Needed Notebooks & Optional Supplies

This year, each student will need a composition notebook. It needs to have the graph paper in it, not regular composition lines. They formerly called these Quad Ruled, but I saw some at Staples yesterday and they have changed the name to Graph Ruled or Grid Ruled. It doesn't matter what the cover looks like, because students will be making their own covers the first week of school.

I suggested in the letter that each student bring in TWO of these notebooks. We will use one per semester and I will keep the second notebook in storage with their name on it, so that they have it for second semester (or if they lose their first one and need a backup).

Staples currently has these notebooks for 1.99. You may be able to find a better deal. I did not see these notebooks at Wal Mart. If finding/purchasing these notebooks is not possible for you, just send me a note or e-mail and I will have your student covered. I just know that I do not have the funds to provide 60+ students with 2 notebooks each ($240), so I was hoping parents could help out with this. These notebooks are also available at the school store (The Spot) once school starts, but will be wither $1.50 or $2.00 and supplies are limited.

No other supplies are needed for my class by the individual student. You will see in my mailed out letter, that I included a list of supplies that my classes need to create their student notebooks on a daily basis. If any parents are able to help out by picking up any of these supplies, it will be very helpful as well.

- Glue sticks

- Reams (500 sheets) of COLORED copy paper (light or bright colors) - $8 at Staples

- Colored Pencils

- Regular wood pencils

Recycle Races 2010

Here is the final race tournament video from May 2010 Recycle Races. Can't wait until next April for Recycle Races 2011.

NEW students, this is a special project that all of my math classes do at the end of the semester. You get to build a race car out of recycled material and we race daily, as we apply various math concepts learned over the semester.

Solar Cookers

In December 2009, students had the opportunity to explore the quadratic equation and parabolas in an unusual way. After learning how to factor out and graph quadratic equations, they designed and built parabolic solar cookers. They identified what they felt to be the perfect equation for a parabola that would reflect the Sun’s rays, as they attempted to roast a marshmallow.

The solar cookers were built with recycled boxes, cardboard, aluminum foil, and a few other odds and ends. Students came up with a variety of designs, from a parabola that slides across an arch in the box, to a rotisserie style parabola for fast adjustment and alignment to wherever the Sun might be. The teams applied creativity, teamwork, and critical thinking skills as they attempted to build their curved parabolas while maintaining a smooth reflective surface (to avoid dispersed light).

It was a cold, windy day when the solar cookers were finally put to the test. The outside temperature was 61o degrees while the 2nd period students carefully adjusted their cookers to the low-lying sun. While no marshmallows ended up roasting, the winning solar cooker reached an internal temperature of 93o at the focus point. Mr. Coots’ 7th period class benefited from a 74o temperature outside, and several solar cookers passed 110o after 30 minutes in the Sun.

Student Interactive Notebooks

Roller Coasters

We are currently wrapping up our Roller Coaster 09-10 project. All 5 coasters were built over Novemember-December 2009, as students learned and applid the concepts of slope and intercept. January 2010, we began our simulation project, in which the students set the price for their coasters and a computer simulation determines how many visitors each ride has in a given day.

Catching Up

I was just relieved to see that this site is no longer blocked by our school district servers (becuase it is published using a blog site). It has not been accessible at school for about a month now, so I am behind on my regular postings.

We really are doing a lot of cool things in class, that I need to take some time to share about and post. Look for some updates within the next week.

My zero key is kind of broken right now, which makes entering grades quite difficult. I either get a lot of 00000s when I press it or none at all... zero zeros I suppose you could say. Oh well, I guess no one can get a 0 on an assignment now, yet they can't get 10's either...

Coasters 09-10

Here are the roller coasters after a few days of construction.  Some teams are already moving into their loop, others are still working on the first drop.

Putting on the track is quite a challenge.  Teams have to make sure it is straight and smooth or their marble won't be staying on for long.  The track is made out of black irrigation tubing, spliced in half.
Finished coasters after receiving a coat of paint.
SILVER BULLET - by Chris, Michael, Jake, & Zach
















KILLER KOASTER - by DJ, Megan, & Jessie















MILLENIUM FORCE - by Chris, Scott, Jacob, & Dillon

SMART Board Links

Individual Activities Coordinate Plane - http://smartboards.typepad.com/smartboard/files/coordinates1.swf The Eyeballing Game - http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/ Numberline - http://www.mathsonline.co.uk/freesite_tour/resource/whiteboard/decimals/decimals2.html Survey Taking - http://www.teacherled.com/resources/survey/surveyload.html Estimation Activities - http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/estimation-game.php Resource Sites Teacher Utilities - http://harveyshomepage.com/Harveys_Homepage/Utilities.html MathXP Games - http://www.xpmath.com/ Mathsframe Interactive - http://www.mathsframe.co.uk/free_resources.asp Math Doodles - http://www.carstensstudios.com/mathdoodles/mathdoodlesDemos.htm Shodor Interactivate - http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/ National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html NCTM Illuminations - http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivitySearch.aspx Jim Reed's Home Page - http://staff.argyll.epsb.ca/jreed/Default.htm Cut the Knot - http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/index.shtml Super Teacher Tools - http://www.superteachertools.com/index.php SMART Exchange - http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0 Sheppard Math Games - http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm Number Balls - http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/Numberballs_absolute_value/numberballsAS2_abs.htm Just For Fun Bubblewrap Pop - http://smartboards.typepad.com/smartboard/files/bubblewrap.swf Jigsaw Sudoku - http://www.jigsawdoku.com/ inter-Face - http://www.alterfin.com/dominique/ This is Sand - http://thisissand.com/ Incredibox - http://www.incredibox.fr/ Egg Timer - http://www.online-stopwatch.com/eggtimer-countdown/full-screen/