What’s Goin’ On In Room 133

Looks like Mother Nature has given us quite a few breaks over the last few days – with more to come it seems!  But that does not mean we need to cut ourselves any slack in our pursuit of understanding the Mathematics!  As a matter of fact, Colleagues, it means we must redouble our efforts. 

So here we have posted the outline of your quest whilst in your humble abode (in other words, here’s your homework!)

Wed – (Update on 04 Feb: This will be Thursday’s homework due on Friday.  OK, so that’s a little slack!)

Math 7 – On pages 572-573, do questions 10-12 in all three sections marked Lessons 4-2, 4-3 &  4-5. (Skip Lesson 4-4)

Enriched Math – On page 740, Lesson 7-3, do questions 1-5 and 10-15.

 Thu – (Update 04 Feb: This will be Friday’s homework due on Monday.  OK, so that’s a little more slack!)

Math 7 –  On pages 572-573, do questions 13-15 in Lessons 4-2, 4-3 and 4-5.  (Skip Lesson 4-4)

Enriched Math – On pages 740-741,  do questions 1-5 in both sections marked Lessons 7-4 & 7-5.

Fri –

Writing Prompt #10 is posted and due on Friday, Feb 12^th.   

Also look for EXTRA CREDIT by doing the Weekend Word Problem and the Hot Quiz (20-40 questions, and remember to put your name on it!)

 Git ‘er done!

Colleagues, I am going through your Journals and several of you are missing Writing Prompts #7, 8 and 9.  Very distressing, folks, since you had all this time to do them. 

If you’re going to do well on Tuesday’s test – and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t! – don’t spoil all that hard work by blowing off the Writing Prompts.  They won’t take long to do, but they will spoil your grade if you don’t do them!  (And if you think your grade is “teetering on the edge”, you definitely need to do them.) 

Get them done IN YOUR JOURNAL and show them to me.  (If you have them on separate sheets of paper, if you typed them up and want to bring in a print-out, I will allow you to tape/glue them into your Journal, but get them done and SHOW them to me!) 

They carry a lot of weight in the grade book.   Can’t make it any plainer than that, Colleagues – GIT ER DUN!

Colleagues, looks like we had a good review today. 

We covered – and recovered! – knowledge of Properties (Commutative & Associative for multiplication and addition, Identity & Inverse for multiplication and addition, multiplicative property of Zero, and last, but not least…the Distributive Property). 

Then we did a review of our Equations (that’s the two sheets of orange paper with 20 questions on it, sports fans.  Give it a look if you haven’t yet!).  And some of you even received the more comprehensive review packet that starts with the Order of Operations on the front and ends with Equations and Inequalities on the back.   That packet packs quite a punch (try saying that 3 times fast!). 

To help you get ready, spend some time looking over the notes in the review packet and answering some (or all) of the questions in each section.  If you did not get the review packet in your period that means that you have plenty to do with the worksheets you have (above), and the links from this blog to the different sites that we went over in class this week. 

Work on the parts that give you the most trouble so that you’re prepared for anything that comes.  (And that includes doing my online Hot Quiz, baby! – see the post below!)  —Kudos to Sophia, Chrishaun, Olivia, Christina, and Kandace for being the first ones to send in your quiz!  And one other person who got 100% on 20 questions, but failed to give me their name – oh, dear!

On Monday, we will look at Order of Ops, making sense out of verbal expressions in math and then we will dive into reading and analyzing math word problems (the ones you did on page 153, Math 7 colleagues.  And you Enriched Math folks – yours is on page 125). 

Take the time to prepare, Colleagues – it does a body good !

OK, Colleagues – second quarter test is coming up.  It’s going to cover a lot – from fraction-decimal-percent comparisons and conversions, to powers and exponents, to order of operations, to variables and experessions, to verbal expressions and word problems, to solving equations and inequalities, not to mention the vocabulary that goes along with that and – oh yeah! – know your properties, too!  (All of them!)

Yeah, it’s a lot – but I know you can handle it!  For one, you’re taking the time to read this when you could be surfing on to something else.  And for two, you have a ton of links right here to practice your stuff and get immediate feedback on.  So you’ll make it alright.  Just give yourself a chance by checking out the Great Links page.  In fact, to help you out, I just posted a link to our brand new Hot Quiz program.  Didn’t know about that, did you?  Check it out!!

Colleagues, I am sure that you have seen the news about the devastating earthquake that hit the island country of Haiti this week.   Sadly, many thousands of lives were lost because it hit a region where more than 3 million people live.  The full extent of this tragedy will not be known for a long time.  Homes, schools, churches, roads, bridges – so many things that we take for granted in life were completely destroyed in seconds and an untold number of families had their lives ripped apart.  This is a very painful time for anyone with family or friends in the area – please be mindful.

Earthquakes are a natural phenomenon on this planet and there is nothing in our power that can stop one from happening.  But wouldn’t it be a good thing if we could at least predict when one is going to happen?  So that at least we can take steps to warn others?  And wouldn’t it be a good thing to build homes and buildings that would not collapse if and when an earthquake does occur?  Well, engineers are studying those very questions – and Math is helping them find answers.

Hear from those who are working on this problem.

See the Presidential Palace before and after the earthquake.

A quick look at what we know so far!

