And now for something completely different

New "stuff"!!!! We now have a class wiki. I am not able to access our class webpage for a short bit so I have added a link to the side of this page as well as, the grade webpages and here in this post. As soon as I can access our class webpage I will post it there. The wiki will be part of the Friday Lab time. It is a weekly assignment.

http://muchadoaboutmath.wetpaint.com/

Today we will also be looking at what you know and what you do not know. Today will provide a way for you to know what to practice prior to our Benchmarks and AIMS. Please follow the links to the practice tests. These test will provide feedback for you immediately so you have an idea where your strengths and refinement areas lie.

When you find your refinement area you can use your books or the online activities and 'How to's' to improve your understandings.

McDougal Littell
http://www.classzone.com/books/algebra_1/index.cfm

MAC 8th Grade
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/msmath/mac04/course3/index.php/az/2004

MAC 7th Grade
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/msmath/mac04/course2/index.php/az/2004

Please print the scores to your section assessments and bring them to me. Make sure your names on them.


Please let me know if you need any assistance.
Ms. L.

Pool Tables

Today you will need the worksheets posted on your webpages, the interactive link and directions below. (There is a spreadsheet for this activity if you would like to try you hand with excel.) After exploring the interactive and work pages you will post a conceise summary of the questions posed throughout the lesson.

Marisa created a game called Paper Pool. Her pool tables were rectangles drawn on grid paper. The pockets at each corner were labeled A (lower left), B (lower right), C (upper right), and D (upper left). Marisa described each table by its size, giving the horizontal length first and the vertical height second. The figure below shows a 6 × 4 table.

How to Play Paper Pool
• The lower-left corner is always corner A, and the labeling continues counterclockwise
with B, C, and D.
• The ball always starts in corner A.
• The ball is hit with an imaginary cue (a stick for hitting a pool ball) so that it travels at a
45° diagonal across the grid.
• If the ball hits a side of the table, it bounces off at a 45° angle and continues its travel.
• The ball continues to travel until it hits a pocket.

Link to webpage:

http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=28

Link to handouts:

http://juliesgotmail.googlepages.com/home

Questions:

1. In what corner will the ball stop?
2. How many hits will have occurred by the time the ball stops?
3. Write rules (equations) that you could use to determine what will happen to the ball as it travels on a table of any size. Your rules (equations) should tell you, without drawing the path, the corner at which the ball will stop and the number of hits that occurred. (These might be separate equations.)

Support your answers with examples in the form of patterns, spreadsheets, tables, graphs and or illustrations.

If you have any questions please see me.

Ms. Leckman

Here is a short video with some of your responses. My video will go fast so be prepared to use the pause button to spend a minute or two on a solution. I will be posting these on our class webpages to see if we can get a larger view. :-)

K.A. Video

Enjoy. I will try to post more video this year. :-) Yes, I truly am a nerd, I try to learn new "stuff" (sorry Mrs. Campbell) all the time. :-)

Ms. L.

Star Light Star Bright

The 7th grade problem,







Martha Stewart wants to rebuild her ugly garden. She thinks it needs a modern twist and decides to make a star-shaped garden where the legs of the star will be filled with flowers and the central pentagon will be grass.
Martha needs your help to calculate the floral area and grassy area in this new garden design. Then she can figure out the equipment and materials she will need for the project.
To form this star, simply extend the sides of the pentagon to make the legs of the star. Here are the dimensions of her stellar garden:

each leg of the star is a triangle with two sides, both 20 feet long, and an height of 19 feet.

The pentagon is regular (the sides are all equal and the angles are all equal),

and the distance from the center of the pentagon to one of the sides is 8.5 feet.


To the nearest square foot, what are the areas of Martha's flower section and grass section. Because Martha is not sure what she would like to do, please provide three different ways she could arrange her garden, be sure to let her know the area each floral and grass area will take. Explain how you solved one of the area problems. BE SPECIFIC! Walk us through all of your steps.

HERE ARE SOME OF YOUR SOLUTIONS:

What are the odds????

Here is the 8th grade POW:

Draw six cards from a standard deck of 52 playing cards without replacement. How many distinct ways can you choose these six cards so that:

1) The first card drawn is a spade,

2) the second card drawn is also a spade,

3) the third card drawn is a club,

4) the fourth card drawn is a diamond,

5) the fifth card drawn is a red card (either a diamond or a heart), and

6) the sixth and final card drawn is an ace?