Ode to Dixie Cups

Previously I have posted on the usefulness of index cards. Today I am going to talk about the usefulness of Dixie Cups. I take delight in using common materials that are cheap and can be abused in so many different ways to make education fun and interesting.

Today I used Dixie Cups for two totally different lessons, but how handy they were!

In Algebra, we discussed variables. What is a variable? How do we substitute for variables, etc. I gave each group of students some Dixie cups, tin foil, rubber bands and beads. They had to come up with a secret number and put that number of beads in each Dixie cup. Then they "sealed" the cup by placing tin foil over the top and rubber banding it in place. We then discussed how we could find other groups secret numbers, how to combine like terms and what the cups actually represented by choosing a letter to label each groups set of Dixie cups.

Cheap. Easy. Educational. Fun.

I also used Dixie Cups to do a Scrambled Eggs activity in Practical Math. I've taken an approach to this class that I usually don't do - I'm going through the book. I have acquired a business math textbook, and while I'm not big on textbooks, it has come in quite handy for helping me develop a curriculum that I have never developed or taught before.

The problem has been that it is quite dull. So I have the task of mixing up the practice problems in such a way that it is not so monotonous and boring. Today I used Scrambled Eggs - an activity I stole from a teacher at the main campus that I substituted for last year. I put all the problems in a different container. The ideal would be plastic Easter eggs, but those are not really out for sale yet. So I used Dixie cups. The students in groups send one person to the table with all the cups and pick up one cup. They take it back to their group, solve the problem inside and then take that cup back to the table where they pick up another one.

Not so boring. Has an element of choice. Cheap. Easy. Educational.

Dixie Cups saved my lessons today. Thank you!