Not your regular Weekend Word Problem, is it?  True.  Sometimes we need to take a moment and put things in perspective.  A lot of times we ask “Why are we studying this?”  This is one of those times when I can tell you that there is only one reason to study math and that is to DO SOMETHING WITH IT TO MAKE LIFE ON THIS PLANET A LITTLE BETTER!  It doesn’t matter what scale you succeed on, Colleagues – the real success is that you try!  

And now for our problem:  Scientists determine the epicenter of an earthquake by measuring the time it takes for surface waves to travel between two places.  Surface waves travel about 6 kilometers per second through Earth’s crust.  (The “quick look” above shows you what this is like.)  Let’s say the distance between Los Angeles and Phoenix is about 600 kilometers.  First, write a multiplication equation to find how long it would take surface waves to travel from Los Angeles to Phoenix.  Then solve the equation.

POST UPDATED ON JAN 14th (Thu)

Just to keep you abreast, Colleaugues, here’s the homework that we laid out this week.

Math 7 – MONDAY:  You had page 153, Ques 1 – 4.   TUESDAY:  Your assignment was to Read and Study Section 4-2 (Solving Addition and Subtraction Equations) on pages 156-158.  Then do even-numbered questions 4 – 24.  THURSDAY:  Textbook page 162, Ques 14, 15 and 16.

Enriched Math – MONDAY:  You had page 21, Ques 49 – 52.  TUESDAY:  your assignment was to Read and Study Sec 1-4 (Properties) on pages 23-27.  Then do even-numbered questions 14 – 34.  THURSDAY:  Textbook page 31, even numbered questions 30 – 40.

You all know that Writing Prompt #9 is due this Friday in your Math Journal.  Points will be LOST for not having one by now.  Rock on Collegues!

Welcome back, Colleagues!  Let’s get right to it!

The link below will lead you to the worksheet that I gave out today to create your crossword puzzle.  To get full credit, you only need to use five words going across and five different words going down (nothing backwards, diagonal or anything llike that).  Want extra credit?  Use more words!

Make up clues that use verbal and numeric expressions as well as definitions.  Mix them up, so you’re not using the same clue format all the time.  Make it look good and turn it in for grade!

Git yer puzzle here, Colleagues!

Colleagues, dear colleagues.  We have come so far in such a short time.  Normally, I put our video links on our Great Links Abound! page (and you do want to check there for new stuff from time to time).  But I want to put these two in a post because it reminds us that all math is inter-related.  When we truly understand the properties of our extraordinary number system, we find that we spend less time crunching numbers and more time exploring ideas.  

Now, mind you, these links won’t illustrate that last point; that’s just your crazy Mr Edwards going off again about math!  And these links are not spectacular; they just show a lady going over some math problems.  But they DO remind us about a few things we have learned this year – and applies them to what we are doing now.  So get a pencil, a small notepad and your favorite hot beverage and click away!  (And when it really starts gettin’ good to ya - try not to spill that stuff on your keyboard, okay? )

Math Lab Lady – Part 1

Math Lab Lady – Part 2

The final speed of a falling object is found by using the expression v + 9.8t, where v is the speed when you begin timing and t  is the length of time the object falls.  Find the final speed when the object starts falling at 3 meters per second and falls for 2 seconds.  (Oh, we’re getting into it now, baby!)

UPDATED Dec 6, 2009:  And for a real easy one – check this out.   This problem has nothing to do with the speed problem above; this problem is “ripped from the headlines”!  It’s all about money, secrecy and good old government spending!  

Right now, President Barack Obama is having a tough time getting Congress to cough up billions (some would say trillions!) of dollars to take care of Americans at home.  Well, just over 200 years ago, President Thomas Jefferson had to “sneak around” to get Congress to make another major commitment as well, but what he had in mind was Americans pulling up stakes and leaving their homes for the Great Unknown. 

What was this about?  President Jefferson wanted Congress to fund the 8,000-mile expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.  It took (that is, the expedition took)  28 months to complete and it “provided the US government with its first glimpse of the vast lands that lay west of the Mississippi River”, according to the good folks at the National Archives.  And how much did President Jefferson want?  No less than the unholy sum of $2,500! 

Check out the SECRET LETTER from Pres Jefferson to Congress asking for the green!

So, the Word Problem is: How much did the Lewis & Clark Expedition cost per mile?  How much did it cost per month?  Do you think we got our money’s worth?  Rock on, colleagues!

OK, Colleagues – for those of you who could have found better success on that last test (in other words, if you scored less than 70%) , this is your opportunity to get a passing grade in the books for this lesson.   And for those of you who wanted a better score than you got, this is your opportunity to raise it to the next letter grade.  (It’ll look real good on that report card!)

Print out the following worksheets.   There are some fill-in the blank notes (use your text, interactive notes and the old noodle!).  There are a few questions to do on the worksheet themselves.  And, on the second page of each sheet, I have a list of questions from your textbook* that you have to tackle.   Complete everything and bring it in for credit – or extra credit, if you’re into that sort of thing ! 

7.1 Test Make-up Fractions Percents

7.1 Test Make-up Scientific Notation

Git ‘er dun – and git yer grade right!  

(*Enriched Math: these questions are in the blue textbook, so see me if you want in on this!)