Lookout - Free Classroom Simulation

Math Grades 4 7 roles 45 min 1 class period

Empty summer hills, a ring of fire lookout stations, one morning.

Grade 4 angles: each table is a fire lookout station that turns its camera reading into a direction number, draws sight lines on a paper map with a protractor, and sends its engine where three lines cross.

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Class Time

45 minutes

Designed For

1 class period

Roles

7 roles

Class Sizes

12-19 kids: 4 stations, 20-24 kids: 5 stations, 25-29 kids: 6 stations, 30-35 kids: 7 stations

Learning Objectives

4 objectives

Standards

3 standards aligned

Where This Fits in Your Curriculum

Use this in the middle of the angle measurement unit, after students have measured and drawn angles up to 180 degrees with a protractor and know that angles add. They do not need compass directions, angles over 180 or any fire knowledge: the game teaches the direction number and 180 and the rest in play. Every student measures, draws or adds an angle every round, and the drawing is the only way a table finds a fire. The turned camera at the round 3 reveal is an unknown angle found by subtracting, and the paper exit ticket checks all three standards one student at a time.

What Students Will Learn

Read a turn as a number of one-degree turns: a tick is 5 degrees and a little mark is 1.
Measure and draw angles to 180 degrees with a protractor, from a given starting line.
Add and subtract angles to find a direction number, including 180 and the rest for angles over 180.
Find an unknown angle by subtracting two measured angles.

Cases Included

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.C.5 (in part) - an angle that turns through n one-degree angles has a measure of n degrees; a full turn is 360
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.C.6 - measure angles in whole-number degrees using a protractor; sketch angles of a given measure
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.C.7 - angle measure is additive; solve addition and subtraction problems to find unknown angles

Social & Emotional Learning (CASEL)

Aligned to the CASEL framework's core competencies. These are the SEL skills students actively practice while playing.

Relationship Skills One line is only a direction, so every table needs other stations' numbers. Tables talk across the room and split up their engines.

Flexible Class Sizes

12-19 kids: 4 stations

Owl, Elk, Wolf and Deer. 12-15 kids: tables of 3 or 4. 16-19 kids: tables of 4 or 5.

20-24 kids: 5 stations

Adds Hawk. Tables of 4 or 5.

25-29 kids: 6 stations

Adds Fox. Tables of 4 or 5.

30-35 kids: 7 stations

Adds Bear. Tables of 4 or 5.

How the Game Plays Out

Roles Your Students Will Play

Click any role to see their background and what they are trying to accomplish.

Owl station

Owl station is a fire lookout on a hill, with a camera on a tall pole and one fire engine. On the paper map, N is north, at the top. The camera shows which way a smoke is, not how far. A direction number is the angle from N, turning toward E. The map also shows the lake and the ridges.

Goals

Turn every smoke on our camera into a direction number.
Draw sight lines with a protractor and a ruler, and find where three cross.
Send our engine to a square where a fire is.

Elk station

Elk station is a fire lookout on a hill, with a camera on a tall pole and one fire engine. On the paper map, N is north, at the top. The camera shows which way a smoke is, not how far. A direction number is the angle from N, turning toward E. The map also shows the lake and the ridges.

Goals

Turn every smoke on our camera into a direction number.
Draw sight lines with a protractor and a ruler, and find where three cross.
Send our engine to a square where a fire is.

Wolf station

Wolf station is a fire lookout on a hill, with a camera on a tall pole and one fire engine. On the paper map, N is north, at the top. The camera shows which way a smoke is, not how far. A direction number is the angle from N, turning toward E. The map also shows the lake and the ridges.

Goals

Turn every smoke on our camera into a direction number.
Draw sight lines with a protractor and a ruler, and find where three cross.
Send our engine to a square where a fire is.

Deer station

Deer station is a fire lookout on a hill, with a camera on a tall pole and one fire engine. On the paper map, N is north, at the top. The camera shows which way a smoke is, not how far. A direction number is the angle from N, turning toward E. The map also shows the lake and the ridges.

Goals

Turn every smoke on our camera into a direction number.
Draw sight lines with a protractor and a ruler, and find where three cross.
Send our engine to a square where a fire is.

Hawk station

Hawk station is a fire lookout on a hill, with a camera on a tall pole and one fire engine. On the paper map, N is north, at the top. The camera shows which way a smoke is, not how far. A direction number is the angle from N, turning toward E. The map also shows the lake and the ridges.

Goals

Turn every smoke on our camera into a direction number.
Draw sight lines with a protractor and a ruler, and find where three cross.
Send our engine to a square where a fire is.

Fox station

Fox station is a fire lookout on a hill, with a camera on a tall pole and one fire engine. On the paper map, N is north, at the top. The camera shows which way a smoke is, not how far. A direction number is the angle from N, turning toward E. The map also shows the lake and the ridges.

Goals

Turn every smoke on our camera into a direction number.
Draw sight lines with a protractor and a ruler, and find where three cross.
Send our engine to a square where a fire is.

Bear station

Bear station is a fire lookout on a hill, with a camera on a tall pole and one fire engine. On the paper map, N is north, at the top. The camera shows which way a smoke is, not how far. A direction number is the angle from N, turning toward E. The map also shows the lake and the ridges.

Goals

Turn every smoke on our camera into a direction number.
Draw sight lines with a protractor and a ruler, and find where three cross.
Send our engine to a square where a fire is.

Hand Each Student Their Own Sheet

One click on the teacher dashboard prints a dossier for every role - background, goals, key facts, and their confidential briefing - plus the primary-source packet and a vocabulary sheet. Print them, or save as PDF, so each student reads their role on paper instead of huddling around one screen. The app still runs the votes and the action; the paper just carries the reading.

Primary Sources

Every role includes real historical documents. Students read them because they need the information to make their case.

Key Terms Students Will Learn

degreeangleturntickdirection numbernorthaim lineprotractorrulerdotsquaresight linecrossingghost crossinglookoutridgecamera slip

After the Game: Debrief Questions

One camera shows which way a smoke is. Why did we need another station's line?
One smoke, two stations. Would both stations give that smoke the same direction number? Why not?
What does a camera slip change about a turned camera's numbers?

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