The Rational Radical

Classroom snippets, mathematical musings, school activities, and personal grumblings.

[therationalradical]

[therationalradical]

On question 2 in the picture, the student told me the answer was no. When I asked him how many days 3 astronauts could last, he told me 4, which I did not expect. I questioned him, and he plainly pointed out that this was just too tight a margin for space travel. Can't argue with that.

[therationalradical]

My shot at this #MakeoverMonday

Dan Meyer posted this last week in preparation for today...

Here's the first task we'll be looking at during next week's #MakeoverMonday. What would you change? Why? #mathchat pic.twitter.com/OHBzEmGOlY

— Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer)

June 13, 2013

I put together an attempt at spicing up this problem:

Your roommate, Pat, drew a line from wall to wall in your shared room so that everything on one side is Pat's and everything on the other side is yours. Are you ok with this decision? Why? 

The thing I like most about this is that it's open-ended. The original problem was very specific about how the student was supposed to interpret it-- find area; big area good! In this case, the student has a little more autonomy. Maybe the window makes a smaller area more acceptable. Maybe the door is/isn't desirable. Either way, area still has to be figured out so that it can be part of the decision. 

The idea of unit conversion is still maintained. I'll admit it's still a little wonky. 

Overall, the idea of 2 unrelated rooms seems very arbitrary. This split total area seems more comfortable to me. 

I have some ideas for an interactive sequel to this where the line can be moved and the area will change accordingly. I may try to whip this up in GeoGebra. 

Way more discussion on this problem is going on here. 

[therationalradical]

Estimation 180 is a hit

I'm late to the party on this one, but Andrew Stadel's Estimation 180 is a pretty cool tool. Today in the Summer Enrichment Program (rising 8th graders, all boys), I went through Days 1 through 4. It was all height-related. In each one, I provided a worksheet where the students would make their guess and give a reason why. I took some random responses and got a class high and low for each prompt. 

In the process, students brought up the ideas of comparing to other objects, ratio, inventing new units (a Stadel and a Stadel Head were both mentioned in each of the 4 classes without any prompting), what "tall" means, perspective, and depth of field. In general, we discussed how modeling is messy, with people slouching, wearing different types of shoes (and how it impacts height), and standing on different levels from comparative objects. Gosh it was fun. And they agreed. Don't trust me, listen to this, the reaction in one class after revealing the Day 4 solution (SPOILERS): 

Those are 8th graders. In the summer. Doing math. 

Next time I do some of these, I'll add a confidence indicator to their response sheets. 

[therationalradical]

Summer Plans

There is a lot to do this summer, and if I get it down somewhere I may hold myself accountable. Here it goes...

Study Java in anticipation of our new computer science course next year. I'm not teaching it, but as chair I want to be involved as this thing gets going. In the second semester I'll have an intern so I'll help out as they work on special projects. I'll probably use this course and a book. 

Guide my cohort through the school's summer reading program. I have Flatland and several guys are reading with me. We'll do an assessment/discussion on the first day back, but I hope to get them some good extra materials as the summer wains. 

Take Jo Boaler's How To Learn Math course. I'm pretty excited for this, especially since several coworkers (including non-math administrators) are taking it, too. 

Think about music and math. The BlueWater Chamber Orchestra is playing for the school in November, and we are thinking of ways to build up to the performance by bringing the musicians into the classroom a few times with some good activities. I have a few ideas, though I'm looking for more. This may have some good stuff. 

Rewrite our Algebra I curriculum. I'm not planning on changing it too much, it just needs a format update and some CCSS integration. 

Work on the Eye, our student newspaper. I am the moderator of the online edition, and we have some good ideas to develop over the summer. 

Fun department chair stuff! Stamping books! Finalizing placement! Ordering furniture! Yeeeowww!

Also, you know, my hammock, my kids, the yard, the house, etc. 

[world-shaker-deactivated2013092]

Teens Abandoning Social Networks, Study Says

Facebook is the “most important” social media site for about 10% fewer teenagers than it was a year ago, according to a new PiperJaffray survey of over 5,000 teenagers. The teens surveyed are less interested in Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Flickr, and Tumblr too. Of the major sites included in the survey, only Pinterest has grown. (Instagram was not included in the survey in spring 2012).

[backwardinduction]

Today my abstract algebra professor literally wrote “use magic” in a proof on the board today because he was too lazy to prove one of his claims.

[therationalradical]

To my tiny army of followers: I am tweeting things about math and education and thangs and stuff. You can read it at twitter.com/dave_sabol. 

[revolutionizeed-blog]

Need to share this with my students as we talk about Egypt very soon…

[tusks-blog-blog]

[therationalradical]

An interactive installation, “Measuring the Universe” by  Roman Ondak, in which visitors mark their height in black ink on a white wall, representing a star in a network of celestial bodies to symbolize the space each individual takes up in our vast universe.

[therationalradical]

[appliedmathemagics]

Let’s take a moment to admire the beautiful icosahedral geodesic sphere known as the Times Square Ball.

[therationalradical]

Hipster Venn Diagram

[therationalradical]

The Museum of Math has opened! 

[therationalradical]

woah you go to st Ignatius :O

You could say that. You could also say I teach there. Or that I teach math there. I'm Mr. Sabol.

[therationalradical]

[therationalradical]