Product Overview

Oscar Ramirez, an employee at the Whole Nine Yards Construction & Landscaping Company, has been assigned to manage the remodel of Mayor Lawrence’s family estate, which locals call "Lawrence Lair." One member of his team is his nephew, Martin Fuentes, who is in need of both summer work and a mentor. Francesca Hugo, the head architect for the project, is addressing two major redesigns to her original blueprint that the Lawrence family has requested: the roof of the house now needs to include both a turret and a garden—a living roof. Hugo runs into Fuentes as she’s considering how to handle these redesigns and asks him to shadow her as she works. Hugo explains to Fuentes the role of measurement in mathematics and the different attributes of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) figures. When Ramirez joins them in figuring out the additional costs of the turret and the living roof, Fuentes also tries to calculate everything so he can help his uncle and the architect solve the problems they are facing. This case is designed to be taught in a math literacy course for non-MBA audiences. Although it can be used alone, it was created as the third in a module of five cases total. It builds on the learnings in “It's All in the Signs” (UVA-G-0653) and is followed by "What Are the Odds?" (UVA-G-0655).

Learning Objectives

This case is intended to align with the topics under the Geometry domain in the Common Core State Standards Mathematics Standards. In particular, this case seeks to introduce students to the following topics: - The properties of 2D and 3D figures - Reading measurements - The area of regular and irregular figures - The Pythagorean Theorem - Surface area and volume