She's the Best
No, seriously. She is. The 'Best of the Class' that is!! Congratulations to Emily Knust for achieving the KCAU TV Honor of 2018 Best of the Class. She represented Verdigre at the annual gathering on April 25th. Can't wait to hear your speech at graduation!
Way to go, Emily!
Way to go, Emily!
CLINOMETERS IN APPLIED MATH
Who needs the expensive one when you can make your own?? Applied math students made their own clinometers to be able to calculate the heights of objects too tall to measure by hand. Amazing what a straw, some string, a protractor and some tape can create. Students were tasked with calculating heights of structures around the school only using ground distance and the things they learned from trigonometric ratios. Blake and Ethan earned a Cozy Corner lunch after they calculated heights with the most accuracy. Great work everyone!
Cougar Wall is Filling UP |
Well, it didn't take long! This thing is overflowing with highlights from the school year thanks to the Verdigre Eagle--and the students of course! Keep the good news flowing guys!
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3-D Puzzles Are a Hit!! |
Something new this year and definitely a favorite are three dimensional puzzles. I had to knock the dust off the boxes since these were mine as a kid but I will be trying to find more to bring to school.
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Check out the cool stations we have coming up for S.T.E.M. Night!! Don't miss out!
A little Matching to Make Your Day BetterSometimes math can be so mundane....that's right, I said it. Finding area of objects especially can almost be so easy it hurts. So why not mix it up a little bit and really make these kids work, right? We did a little matching activity the other day in Applied Math that had them thinking composite figures might be their worst enemy. Turns out, they aren't too bad when it comes to these crazy figures! A good way to practice some skills but mix it up too. Now didn't that make your day better??
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PI DAY Awesomeness!!Another year, another Pi Day!! The ONE day that can easily be celebrated in every math classroom across the nation....all you need is food--CIRCLE food that is! Check out all the awesomeness that we experienced that day. We have determined that calories don't count on this day--YAY!! Thanks for helping us celebrate math kids....I can't wait for next year!
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Ms. Eiler for the Win!
We have done some good puzzles over the years, but this one may take the cake! Check out this tiny puzzle that Mary Eiler challenged the kids with! A brain buster for sure, but definitely a good challenge for the ones that love the puzzle table. Just to put it into perspective, the pieces were the size of a pencil eraser! Thanks for the contribution, Mary!
MATHCOUNTS SUCCESS!Congratulations to the four students that made it to the Chapter MathCounts competition in Columbus, NE! Anna, Gabrielle, Bree and Coltin were the top scorers on the school test, advancing them to the Chapter competition. Coltin was a huge success in Columbus, placing 7th in the individual round and advancing to STATE! Congrats to him and all the rest of the students that participated in MathCounts this year! Already looking forward to next year!
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Quadrilateral Flowcharts |
Talking about quadrilaterals can seem simple at first, but after listing all the properties and using words like consecutive sides or diagonals or bisectors, a person can almost confuse what a rectangle and a kite are! Students created flowcharts to help us sort through all the properties and guarantee there are no mistakes. Check out the work of a few students and test out their flowcharts to see if you can follow the path to the correct shape!
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PICture Project
Geometry students were tasked with finding all sorts of different angles that they encounter outside of school and in their daily lives. There were some tricky ones on the list, but overall very creative pictures were submitted. These are just a few of the types of angles and lines that you see everyday and don't even realize it. Great work guys!
Barbie Bungee JumpingKen and Barbie are probably wondering what they got themselves into:) Bringing Algebra 2 to a close this year, we finished with Skittles Launchers and now with Barbie Bungee Jumping as a way of reviewing all the things we learned this year. Students were tasked with running trials to determine how many rubber bands it would take to have a successful bungee jump for Ken and Barbie. They were only allowed to run trials in the classroom, which meant they were to come up with a model and equation to determine how many it would take to jump from 400 centimeters. Our final run on the stage was successful in the sense that neither doll died or suffered a concussion, however Roni and Jordon were the closest to the ground without hitting.
Great work you guys! Now have a great Christmas break! |
Geometry Roller Coasters
Bringing it all together is the goal of roller coaster construction in Geometry. The students might look at it a bunch of fun and good competition; after all, the winners were given Cozy Corner for lunch! (Congrats Brandon, Rachel and Rane) However, I look at it as a way of telling me what you know about congruent triangles, parallel and perpendicular and skew lines, and what midpoint means in terms of time of the trip and length of the trip. Overall, this was a great way to wrap up the semester and really tested how well these guys can work together. Thanks for a great first semester Geometry students!
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Just for fun in Algebra 2, we went a little further than the textbook recommends with quadratic equation applications, having fun launching Skittles and mapping out their flight paths. Students worked in groups, which just happened to work out with girls versus boys, making their own Skittle launchers and using guided work to determine exactly where their Skittles would land given a new starting location of a desk. After some trial runs and with the help of the Quadratic Formula, the girls came out on top, calculating within 1 centimeter, that's right, 1 CENTIMETER, of where their Skittle was projected to land. The boys weren't quite as lucky with their calculations but a little re-calculating gave them a better outcome.
