Emmanuel S.

“Who are you?” asked the young boy.

“I am a very important mathematical symbol,” I responded.  “I am the symbol of addition called the plus sign.”

“What do you do?” the child asked me.

I responded with much openness “I add numbers together to intentionally make them larger.  But they sometimes get smaller because of the subtraction sign minus, and…”

“Who is this so called minus sign?”

“I was just about to tell you that.”

“To me minus is a very sinister symbol.  Many times when I am adding equations minus barges in and kicks me out making all the numbers much smaller.  Other times he brings in many of his loyal brothers, turning all the numbers in the equation into negative numbers.  Occasionally my best friend the multiplication symbol is around and goes in between the negative numbers and turns all of them into positive numbers at the end of the equation, he…”

“Who is he?” interrupted the boy.

“The multiplication sign is also called times.  We both have a lot in common, obviously we both like making things larger.  Times does a different form of my job when making the same number bigger.  When it comes to making different numbers bigger that’s where my job takes place.  Times and I both despise division very much.  Before you interrupt me again I’ll tell you who he is.”

“Division is almost as irritating as minus.  He always splits the numbers into halves, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, and so on.  His appearance is similar to minus’s.”

“What does he look like?” the child asked curiously

“He is a horizontal line with one dot above it and one dot under it.” I explained, “I also know some one named pi but he is infinite and the conversation on pi is really not worth it.”

“In the future you will probably have to use these symbols.” I said,“I’ve never thought of that before.” The boy said, “I used to think they were just dull things we were forced to learn in school.”

“Dull?” I yelled in a puzzled way “Mathematics is one of the greatest things to learn.  But I don’t think you would be interested in that.”

Daniella L

Hello! This is the mathematical sign here, and I want you to guess who I am. Dot, Line and another dot… That’s right, it’s me the division sign! And I am a very important sign. With out me you wouldn’t have number to divide by anyway. To start off, I’m very intelligent sign kiddo! I help you divide the number and make it easier. Unlike my selfish brother who always keep thinking about himself and NOT others.

He just multiplies numbers until they get larger and larger for him. I just hate him, I wish I never had him for brother. He always keeps showing off that the numbers he multiplies are very, very easy for him. And leaves me stranded with the hard work of dividing big numbers like 3445 and 236 and etc. But I have better family members than that double head! For example I have aunt addition, she is always being nice to me, she has this saying that she always says its “always add and you’ll forget about your problems, dearie.” it’s supposed to be funny but I don’t get it at all. My brother is sometimes good and sometimes annoying but once, he showed me how to multiply numbers in a very easy way that’s how I got to be very intelligent.

I don’t mean to brag but I really want to show you. Ready or not here it is! So you have number let’s say that is 7. So 7 here is going to add itself to himself as many times with a number that number can be 3. so you are going to add 7 three times and you get your answer. Just kidding, that was the lame and long way to find the answer, this is the right way, 7×3=21 that was easy! Duh!

I am important because I have matters, my matters are that if it weren’t for me you wouldn’t have good buildings, right now you are probably wondering what on earth does division has to do with buildings well, if you didn’t have a division sign like me, you would’nt be able to find out what the circumference or the radius out of a diameter of the circle was you may or may not know what a circumference, radius or a diameter is yet but I don’t want to get any further.

Last but not least, My mathematics world may have annoying signs in it (my brother) but I like my world, its where I belong, I like being intelligent and good in doing division. My mom the denominator, and my dad the decimal, I love them all! I’m just this jumpy and happy division sign who loves division!!!!!!!!!

Kathleen M

Meet Bob. He teaches babies how to use mathematical symbols. Today, he’s going to teach Caroline how to use +. “Hi banana!” says Caroline.

Even though Caroline is only 1 year old, Bob thinks she’ll figure it out eventually. “Now, lets begin!” says Bob. “Caroline, this is a + sign. It tells you that you need add. Do you know what that means?” “Ball” says Caroline. “Okay, I’ll take that as a no, so I guess we’ll have to start from the basics.” Says Bob. “Caroline, to add means to put numbers together to make a new number. See:”

3 + 4 = 7

“Ha!” shouts Caroline. “I think she gets it!” says Bob. “Now, Caroline, here’s where + comes in. It’s the little sign between the 3 and the 4. It tells you to add…”

“I do!” says Caroline. ”Okay, you try then!” Says Bob. “But just so you know, it’s rude to interrupt.” “I DO!” screams Caroline.

