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Archive for the ‘Junior School’ Category
No Frills MATHs Skills for Parents 4: FRACTIONS for Beginners
June 6, 2022
Here is a post on Lego Fractions by New York Grade 3 teacher Alycia Zimmerman. Surprisingly I found this on an art website.
Just play with the Lego blocks. Add and subtract … you can even multiply and divide.
Next time.
Killer Easter Egg Math
March 30, 2022According to The Guinness Book of Records the largest chocolate Easter Egg went on display at Le Acciaierie Shopping Centre, in Cortenuova, Italy, on 2011.
Egg Weight = 7,200 kg = 15,873 lbs
Height = 10 m = 34 ft
Circumference = 19.6 m = 64 ft
The sugar content for easter eggs is: 55-65% by weight
So we will assume the sugar content of the giant egg was in the middle:
60%
The weight of sugar in the giant egg equals:
What’s the Maths Curriculum got to do with it? WHEN Maths is, like, soooo BORING!!!!!
February 22, 2022Australia is reviewing its Maths Curriculum.
Sides are taken. Arguments are rife. See the excellent article by Donna Lu, Cracking the formula: how should Australia be teaching maths under the national curriculum?, The Guardian,13 FEB, 2022)
Should teachers teach? Or students explore problems? (Called Cognitive Activation in academe!)
Why not, both? Then add outdoor maths (below) plus defronting the classroom sometimes and try some maths selfies for homework. More ideas here.
It doesn’t matter what’s written in the curriculum, the biggest problem in maths for students is
BOREDOM.
Here, to tackle boredom are:
41 Maths things to do before you’re 12
“A growing body of research shows us that outdoor play leads to better physical and mental health, has positive effects on cognitive function and learning, and reduces the incidence of behavioural problems.” Maria Zotti, Nature Play, SA.
Peter Dunstan, Principal Kilkenny PS, SA, writes in SAPPA magazine, Primary Focus, that outdoor play fosters “wonderment, independence and freedom” as well as “social skills, imagination, creativity and problem solving”.
Inspired by SAPPA and NaturePlay, Mathspig has produced her own outdoorsy maths list:
References:
7. Robin Hood Give us your best shot.
9. You can measure the volume of your lungs by blowing one breath into a balloon and pushing it into a full bucket of water. Measure the overflow.
15: Outdoor Maths: Times Tables
21. Light intensity links. Here and here.
36. Killer heels that really kill.
NATHAN CHEN wins Gold but Figure Skating Scores can be BAD MATH
February 10, 2022
Nathan Chen, 22, USA, wins GOLD in the Men’s Figure skating with 5 brilliant, soaring quadruple jumps executed to perfection to Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Rocket Man.”
Nathan Chen’s Winning Performance on You tube HERE.
According to the fab NBC video, Mathletes, nine Figure Skating judges score competitors for the complexity of each element (eg. Triple axel or triple spin jump) and the quality of the performance producing a score out of ten.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir(Above) GOLD Medal performance at Pyeongchang 2018 here.
Kailani Craine, Australia
This is a typical figure skating score card for one competitor.
The final score, however, is based on the average for only 5 of these scores. Two are eliminated by random selection (Red Brackets). Then the top and bottom scores are removed and the remaining five scores averaged.
Screen grab NBC Mathletes
……………………………………………………
Now consider the IDENTICAL SCORE CARDS
of Skater A & B:
Skater A:
Four scores are removed. Two by the random selector (in brackets) and then the top and bottom scores (with line drawn through them)
7.00 + 7.00 + 7.00 + 6.75 + 7.00
……………………………………..
= 34.75/ 5 = 6.95
Skater B:
Four scores are removed. Two by the random selector (in brackets) and then the top and bottom scores (with line drawn through them). But this time the random selector eliminates two low scores.
The average:
7.00 + 7.25 + 7.00 + 7.00 + 7.00
……………………………………..
= 35.25/ 5 = 7.05
Same score cards but Skater B gets a higher average score than Skater A.
Skater A is, in fact, beaten by a random number selector!!!!
Sound Math 2: Can you hear this high pitch sound?
September 30, 2021
One of the best summaries of sound can be found here at Maths is Fun
Sound from 0-1000000 Hz in one minute(below)
Other Sound Math:
Make a match Box sing like Sinatra
The Curious Nature of Drummers’ Brains
Pump Up the volume or Knock, Knock Knockin on Your skull wall!
Sound Math 3: How loud is LOUD?
September 29, 2021
The logarithmic equation for sound and the decibel calculator here
More here
Other Sound Math:
Make a match Box sing like Sinatra
The Curious Nature of Drummers’ Brains
Pump Up the volume or Knock, Knock Knockin on Your skull wall!
Sound Math 4: Make a match Box sing like Sinatra
September 29, 2021
Other Mathspig Sound Posts:
The Curious Nature of Drummers’ Brains
Pump Up the volume or Knock, Knock Knockin on Your skull wall!
Mathspig Blog 