Ever wonder what you’ll see if you step into the halls of our STEM building on a typical Wednesday at MICDS Upper School? Last week, Upper School Math Teacher Melanie Moody’s AP® Calculus AB class was in the hallway doing a scavenger hunt—but this wasn’t just any scavenger hunt. It was a Calculus-themed scavenger hunt that covered implicit differentiation and the chain rule.
Implicit differentiation is when one differentiates each side of an equation with two variables (typically x and y) by acting as if one of the variables is a function of the other. This is when the chain rule comes into place. The chain rule tells the mathematician how to find the derivative of a composite function.
Here are some of the sample problems our Calculus students faced during their scavenger hunt:
On Tuesday, Moody explained the topics of implicit differentiation and the chain rule to her Calculus students. Then, in groups on Wednesday, they started with a problem. They had to solve that problem on another paper and then do the next problem, continuing to solve problems that led them to different spots along Brauer and McDonnell Halls. “If done correctly, they were supposed to end up where they started,” explained Moody. “Most of the students did not complete all the problems, which means we probably need a little bit more time to review this topic.”
Along with the opportunity to learn when the problems got tricky, students found the lesson captivating, creative, and effective. “It was an interesting way to practice implicit differentiation because it’s really easy to skip steps or forget to do something with calculus, but if you got one answer wrong on the scavenger hunt, it would throw off the rest of your answers, too. That happened to me a couple of times, and it forces you to go back and check your work for mistakes,” said Navya Reddy ’27. “The scavenger hunt lesson was good, and it helped me figure out what parts of the problems I was forgetting.” Siboney Oviedo-Gray ’26 said, “The scavenger hunt was a really cool way to apply my knowledge while staying on the move and keeping myself engaged!”
Toward the end of last week, Upper Schoolers participated in Fall Conferences with their parents, guardians, and teachers. Moody shared, “The students really liked the activity because they mentioned it a lot during conferences.” What an innovative way to teach such important concepts in Calculus!