3

“Um…” Caroline thought for a minute.

3 + 4 = 127639

“No, I don’t think so.” Says Bob. “Try again.” “Ugh!” Caroline was frustrated. She picked a random number.

3 + 4 = 7

” ALL DONE! All done! All done! ALL DONE!” yelled Caroline. She was bored, and ready for a nap. “Okay, what did I tell you?” Says Bob. “She now not only knows how to use +, but to add as well! Now I think she’s getting a little annoyed with us, so lets leave.” He was right. Caroline reached for the nearest thing she could find (a bunch of bananas) and threw it as hard as she could. “Hey!” shouted Bob. “Stop throwing bananas at us! RUN!”

How are Music and Math related?

Rudo

Math and Music are actually really similar if you think about it. When you are playing music you have to read the right note length, and when you are doing math you have to solve a question using the right numbers. So in Music there are these things called measures, basically sections divided in a song. In each measure there is a beat. Each beat counts as a different number which has to equal the number of beats shown on the time signature, a symbol shown at the beginning of a song. On a time signature are two numbers, the top of the time signature is how many beats are in a measure, and on the bottom tells you which kind of note receives one count. For example in 4/4 time a whole note equals 4 beats and there are 4 beats in a measure.

Now not all notes are whole there are half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, 16th notes, and on and on and on. So on the example shown above if a whole note equals 4 beats then half notes equals 2 beats, and a quarter notes equals 1 beat, and an eighth note equals ½ beat, etc. Now if the time signature is 4/4 and every note is an eighth note in that measure that means there can be up to eight notes in that measure, if there is 2 quarter notes and one half note that will take up one whole measure.

Right now I’m not going to go into to much detail because there is an infinite amount of time signatures like 3/4 time, 2/4, 2/5 time, 3/5 time etc. But remember that behind music there is mathematics.

Autumn

Music is related to math in many ways. With different notes such as eighth notes, whole notes, quarter notes, and half notes etc. Different notes equal different counts. In every measure there is often four counts. Also in some songs you have to write in the counting. But in the end, each measure should have two to four beats.
With eighth notes the counting starts with 1and ends with +, so at the end of the measure the counting would be 1+ 2 3 4. Or it could be 1 2 3+ 4. It could be any numbers. Sometimes you have dotted half notes that get 3 beats. And dotted quarter notes get 2.5 a beats.

Music is related to math because there is a lot of counting involved. When you have to clap the counting, the different notes and rests tell you how long to hold the note. It seems hard at first, but it really isn’t. It’s probably the easiest thing in music or band.
Music is related to math in so many other ways! I just can’t think of them. But the counts and beats are very important. And that is how math is related to music.

The Guinness Book of World Records challenged math students from all over the world to see if more than 1 million students could help unite the world in numbers within the 48 hours of the event..  It only took 1 hour to pass the 1 million-student mark.

For today’s event I made arrangements to take all classes to the computer lab.  The day began slowly with some technical difficulties but by 4^th hour we were full steam ahead and the kids loved it.  I even had the students that were absent compete from their home computer.  Before the day was over it was reported that because of the problems experienced earlier in the day, the event would be extended an additional 12 hours.  The kids were thrilled and they left for the day anxious to get home and continue competing.

When the event ended for us on Thursday at 6 PM EST. 1,133,246 students and 56,082 schools from 235 countries united to set a new world record by correctly answering 479,732,613 questions.

We had 115 students participating from my 5 classes completing 46,836 correct answers.

Overall High Score for Practice

1. Allison W.                        3,035
2. Emma L.                           1,801
3. Colby B.                            1,335
4. Rachel Z.                          1,270
5. Anthony C.                       1,029
6. Garrett E.                            821
7. Daniel S.                              556
8. William W.                          514
9. Zayna G.                              464
10. Ari D.                                    438

Overall High Score for Event

1. Grayson H.                            3515
2. Anthony C.                            1,772
3. Rudo M                                  1,734
4. Cynthia L.                              1,678
5. Emma L.                                1,672
6. Jonathan S.                          1,589
7. Rachel Z.                               1,299
8. Ashley M.                              1,292
9. Travis M.                               1,022
10. Emmanuel S.                           979

2011 will be even bigger with World Maths Day becoming part of the World Education Games which will include events not only for Math but also Science and Spelling..

