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Middle School, High School Grades  Project 4 weeks

Prom-Posals, Identity, and Inequality Magic

Eduardo R
Updated
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.1
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.2
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.3
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.A.1
CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.B.3
+ 8 more
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Purpose

Students use mathematics to design a prom proposal that reflects who they are while working within real budget limits and planning constraints. They learn how equations, inequalities, graphs, and systems can model event costs, ticket pricing, and viable choices by using sample quotes and feedback from a local event planner. Through weekly gallery walks, partner critique, revision, and a final Prom Pitch Night for peers and families, students connect identity, collaboration, and mathematical reasoning in a public, authentic task.

Learning goals

Students will create, solve, and justify equations, inequalities, and systems that model prom costs, budget limits, and ticket pricing, using graphs to identify viable options. They will use real vendor quotes and feedback from a local event planner to revise mathematical models and explain how each variable, constraint, and solution connects to their identity-based theme. Students will strengthen collaboration and critique skills through partner feedback, weekly gallery walks, and revision cycles that include brief reflection on a math strategy and a growth area. They will present a polished prom proposal and personal vision board that show how mathematical reasoning and identity can work together within real-world constraints.

Standards
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.1 - Create equations and inequalities in one variable and use them to solve problems. Include equations arising from linear and quadratic functions, and simple rational and exponential functions.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.2 - Create equations in two or more variables to represent relationships between quantities; graph equations on coordinate axes with labels and scales.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-CED.A.3 - Represent constraints by equations or inequalities, and by systems of equations and/or inequalities, and interpret solutions as viable or nonviable options in a modeling context.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.A.1 - Explain each step in solving a simple equation as following from the equality of numbers asserted at the previous step, starting from the assumption that the original equation has a solution. Construct a viable argument to justify a solution method.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.B.3 - Solve linear equations and inequalities in one variable, including equations with coefficients represented by letters.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.C.6 - Solve systems of linear equations exactly and approximately (e.g., with graphs), focusing on pairs of linear equations in two variables.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.D.12 - Graph the solutions to a linear inequality in two variables as a half-plane (excluding the boundary in the case of a strict inequality), and graph the solution set to a system of linear inequalities in two variables as the intersection of the corresponding half-planes.
Competencies
  • Mathematical Modeling - Modeling (FL.MST.2.a)
  • Mathematical Modeling - Using models (FL.MST.2.d)
  • Productive Collaboration - Reflecting on our work (GC.IS.4.c)
  • Understanding Self - Skills and mindsets (LL.SAw.3.b)
  • Receiving Feedback - Absorbing feedback (LL.SM.1.a)
  • Problem Solving - Managing constraints (OT.PS.2.b)

Products

Students will create a personal identity vision board with math motifs, a planning notebook or journal, and a group prom proposal draft that is revised through weekly gallery walks, sticky-note feedback, and a partner glow/grow critique. Throughout the project, groups will also produce vendor research notes, cost tables, equations and inequalities for each expense category, and graphs of systems that show viable and nonviable prom options. By the end, each group will present a polished prom proposal that includes a theme board, itemized budget charts, systems of equations and inequalities, ticket price calculations, and written justification using evidence from vendor quotes and feedback from the event planner. Each student will also submit a final reflection explaining how their identity connections shaped the theme, what math strategy they used, and how their work improved through revision.

Launch

Kick off with a visit from a local event planner who brings real prom budgets, vendor quotes, theme photos, and planning checklists, then challenges students to answer: How can mathematics help us design a prom that represents our identities while remaining within real-world constraints? Students rotate through a short gallery of sample prom choices, estimate costs, sort needs versus wants, and jot questions and notes that will guide both their personal vision boards and group proposals. End with a quick “identity to theme” brainstorm where students select a few traits, images, or symbols that represent them and discuss how those ideas could become realistic prom design choices with measurable costs and constraints.

Exhibition

End with a Prom Pitch Night where groups present their prom proposal live to peers, families, school staff, and the local event planner. Each group shares its identity-based theme board, budget charts, vendor quotes, equations, inequalities, systems graphs, and ticket-price justification, then answers audience questions about how the plan stays realistic and within constraints. Display individual vision boards and short journal reflections in a gallery space so guests can see how personal identity connects to the final theme and math choices. Invite the event planner and peers to use a simple feedback form to name one strong mathematical decision and one realistic revision idea.