the time, the answer could be found in more than 1 way. And the questions were more of a “why?” instead of a “what?”. We didn’t have any rules/procedures to follow, so that helped decrease my stress and focus on that task at hand. I have learned to advocate and ask questions more often than I do. It really does help! Overall, I did enjoy parts of this unit. There will always be parts that I won’t enjoy, but there will also always be ones that I do.