Everyone is invited to unite the world in learning! See you in 2011.

Mariano

Math is a very fun and challenging concept that teaches you skills necessary now and in the future. You learn new math skills almost every day. I have recently learned about ratios. Ratios are a very big part of algebra. They support certain equations and make doing math a whole lot easier.

For example, ratios are most likely used in the store when you try to decide what item has a better price. Lets say you have a choice of buying a 16-ounce bag of candy for $2.99 or a 20-ounce bag of candy for $3.09. To find the better price, ratios create the equation. 16/2.99 as 20/3.09 then you divide. So for a 16-ounce bag, 1 ounce costs 19 cents. And for a 20-ounce bag, 1 ounce costs 15 cents. It pays off to buy a 20-ounce bag of candy rather than a 16-ounce bag. These types of ratios can also be used for determining which bank has a higher interest rate, or even deciding on which size (small, medium, large) of beverage cup to get at a fast food restaurant.

Ratios can be expressed in many ways. Lets deal with two certain numbers: 20 and 100. You can write them in these ways; 20 : 100, 20 is to 100, 20/100 and they all still mean the same thing.

On a recent homework assignment, Lesson 10-6: Similar Figures, ratios were used to express measurements of the similar figures. The image below shows two similar triangles.

In order to find x cm, we relate the same sides of the two different triangles 4/2 as 9/x and find the cross products.

• 2(9) = 4x
• 18    =  4x
• Divide both sides by 4 and get:
• 4.5   =  x

However, don’t forget writing ratios in simplest form. Lets go back to the numbers 20 and 100. When we write a ratio, you usually have to put it in simplest form. As you may know, 20/100 = 1/5 in both fractional and rational form. You may sometimes see ratios as 20 : 100. Just take an extra step and change it to a fraction and simplify.

There are many more methods involving ratios that we have not yet learned. Some methods may seem hard to you, but as you get more experience, you will soon find what you once thought of as hard will be a piece of cake.

I am finally considering getting either an iPod Touch or iPhone, so I am coming to all of you for help.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you like or dislike about these two product.  Help me out by comparing things like cost, apps, and usefulness.

I had an incredible experience today when I went to the Boca Raton Museum of Art.  There I spent 3 glorious hours viewing the work of M.C. Escher.  I first became aware of Escher when I started my classes on their study of tessellations. Then when my son moved back to Florida he brought with him a mounted  jigsaw puzzle of Escher’s Drawing Hands.

I encourage everyone to treat yourself to this wonderful learning experience.  I can’t wait to begin our study of tessellations with this years classes.

Think about how technology has benefited our classroom. Our principal has decided that students in our school can have new technology for all of your classrooms. Which technologies you would recommend should be in all classrooms to benefit our learning and why.

Rachel C

How does technology benefit our classroom? Technology has benefited our classroom in many ways. In my classroom we have technologies such as remotes, sound systems, computers, and webcams. These technologies have made learning easier, faster, and overall more fun and should be standard in every classroom.

Technology has made life and learning much easier for many people. Technologies such as remotes and sound systems have helped making learning easier.  What are remotes?  They are devices used in the classroom that allows a student to punch in answers for testing, class work or just practice.  That makes testing much easier for both the teacher and students.  A sound system also makes things easier in the classroom.  It uses a portable microphone so the teacher doesn’t have to strain his or her voice to be heard.  Students also use them when making presentations. Both these technologies have improved learning in the classroom.

Technology also makes learning faster and more efficient.  Some examples are computer and once again remotes.  A computer makes basic writing and data calculation much faster so more time can be spent learning concepts.  They also make research much faster and more efficient so more time can be spent on learning the facts than looking for them.  Remotes make learning easier but they also make it faster.  No time is wasted fumbling with paper and pens just to get ready to learn.  It also makes things more efficient and faster for the teacher since answers can be analyzed quickly and grades can be given automatically.  Teachers don’t have to waste time checking paper and calculating grades and can spend more time with students.