A fun way to round out the chapter on Quadratic Equations!
A fun way to round out the chapter on Quadratic Equations!
MATHCOUNTS PARRRRTTTAYYY!!!
What a better way to wrap up the semester than having a party to celebrate math!?! MathCounts members participated in a little fun with food and games to wrap up a semester of working hard on math. We had fun with the goodies that everyone brought, as well as a competitive game of hide-n-seek. I might have to claim the best hiding spot overall! Thanks for a great time everyone!
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SAC Museum Tour!! |
What an experience! The 8th graders from Verdigre, Clearwater and Orchard were lucky enough to visit the SAC Museum in Ashland, NE on November 17th. The Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum offers a great deal of information, both from a mathematical and scientific standpoint, in addition to the great deal of historical content covered in the displays. I would say the flight simulators were the main attraction for the day, but the activities and displays were well worth the 2.5 hour drive! What a great day!
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YOU CAN RUN HOW FAST???
I posed this question to my Math 8 students the other day. Their estimates were actually not as far off as what we were thinking. Quick test--measure a certain distance in feet and time yourself running it in seconds. Talk to a Math 8 student and they will teach you how to convert feet per second into miles per hour. On the list below there are two numbers, the first was their guess for how fast they can run and the second is their actual speed. Kind of eye opening! The form we filled out also had what the world record was for how fast was the fastest. Do you know?? Google it when you get a chance....our kids are just a little off of that pace ;)
Great work guys!
Great work guys!
JUmp'r BallI am glad this game was created and won last year for the Probability Games unit (check out last year's highlights). I bought this game off of Kelly Wagner for $25 and it proved to be a good purchase the other day for review. Students were given 1 minute to complete a review question, while their teammates waited at the Jump'R Ball board to shoot for as many points as possible in the amount of time remaining. It was a little intense at times and sometimes there was no time left to shoot, but overall a good review day.
With a few modifications, this will quickly become one of the class favorites for review! |
Chess anyone?? |
One of my favorite lessons in Geometry because we can take a brain-break and play a game! Talking about translations or slides in Geometry opens the door to model those movements in several different ways. One that always seems to be a crowd favorite is playing chess. A great opportunity to challenge the kids and for them to teach someone else that doesn't know how to play. Who doesn't love a good game day in math class?
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Reflections in GeometryEveryone needs some time to reflect. We just take that literally in Geometry! We are learning about transformations in class and students were able to use MIRAs to reflect images. It was a fun learning experience and a chance to use a cool math tool! Some of them were pretty surprised how fun reflecting can be!
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GROCERY STORE UNIT RATES
Math 8 students are learning about unit rates and ratios this chapter, so we put their knowledge to work! I need to know what kind of diapers to buy for the best deal, and which elbow noodles save me the most money. They were each given a grocery list to compare different brands and find the best deal. Let this be a lesson--sometimes bigger isn't always better! Great work guys!
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MATHCOUNTS!! |
These guys are up for the challenge! I'm so excited to see kids willing to put in some extra time and learn a little more about math. They are pretty dedicated to show up for morning meetings and put in the work to solve problems outside of their regular schoolwork. Hopefully this will be a fun year and can't wait to see how much they learn and grow!
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3-D Drawing in GeometryAnyone up for a little orthographic drawings and using isometric paper? Okay, so to anyone else that question would not have made any sense. But ask one of the geometry students and they would tell you that isometric graphing paper has made their life a whole lot easier when trying to draw three dimensional shapes. It took a little practice, but I think they are starting to get the hang of it. Who doesn't love to play with blocks?!?
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Making an Impression...and Not just with the moustaches
They say first impressions are everything, and between their high grades and awesome moustaches they are definitely making an impression! Congratulations to Max and Rane for the high scores on the Geometry test, and Daniel for the high score on the Math 8 test. This is the first year I have taught these guys and I have to say, based on their work so far, I look forward to what the rest of the year will bring. Keep working hard you three!
She's got what it takes!
The girls of trigonometry
What makes math class even better than all girls? All girls and food! :) We are going to have fun during 8th period this year with these bright young ladies in charge. I can't wait to see how much they progress over the course of this year and look forward to relaxing afternoons of math and laughs! Thanks for the brownies, girls!
Back At it!
We are back to school! It seems like the summer goes faster and faster every year, but somehow I am still so excited to see old and new faces as we begin a new year! There are some new additions to my room this year, in particular a tribute to the great Albert. Kids are still enjoying the Sudoku in their free time and the puzzle table on occasion. The Cougar wall will soon take shape, as newspaper highlights are already adding up! Have a great school year everyone!