Sunday, February 15, 2009

This is my first blog.

I teach 7th and 8th grade Math in Westchester County, NY. My 7th grade is currently on the topic of surface area and volume of prisims (rectangular and right triangular), cubes, and cylinders. My 8th grade is currently on the topic of consumer math. For example: commission, percent of change, simple interest, discount, mark-up, and tax. My students always ask when they are going to use what they are learning. What information or advice can be given about these topics to make them understand that they are not learning this just because the state thinks it's important for them to know?

26 comments:

  1. We are currently working on Unit Price and Better Buy in the 7th grade. This is especially useful when food shopping.

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  2. One of the other topics we covered was perimeter. This can be useful if you are trying to fence in your yard.

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  3. One of the topis we did this year is area. My bedroom is rectangular. If I wanted to carpet my bedroom I can measure the length and width of my room to find the area of the floor. Then I would know how much carpet I would need to cover it.

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  4. A topic that the 7th grade did at the beginning of the year was graphing lines. This can be used when trying to track your weight loss/gain. I think Weight Watchers has a chart where you record your weight each week in the form of a line graph and you can see how you are doing.

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  5. A topic we learned in 7th grade was geomotry. Archetects would use geomotry to calcutale shapes and graph desighs for new buildings.

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  6. DeathByHeilum is Arianna Grade 7 period 7

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  7. In seventh grade, we learned about converting currency. This is very helpful because when you are traveling you need to know how much money you have so you don't get ripped off.

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  8. i am so excited about my child learning about the different topics in math. one of my favorites is them learning about geometry so that donna can help me (i don't know any of the formulas...) with measurements and also my son with his fifth grade homework.

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  9. A few weeks ago we learned about map scales. This could help us in real life in calculating distances we are traveling. It is also use by computer programmers to make map saftware.

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  10. At some point this year, we studied ratios. This is useful is many everday activities like cooking or baking. If we need to double a recipe you need to be able to understand and calculate ratios.

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  11. We learned how to add and subtract fractions in class. This can help us in the real world by having certain portions of food. While adding or subtracting fractions of what food you had, you can stay healthy!

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  12. Angelica has learned customary units in math class and has shared the various techniques with us. She has pointed out different ways to use math and given new meaning in our kitchen and in every day life. We use the customary unit when we bake and cook in the kitchen.

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  13. We learned about surface area and volume in class. This can help us in real life when you have to put a carpet in your room or you have to paint the walls.

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  14. Ashley has shown me that she could calculate the areas of different places in our house by using surface area and volume.

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  15. In math we learned perimeter.
    We wanted to put crown molding in the living room, perimeter help us estimate how much we needed.

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  16. In math we also ratios.
    Gasoline costs 2.20/gallon, ratios can help estimate how many gallons 20.00 dollars would purchase.

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  17. Vincent Grade 7 Period 9
    It is important to learn better buy because in this tough economy, we need to know how to save money.

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  18. Vincent Grade 7 Period 9
    It is important to know other people's currency when traveling in other countries.

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  19. A math topic that we learned this year that I use in real life is using a tree diagram. When I go on vacation, I know how many tops and pants to take and how many outfits I can create with them.

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  20. I think that this is a great exercise for the students. One of the topics that they learned about this year that is useful in life is using bar graphs. I use these to illustrate the month- to-month and year-to-year comparison of my Con Edison bills. As I make energy efficient renovations, the graph shows that I use less energy to heat my home.

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  21. In math we learned about a topic called creating double bar graphs. Double bar graphs compare two sets of data. In real life they can be used to keep track of boys verses girls heights for statisical purposes.

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  22. In math this year we learned how to convert percents to whole numbers. In real life if you are at the store and it says 25% off everything you would know how much money the item is you are buying.

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  23. by the way this is Chris Grade 7 Period 9

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  24. In math we have recently learned about Unit Cost/Better Buy. This relates to everyday life because if you are on vacation far away and you need to buy an international phone card, you can see the minutes and prices and which is a better deal.

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  25. When Rosa goes grocery shopping with me, she helps me determine which buys are better than others. For example, when buying laundry detergent, we can determine that buying a larger bottle (64oz) at $4.99 is a better buy than one at 48 oz for $3.89.

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