Technology also makes learning fun.  Webcams let us learn from people in other parts of the world.  In my class we are talking to two students, Kyle and Ashley, who are from Canada.  They get to practice teaching and we get to have class with teachers that are thousands of miles away.  Every class can make learning more fun with webcams.

All these technologies have made learning easier, faster and more fun.  Students will enjoy school more if they have a better experience with learning.

Dominick A

Technology has helped our classroom a lot. Here is some technology I would recommend. I think it’s a good idea to keep the CPS, pencil sharpener and a new projector. First, I would like to keep them because they are little remotes. You can take tests and answer in the blanks instead of using paper. The second is the pencil sharpener. When someone’s pencil breaks, they have to go to the pencil sharpener. The sharpener is very noisy and distracting. So, I would like a less noisy pencil sharpener that sharpens quickly. Last but not least, the projector. We already had one break so I think it would be better that they get one that won’t break

It was a marvelous race with one of the largest crowds that I have witness in all the years of my participation.  Of course, it didn’t hurt that the weather was fantastic.

A special thanks to Period 5 who was the winner of the party that will be held Wednesday, Feb. 10



Job Well Done!

Prompt #27: The computer has become a most important part of everyone’s life. Most of us have difficulty imagining what it could be like to live without it. Write an essay explaining how the American family uses it for business, pleasure, and emergencies. Assume that this will be published as a part of an encyclopedia article.

Garrett E

“Oh no! The computer isn’t working. What am I going to do?” The average American family uses a computer over 2 hours a day. What would we do if computers were never invented? I don’t know. But three of the reasons people use computers today are for businesses, for emergencies, and just for pleasure.

To begin with, one of the reasons Americans use computers is for businesses. If you want a job these days, you have to know how to use a computer. In a business, computers are useful because they can store information and do almost a whole job at once. None of the people in America could do 30 multiplication facts at once and in a business something has to be able to do that and a computer can. Sometimes business managers pay more for a computer to use to do a job than they would pay a person. But there are always flaws in having only computers to remember things. One example is if you lose power, and you don’t have a generator to give you power, you wouldn’t be able to do any business. Now in a time when you don’t have power to a computer, there has to have been some type of emergency.

In addition, another reason most Americans use computers is in emergencies. As you know, normally when you need something the most, like a phone, you won’t be able to find it. So a computer is a good backup plan for an emergency. Even though computers aren’t the best in fires or robberies, they are good for a family emergency. If you want you can email someone which, unless the person you are emailing is on the computer when you click send, will normally take at least a couple of hours. In other cases, you might want to talk something over with someone live. All you have to do is get on an online chat room or a live web cam. Now the final reason most American families use a computer is the one everyone likes. So read on and find out.

Last but not least, most American families use computers for pleasure.  One of the favorites is for computer games. There are many websites that have games on them, and there are also many games that come on discs. The games can be anywhere from playing hide and seek with Barney to extreme sports like skiing away from an avalanche. Another way people use computers for pleasure is for e-mailing each other.  On an e-mail, you can say or talk about almost whatever you want. One more good thing about communicating by e-mail is that it’s free.  One last thing people do on a computer for pleasure is read and write forums.  There are fishing forums, sport forums, how to build boat forums and more. It would only take one computer to do all this and more.

In conclusion three of the reasons most American families use computers are for businesses, emergencies and pleasure.  Now you have seen just a few of the reasons most Americans use computers.

Avalois T

TYPE, TYPE goes the computer keys. American families use the computer for many reasons. Some people like to play games such as kids, or check income, such as adults. There is a lot of ways to use the computer. Some people use it for emergencies, business purposes, and some just for pleasure.

To begin, people use the computer for emergencies. Why not? People may have to find where the nearest hospital is. Say for instance, a girl is choking. The family doesn’t have a phone, so they can’t call 911. All they have is a computer. They have to use the computer to know where to go to save her life. Some other emergencies is that somebody could have forgotten a number and do not have a phonebook to look it up. They would go on the computer and look it up.

