Wednesday, 01/21/2009

Math
Today, we used our whiteboards and markers. We worked on different things like writing down numbers in standard notation. For example, if Ms. Cohen said, “Forty-seven and thirty-two thousandths.” we would write

47.032

Easy, huh? We also worked on some fractions. For example, “If 15 counters are one whole, how many is ⅔ of the set?” That's obviously 10 counters. We also worked on problems spotlighting exponents and order of operation. Here's an example.

64x32 +(5x5)-(8x8)+19=?

If you do the problems in parenthesis first, then the rest, you'll end up with the answer. Go ahead and try it!

L.A.
Today, we practiced writing an ingenious introduction. Basically, an intro that's eye catching and attention grabbing. The topic we had was pizza. The sub topics were convenience, nutrition facts, and ingredients. When we finished writing our very own intro, Mrs. Fitzgerald collected ours and handed us someone else's. We read it and graded it. The maximum score was 35 points. 7 subjects—each worth 5 points max. I gave my person's introduction a perfect 35/35. It seemed right on the money. I'm eager to find out who got mine and how they scored me.

Science
Today, we talked about the opportunity to enter the brain busting science fair. We discussed safety reasons, like not being able to do certain things to a fellow human so both you and your friend are both safe. We also suffered major bummers from experiments we were banned from performing. Like the rat maze where you put a rat at the start and a chunk of cheese at the finish. I also wanted to make a volcano or at least diet coke and mentos. But the only way to test those is to say it worked or to say it failed and that's not very good for an experiment. Sadly, it's true. I don't think I'll do it. At least for this year. Solo seems a bit scary but a partner is fine. There was a huge list of requirements and it seemed like a lot to cover. I won't do it—even for extra credit.