Thurs 30th - the last day of Sept

Today we had Math Test #1 - factoring, prime&composite, Order of Operations, division.

Homework: (for Monday)
Greatest Common Factor sheet - both sides. Even numbered questions
(yes... you are always welcome to do all questions!)

Sept 29 - A class in the lab, and a class in Room 25

We only use the digital sum for 3 and 9...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ffvCtNZN9Q

But why does it work?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLzzb8XkhCk

Homework:
Finish Pre-Test
Colour in all composite numbers on 1-200s chart
Test - Thursday

Sept 28 - Order of Operations.

More order of operations (BEDMAS) today.

Homework:
Finish all examples on "1.8 Order of Operations"
On "1.8 Order of Operations continued" Do #4 a,b,c; #5 and #6.

Thurs Sept 23rd, 2010

While Ms. Gesner was in a meeting, Winona's favourite supply teacher, Ms. Anastasiadis covered the class.

The instructions were to:

1) Finish all of the questions on the blue divisibility sheet.

2) Finish all of the examples on the "Exponents" worksheet.

3) Begin 1.8 Order of Operations

For Homework:

Finish all of the blue sheet and exponents sheet.

Do a) b) & c) of all questions on 1.8 Order of Operations

See you Monday!

Today we read a second chapter of The Number Devil.

1) We learned the importance of ZERO

2) That you can "hop" numbers (take the exponent) to get large numbers quickly.

10^1=10
10^2=100
10^3=1,000 (one thousand)
10^4=10,000
10^5=100,000
10^6=1,000,000 (one million)
10^9=1,000,000,000 (1 billion)
10^12=1,000,000,000 (1 trilion)

Homework:

Sheet "1.4 Calculating Powers"

Do a), b) and c) of all questions

Tues Sept 21 - a devilishly good class

Today we corrected the divisibility rules (blue sheet) and began reading one of Ms. Gesner's favourite works of Math-inspired fiction - The Number Devil by Hans Magnus Enzenberger.
http://www.amazon.com/Number-Devil-Mathematical-Adventure/dp/0805062998#reader_0805062998

The Number Devil illustrated the following Math facts:
1. Any number can be found by adding up 1s (1+1+1+1)
2. There are therefore an infinite number of whole numbers (because you can always add 1 more)
3. There is an infinite number of numbers between 0 and 1, and these numbers become infinitely small (picture splitting a piece of gum over, and over, and over... although with gum you might eventually get a sub-atomic particle that cannot be split...)

Homework:
None!

Mon Sept 20th

Today's topic was divisibility.

A quick review of the topic can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZYpOKtylxM

Homework:
* Colour multiples of 11 and 13 (again, a different colour for each)
* Blue sheet - Do all odd numbered questions

Sept 17

More discussion of the locker problem today -
What lockers will the 37th person touch? (ALL MULTIPLES of 37)
Who will be the last person to touch 3 lockers? (Person #66, 200 divided by 3 is 66r2)
Which locker will get opened/closed the MOST times? Why are only the perfect squares open at the end?

Homework:
On the 1-200 number chart:
** Colour every third number
** Colour every multiple of seven a different colour
** Get a parent/guardian to sign the blue Course Outline sheet

The number chart will be the basis of a discussion we will have in class on Monday.
(This is the one time during the year you are welcome to do your homework while watching TV or talking on the phone... if your parents don't believe you can direct them to this blog)

** I have also handed out a few "Advanced" problem sheets. During the year I will copy bonus material on off-white paper. You can work on these whenever you find yourself finishing work early... or in those moments when you feel your life just needs more Math.

Wed Sept 15

Today we looked at a problem involving lockers. The scenario was:

1) Josh opens 200 lockers. (or in our case cupboards at the front of the class)

2) John comes along and closes every second locker.

3) Julia arrives and changes the position of every third locker (If the locker is open, she closes it, if closed, she opened it.)

4) Lucas changes the position of every fourth locker.

5) Ben changes every 5th...

6) Shai changes the 6th etc. etc. etc.

A pattern emerged! 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36 - THE PERFECT SQUARES!!

Homework:

Prime or composite sheet (front side only) - due Friday.

September 14

Today we continued discussing problem solving strategies.

Students were asked: "If June 1st is a Monday, how many days will pass before the first Monday in October?"

We finished correcting work from last week.

Homework:
1. Do "cat" problem with ruler
2. Read yesterday's post


posted by: mister awesome A.K.A (WYATT); tidied by Ms. Gesner

Monday Sept 13th.

Today:
1) We warmed up with mental math (a 1/2 sheet with addition on one side, multiplication on the other).

2) Ms. Gesner explained the "checks" motivation system for the class. (In short - do good things, get checks, redeem checks for good things, repeat).

3) Quick review of "Rainbow Factoring" versus "Tree Factoring"
Rainbow - Factors of 24 = 1,2,3,4,6,8,12,24 (use an arc to connect 1 and 24, 2 and 12, 3 and 8, 4 and 6 and you'll have a rainbow)
Tree - Used to get Prime factors. 48 will always be 2x2x2x2x3, no matter how you draw the tree.

4) We began the correction of Yellow Pretest.

HOMEWORK:
Finish Mental Math Halfsheet.
Find this website! Find the link below that shows an animal in a boat (see link to Crossing the River Problem)

Thurs Sept 9, 2010

In our continuing review of basic functions we tackled long division using decimals. There were many tired brains by the end of the period. For tomorrow students need to do one more example in full.

A review of long division using decimals can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0uuK7SQcA8&feature=related

Homework:

1. due Friday - Do one more complete example of a division on the "Hippo" sheet. Show your work!

2. due Monday - Make sure you have a geometry set (protractor, ruler and compas) in your locker.

3. due Monday - Yellow Book Pretest

Wed Sept 8th

Today we discussed ways to solve problems that don't involve numbers - in our case a problem involving a farmer wanting to transport a wolf, goat and vegetables across a river. There are many versions of this famous puzzle. An online version can be found at:
www.mathcats.com/explore/river/crossing.html

Class 8-8 decided that when solving a problem - DRAWING A DIAGRAM often helps. In this case, drawing arrows seemed to be a common trend.

Students received a brand spanking new orange duotang, and boldly attempted to do some more arithmetic - today's challenge - remembering long division.

HOMEWORK
For tomorrow: "Mental Math" worksheet.
For Monday Sept 13th: Finish "Yellow Book" Pretest worksheet.

P.S. A sweet new year to those celebrating Rosh Hashanah, and a joyful Eid to those celebrating the end of Ramadan.

Welcome Back Class 8-8!

A new year has begun!

Ms. Gesner was thrilled to see that 26 of her favourite students ended up in 8-8.


Today's class involved doing some warm-up calcul8ing - a review of basic addition and multiplication.

Students discussed how they add and discovered that they do it in different ways.

1) Some students are "memorizers" who have basic facts memorized.

2) Others are "topper-uppers" who do addition by figuring out how to make groups of ten. (They 'top-up' the first number to get ten, and see what's left over - 8+5 is 8 +2+3 = 10+3 = 13)

3) Others are "finger counters" - who are always wiggling their fingers as they calculate

4) Others are "visualizers" - who make pictures in their head.

So long as your method is ACCURATE and FAST, there's no need to change. However, in trying other methods you may find one that is faster. Experiment!


As members of class 8-8 didn't have agendas, Ms. Gesner made the radical decision not to assign homework. Apologies to all students who were disappointed.