Secondly, people also use the computer for business purposes. Some people work as accountants at banks where they need the computer. They have to put in the exact amount of money somebody is withdrawing or depositing. Other people use the computer to check income. If they are the manager of a store they have to use the computer to see how much they are earning on a certain product.

Finally, people just use the computer for pleasure. About 90% of kids go on the computer to have fun. Kids mostly play games, some watch movies, videos, or check their mail. When kids get grounded they can only use the computer for homework. The least popular thing to do on the computer is check mail. Some kids are too young for them to have an email address. They should wait until they are about 6 years old to get one and know how to use a computer.

Many American families use the computer for emergencies, business purposes, and for pleasure. Computers are a great way of having fun and getting some information fast. That’s why everybody should use a computer.

Alec G

Homework Be Gone! Hooray! No homework! Most kids enjoy the pleasure of not having any math homework. But I say yes to math homework. Math homework is the easiest subject, it’s my favorite, and you always come up with a definite answer.

To start things off, math is the easiest subject. All the methods are explained until you know them backwards. You can easily do homework after you have learned the lesson. If you’re going to ban homework from a subject I’d rather it be Language Arts.

You have to find the hidden meaning and interpret the cause and effect but worst of all grammar. Grammar is as cruel as medieval torture methods. You have to capitalize, punctuate and etc.

Besides being easy, math is my favorite subject. The feeling of turning to a new, crisp page in my math notebook to do my math homework makes me happy. You can always rely on math to stimulate your brain with pleasure.

Finally, math has no hidden meaning. You don’t need to decipher anything or find out things through context clues. Math is straightforward like an arrowhead. You are either right or wrong when it comes to math. There are no partially correct answers like in Language Arts. In conclusion, I think math homework should stay. Its easy, my favorite, and there’s no hidden meaning. Got to go! And do my Math homework!

Manisha Ayyagari

What would happen if your principal decided to ban math homework, possibly forever?

Most people hate math homework but I’m not one of them. I love math homework because it helps me improve my math skills, I don’t forget what I have learned and I don’t get bored while doing math homework.

To start off with, math is a skill that will stay with you forever so you need to be good at math. By doing math homework you improve your skills. For example when you are checking your homework you find mistakes and you learn from them so you won’t make that mistake again.

Have you ever heard the saying “Practice makes perfect”? It’s true if you practice math you will succeed big time. This applies to anything you plan to achieve in. Even an extra 15 minutes a day can help you a lot with math.

Moving forward, when you go home you tend to forget things. It’s the same thing with math when you go home you forget what you have learned in math. If you do math homework your mind will be refreshed and you’ll know what to do the next time you have a test. The disadvantage of not doing math homework is that you forget and you have absolutely no clue what to do when you have to take a test. Not having a hard time doing a test means having math homework.

Proceeding on, when you get bored what do you do? Well there’s really nothing to do. But when you have math homework you are totally occupied and busy. Math homework is like a game when you are trying to figure out equations. It’s as fun as playing video games and there is no way you could possibly get bored. You can even do your math homework with your friends it’s double the fun.

Finally, having math homework helps improve my math skills, I don’t forget what I learned and I don’t get bored while doing math homework. Convinced yet? Join me in my protest to stop the principal from trying to make the wonderful math homework extinct.

Hannah U

“Attention, there will be no more math homework.” To me that sounds like music to my ears. I’m not saying that math homework is bad, it just keeps kids from doing the other things that they need to do like indoor and outdoor activities, sports and clubs, and it keeps kids inside all day.

To start it all off, math keeps us kids from indoor and outdoor activities, such as playing outside, watching movies with friends, shopping, board games, video games, and much, much more. We need to be able to socialize with our friends and be free.

Moving on, keeping up with travel soccer and club meetings can be pretty tough when your loaded with homework. Physical and Mental activities are important in a child’s life. We have got to keep moving. With math homework, there is no time to get up and keep moving.

Last but no least, math homework keeps kids inside all day. We need to be active. Kids need to know what that crisp evening air feels like against their skin. Not dust, flavored drinks, and air conditioning feels like. Sitting inside all day isn’t right when your a kid. We can’t stay inside forever!

You now know why math homework is such a pain! It locks kids up all day and keeps us from doing all our indoor, outdoor, sports, and clubs. If our principal wants to ban math homework, he’s on the right track.