Dilations & Rotations

Students in a previous Math Literacy class shared how transformations (8th grade geometry standards) apply to their interests in their last project for the class. I wanted to mix things up a bit with the next group of students and received some inspiration from my mother-in-law.  She introduced me to a quilting craft video about students creating their own rotational symmetry using their name.  Attempting to reflect some letters became challenging for some students, so I also offered students the option of dilating a word, name, or image.  Students presented their creations along with a description of how their image represents transformation vocabulary as well as what their inspiration was for the choice of color, words, letters, images, etc.  I saw several of these students showcase their designs at the end-of-year learning fair :-)

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.