I laughed, I cried, I felt appreciated!!! Thank you to all the students for their sweet sentiments to teachers and also to parents for organizing such a thoughtful gift!!!

Love,  Ms. Hock

Mr. Schafstall recently visited the fifth grade class to share a little bit about architecture and creating blueprints. Students then used this information to create a blueprint of their perfect clubhouse as part of their study of Geometry.

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TCPS math students celebrated by finding what the pi relationship actually is between a circle’s diameter and circumference. Sixth graders cut diameter sized pieces of string from the length of the a circumference to find they each had 3 pieces and a little more. Seventh graders found that by graphing diameters/circumferences on the x and y-axes the line of best fit they created had a slope of pi! Geometry students explored circular and other cross sections of conic sections. Fifth grade students (who have math at 3/14 1:59!) yelled many digits of pi around the playground. Of course we all shared pi-themed treats and dressed up for the occasion!

I wondered how much math students felt they used during Event so I thought I’d ask them! See the list below of how each class felt they used what they knew and applied in a meaningful, real-world way…

5th Grade Math

• Measured shelves, bulletin boards and white boards to cover them with paper
• Measured the columns for the hallway
• Measured the length of the wood pieces Icarus and Daedalus maze
• Estimated how long a piece of yarn we needed for weaving in Arachne room
• Estimated how many feathers we would need to glue on the bird wing by looking at how many were on the first wing
• Counted how many trees we needed in Echo and Narcissus room
• Measured the amounts of ingredients we needed to make bread
• Had to count how many kids are in school and estimate how many guests they would bring to know how much food to make
• Measure our costumes to see how long they should be and how long belts and accessories needed to be

6th Grade Pre-Algebra

• Find dimensions of the oven in the food room
• Measured Zeus’ feet so they were the same size
• Measured paper to cover boards perfectly
• Calculated the right amounts of food to buy – 5 times the regular recipe
• Measured flour for the bread
• Symmetry and fractions when folding the Narcissus flowers
• Tell time to switch groups and go to lunch
• Make patterns for vases and costumes
• Graphed ball mazes for Icarus room and then transferred with a ruler to the board
• Labyrinth is made of line segments, right angles – what we’re studying now
• 3-d models like stalactites are cones, not triangles
• Divided Persephone room exactly in ½
• Counted pomegranate seeds
• Used yardstick (36”) and used mental math for costumes to see how much higher than 36” fabric we needed
• Wove fabric into squares, circles for grapes, cut paper into rectangles to cover boards, clay cubes for Sicilian houses
• Estimated size of volcano in relation to houses for Sicily diorama

7th Grade Algebra

• When we made the Icarus maze we had to perfectly measure and cut the pieces
• We made the circle’s diameter big enough for the marble to fall through in the maze
• Measure cups of water, yeast and flour we needed for bread
• We had to angle the zip line so the guy wouldn’t stop halfway down the line
• Make correct angles and folds for origami Narcissus flower
• Stalactites and stalagmites needed correct measures of paper to cover the cone
• The height of the door was 88” so we had to perfectly measure the pieces of water and sky for the Icarus ball toss
• The labyrinth had a scale drawing on paper and you had to measure the tape to be the right distance on the floor
• You had to determine what angle to throw the ball in the Icarus game to get it to stick
• In the Wii game you had to keep track of time to land on the ship

8th Grade Geometry

• Folded origami narcissus flowers into equal parts
• To make Icarus wings we had to estimate how many feathers were needed
• We had to use vectors to get the ball through the eye socket hole of the gray women
• We used measurements in the recipes
• Patterns on bulletin boards and clothes we made were symmetrical
• Used shapes, proportions, and ratios to make the self-portraits
• Measured dimensions of the bulletin boards to cover them in paper
• Measured pillars to make them all congruent
• Made equidistant parallel lines on the pillars
• Some of the pillars had perpendicular lines
• During cooking we had to split the recipes into thirds for three different groups
• Used cylinders to make stalagmites and trees in Medusa and Echo rooms
• You had to flap your wings at a certain speed and stop at the right place in the Wii game and pay attention to timing
• We had to use transformations like rotations and turns to line up the trees correctly in the Echo and Narcissus room
• There were reflections in the Narcissus pool

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/math-matters/

Before winter break, Algebra I and Geometry students had some time to do a little research. They each were assigned a different famous mathematician and had to share some information about that person’s life, an interesting story, and of course how they have contributed to mathematics.  Students did an excellent job sharing these often complex ideas in an understandable way. Below are the power point presentations they used as visual aids.

Gus – Zeno

Alec – Pythagorus

Johnny – Archimedes

Vivienne – Eratosthenes

Talia – Plato

Annika – Euclid

Natalie – Thales

Sammy – Socrates

John – Aristotle

We begin with a search for similar figures…there is a shape projected on the board. Where is the shape that is similar? Next up, how can we determine how much our shape is magnified as it is projected on the board?

How many of you read a bedtime story? This is such a lovely nightly ritual which allows parents and children to quietly spend some time together before sleep and helps create positive feelings around books and reading.

How many of you do bedtime math?? That’s what I thought! Why not try incorporating a problem you can solve together each night before or after that lovely story to help create positive memories around problem solving and math as well?

I discovered this very cool website that can be found at www.bedtimemath.com with a new age-level problem (and answers) to work on together before bed each night. How neat! On the website you can find other tips and articles about Bedtime Math.

Leave a comment and let me know if/how you’re planning on incorporating this into your bedtime routine. Sweet dreams!!!

Legend has it that one of Napoleon’s officers used congruent triangles to determine the width of a river before having to cross it by applying the idea that corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent, or CPCTC. The officer stood straight up on the riverbank and lowered the visor of his cap until the farthest thing he could see was the edge of the opposite bank. He then turned and noted the spot on his side of the river that was in line with his eye and the tip of his visor, creating a congruent angle. Geometry students got to put this idea to the test and then prove that his idea worked using congruent triangles and CPCTC.