While Halloween for high school students isn't quite what it was in elementary school with class parties and costume contests, we love to incorporate a bit of the festivities into our AP Calculus classroom. Many districts have a half-day on Halloween, making this the perfect opportunity to review some Calculus skills in a fun, holiday-themed game format. Today we present to you our “Who’s Who on Halloween?” puzzle. In this activity, students solve a trick-or-treating themed logic puzzle by solving derivative problems and collecting clues from neighbors.
Students will each need their own copy of the front page of the handout with the puzzle grid on it. This is where they can record the information they've collected from the various clues. You will also need multiple copies of the clues (pg. 2) and multiple copies of the Calculus derivative problems (pg. 3-5). Both the clues and derivative problems should be cut up into separate pieces and placed at an easy accessible location where you will be standing.
This activity is best done in groups of 2-4. Have each group send one group member to grab the first derivative problem. The problems cover derivative rules from Unit 2 as well as the chain rule. After completing the problem in their groups, they will bring it up for you to check. If the answer is correct, they will get the corresponding clue. They will then send up another group member to get the next derivative problem, and so on. We require students to take turns getting new problems and recording their group's work on the problem. You may choose to have groups work on whiteboards.
Once students have all 10 clues, they will be able to determine who's who on Halloween (the person's first name, the time they started trick-or-treating, their favorite Halloween candy, and the costume they wore). You may choose to award small prizes (candy or otherwise) to the group who solves the puzzle first.
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We hope you and your students enjoy this Halloween review!
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