Mini-Golf Hole Design Winners

After sending out a survey to parents, students, and educators the votes are in for the winners of the Mini-Golf Hole Design project in Math Literacy.  Students who won the design challenge will receive a trip to a local mini-golf place upon returning from winter break.

Thank you to Adventure Miniature Golf for donating FREE miniature golf games to the top three teams!

Want to play a round of golf?

Students in my Math Literacy class recently completed their final drafts and presentations for a mini-golf hole design.  Students were tasked with creating a design that was a composite figure with an area less than or equal to 128 square feet (accurate calculations required) as well as shots that required a challenge for the average or expert golfer.

Student Work - Winter 2014

I am continually impressed with the quality of student work in my 8th grade math classes at Challenger.  Students take pride in their work and persevere to solve challenging math tasks. 

Guest Speaker - Major General Briggs

Air Force Major General Briggs stopped by to speak with my Math Literacy students about the basics of pilot math and the power of mental math.  He started his talk by asking students four questions and then walked through how to answer each of the questions and their relevance to him as a pilot.

Henna Designs Fall 2014

Students recently completed their Henna designs based on guidance from myself and our guest speaker, Rocky Mountain Henna Designs owner Carla Remillard.  The designs were personalized and required students to describe how they used transformations in their creations.

Let's design our own henna!

Community member and owner of Rocky Mountain Henna, Carla Remillard, spent a few days with students in my Math Literacy class.  Ms. Carla spent the first day educating students on the ingredients of henna and the dangers of using black henna.  The second day Ms. Carla showcased Moroccan designs and their connection to transformations in math.  Students had the rest of class to apply henna (with prior permission from parents/guardians, of course!) based on designs  inspired by geometric designs are personal interests.

Guest Speaker - Sean Starkey

Challenger parent, Sean Starkey, visited with students in my Math Literacy class to discuss the challenges and benefits of being an engineer.  He shared about his current work in telecommunications, coding, and sound frequency and played with sound quality using Audacity. 

Party Spock is in the House, Everybody Have a Logical Time!

As my Geometry students continue their journey through the land of proofs, I challenged students to create their own examples and student-friendly reasoning for the following conjecture:

Two students took the opportunity to prove the conjecture using algebra:

Using Tables to Prove Conjectures

Geometry students were thrown for a bit of a loop when having to describe the conjecture in this pattern.  As soon as I suggested using a table several light bulbs went off!  Those are my FAVORITE moments as a teacher!

Original question on the homework

Student response

I am continually impressed with the pride and respect students have for supporting their classmates with sharing ideas at the board!  This student helped many of her classmates with realizing the simplicity of this problem by using a table as a tool for learning :-)

Guest Speaker - Bonnie Birckenstaedt

Bonnie sharing talking about her role at ULA

A good friend of mine from my days at Colorado School of Mines came to speak with my Math Literacy kiddos on Friday, October 3.  Bonnie is a Radio Frequency Engineer at United Launch Alliance (ULA).  She was able to share her challenges, passions, and accomplishments with my students to inspire them to become engineers and pursue space exploration.

Bonnie pointed out all of the math she uses on a daily basis to solve complex problems - her favorite being Calculus :-P

Click HERE to see her presentation.

Guest Speaker - Karlene Thomas

Local wildlife affected by construction

I am fortunate to have several community members and parents of Challenger students who want to share what they love most about their career with students.  A Challenger parent, Karlene Thomas, came into my Math Literacy class today to share problems she solves on a regular basis as an Environmental Engineer with Pinyon Environmental, Inc.

Demonstrating erosion mitigation

She included several demonstrations to illustrate how she addresses environmental concerns along the Front Range. She thoroughly explained how communication and collaboration are essential for the environmental engineers, biologists, and civil engineers to minimize the impact of construction on local wildlife, the environment, and water quality.

Checking the pH level of water

Sand vs. silt particles in water

I am so grateful to have parents enthusiastic about sharing their passion with students and encouraging them to pursue a college degree!

Click HERE to view her presentation.

Next week a good friend of mine, Bonnie Birckenstaedt, will be presenting to students.  Bonnie is a Radio Frequency Engineer with United Launch Alliance (ULA).

Math Literacy Vocabulary Assessment #2 - Transformations

In Math Literacy, students had to use and spell two words from their vocabulary list in context of the following visual representing rotational symmetry.

I chose two student exemplars (one boy/one girl) who represented the vocabulary in the most contextually-connected way.

I sent their parents an email to share the amazing work they're doing to describe mathematical concepts.

I also shared a post on Facebook: "Just took some pictures of exemplars from the recent Math Literacy vocabulary quiz about transformations and forwarded them to parents. I hope this will give these amazing kiddos some positive leverage at home."

 

The Regulators - ADA Ramp Codes

Sketch Artists creating a visual of the ramp

Students in my Math Literacy class reviewed ADA ramp codes and assessed the ramp used for the two portable classrooms behind the school.  Students were put into groups of four, each with a team role and ADA ramp code sheet to use as a reference:

• Sketch Artist
• Responsible for creating a side sketch
• Must label appropriate units for each dimension
• Measurement Artist
• Responsible for using a yard stick to measure multiple dimensions of the ramp to the nearest inch
• Code Regulator
• Advises team on the code for "Slope & Rise"
• Advises team on the code for "Clear Width"
• Advises team on the code for "Landings" 
• Report Manager
• Responsible for writing a report to determine if the ramp is up-to-code using measurements as proof
• Shares any additional recommendations from the team

After collecting measurements and sketching multiple dimensions of the ramp, students headed back to class to write up their report.

Example of a report