Exploring a New Topic

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bartmaguire/34324822/

Friday the students were asked to explore our next unit which is FRACTIONS!  In Math 7 they explored and worked with adding and subtracting fractions and in Math 8 we explore multiplying and dividing.  We first reviewed common fraction terms such as: improper fraction, mixed numbers, numerator, denominator, factors and multiples.  Then they were set free to find resources that supported all four operations with fractions.  Here are some of the websites that they found:

http://jamit.com.au/fraction-games.htm This site offers a variety of games that range from introductory fraction information to all four operations.

http://www.visualfractions.com/FindGrampy/findgrampy.html This site is hilarious!  There is are Grammy and Grampy characters that you must work with involving fractions.  You have to find Grampy and also feed him cookies!  It is also at an introductory level so it would be great to use at the end of the fraction unit in Math 7 or review for Math 8.

Here is TJ's blog and her in-depth explanation of our common math terminology.  She did an excellent job reviewing for us!

6 Word Stories

We were challenged to write a six-word story relating to math.  They were given the freedom to be open and honest and thoughtful when it came to summarizing their beliefs/ideas on math in to 6 words.  We brainstormed ideas together and then were given time to find an appropriate picture to go with their essay or create their essay based on a picture they found. 

For more examples, please check out my followers and their blogs!

Pythagorean Theorem: Student Work

Today we began creating Pythagorean Theorem posters to demonstrate our understanding of this ancient and often-used theorem.  It is, in fact, named after a Greek philosopher named Pythagorus.  Contrary to the belief of one my students, his last was not Theorem. :)   

After creating our informative posters we then took off around the school to see if we could spot real-life examples of right triangles.  Those right angles are everywhere and students were very creative coming up with ways to form a triangle from those right angles.