Projectile Motion – what goes up must come down
The overarching MYP unit question we are trying to answer is “Does what go up have to come down?” Our tenth graders have been studying quadratics (a function that follows a parabolic path) for the past month. A quadratic is a function that follows a parabolic path, basically a smooth function that goes up, reaches a maximum height and then comes back down. The question we hoped to answer at the end of the unit, was how do we take the lessons about quadratic equations that we’ve learned and apply them to real life? The grade 10 students used their knowledge of quadratic...
Read MoreThey all grow up sometime…
The other day was a moment for me in my teaching career that I had yet to have experienced. Before I began my teaching career, even before I went to teacher’s college, I spent one year working a part-time job and tutoring students in mathematics. For a short time period of a few months, I tutored at this agency where I worked twice a week with various students of varied ability. However, I can’t say that I really enjoyed that, so I started tutoring from home. One of my students was a young musician in Grade 12. He struggled a little bit with math but more so needed some...
Read MoreYou sank my Battleship!!
The grade 7s just finished a quick unit called Coordinate Geometry, basically learning how to plot points on the Cartesian plane. The kids learned about Rene Descartes (who as the story goes created the Cartesian plane by looking up at the flies on his ceiling while he was bed-ridden) and we challenged them to a newly designed game of Coordinate Geometry. Mr. Barry and I set up a chat window for the students to call coordinates from one room to the other, some were assigned our battlefield and others were in charge of strategizing our attack on Mr. Barry’s class. A very tech savvy...
Read MoreMathbucks
Having had so many warmer than average winter days, Mr. Barry and I knew that the timing of our excursion to our neighbourhood Starbucks would be met with some daunting winter weather! However, no amount of snow or wind could keep our Grade 7s from having a great time venturing over to have their desired beverage while challenging their mathematical abilities by calculating which size was the best purchase in terms of percentage volume and price change. Many of the customers watched with curiosity and even began discussions of their own. Some commented that they wish they had done similar...
Read MoreForbes does Venn
Who would have known that Forbes online would release an article including Venn Diagrams (and a couple of other relationship graphs) just as I’m about to introduce it to my Grade 10 students after we wrap up our Quadratics unit and head into the midterm exam…Fabulous timing! How To Be More Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps) (written by Jessica Hagy for Forbes, click on link for actual article) 1.Go exploring. Explore ideas, places, and opinions. The inside of the echo chamber is where are all the boring people hang out. 2. Share what you discover. And be generous when you...
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