Math Fair

Math is part of our every day life. It is used to perform many different daily tasks such as packing a suitcase, planning a travel route, making strategic decisions.

Many students fear math and think they are not able to solve math problems successfully. Problem solving, which is practiced in math fair, is a great way to engage students with math in a different way from they way that math is taught in the traditional classroom. It could especially help those students who fear math.

Surely, I think it is possible to do a math fair at school. One way to do that could be finding other math teachers who are interested in doing math fair and set up a math fair in proper place at school. Another possibility could be setting up a math fair for each class separately. But the first one, I think, would be more interesting.

Nov 9.

Today, we (STs from UBC and SFU) had a meeting with the president and vice-president of Windermere. The purpose of meeting was to get more information about the school’s rules and regulations and to get familiar with each other.

Nov 10.

I’ve decided to do some inquiry about garden based learning in Windermere as I’ve heard from my FA that Windermere has a big garden. I toured around the garden. The garden includes a student-built 16' by 20' greenhouse, thirteen beds and a composting system. They have also sowed over-winter ‘cover crops’, which restore fertility and humus, and enrich the soil for planting next spring. The garden provides vegetables for school cafeteria.

Although this provides a great hands-on learning opportunity for students, unfortunately the leadership program is the only one that uses the garden.

Nov 12.

Today, I attended a food and nutrition class that had planed to cook Clam Chowder soup. Teacher distributed the recipe, explained each of the ingredients and explained how to find or select them. She also shared some tips and techniques regarding food and kitchen safety and hygiene. Students first were asked to observe how their teacher cooks to get ready to cook their own soup. It was a hands-on experience that helps students participate actively in cooking process. Each group used tools with different colors so that the teacher could recognize how each group did their job.

Nov 13.

Today, I attended a presentation on working with students with learning disabilities presented by the Special Education Department Head. A student who graduated from special education program at Windermere was asked to share her life experience with us. She is attending college and living her life independently, just with a small help from her family. That was an interesting presentation that showed us how students with different learning abilities should be taught. 

Nov 5.

Today, I have attended a food and nutrition class to see how students are taught cooking skills. However, I found that they were not cooking anything today. I talked to the teacher and I am going to attend this class again next week the day they will cook soup:)

I found the teacher supper organized and asked her to give me some tips on class management. Here are some of them:

Using folders with different color for each class

Keeping students assignments in different place while the grading is in progress

Planning detailed lessons

Having extra activities in the lesson plan in case there is extra time.

 

Nov 6.

Today, my FA came to Windermere to meet up with my SA and join me in a visual art (painting) class. The class included four different levels of students (grade 9,10,11, and 12). The teacher explained that having mixed class is not unusual in Vancouver. Each grade had and was working on different assignments. I found one of the assignments very interesting. This assignment was about identity and encouraged students to think about themselves, who they were and who they wished or wanted to be.

Nov 2. First day of short practicum:

 I got to school around 7:45 am and met other STs from UBC at schools’ office. We met the vice-principal in his office. After a detailed orientation, we toured around the school and met the staff and teachers.  They were very warm and welcoming. The school atmosphere was very friendly.

I have attended three different math classes including my sponsoring teacher class.  We have also planed what lessons I would cover during the second week. I also got free math textbooks :)

Nov 3.

Today, I have attended a Mandarin class as my SA recommended. That was an interesting experience. I didn’t know the language, but the teacher and students actions attracted my attention.

Nov 4.

In the education system I attended, we as students were assigned to a classroom and different teachers came to our classroom and taught different subjects. But here is the opposite of what I experienced. Students go to different teachers’ office for different subjects. I found it quite interesting that each teacher has an office. The teachers have the opportunity to design their classroom suited for their method of teaching and the activities they are going to conduct.

Today, Etienne and I looked at the curriculum for calculus 12 (taught in high school).  We looked at the content material and the way in which the curriculum was structured.

First of all, the content was similar to the one Peri and I had studied in our high school calculus classes.  The main focus of the material is on differentiation and integration.  However, there were some novel features.  The material included a section dealing with the historical foundation of calculus.  Students were expected to know about the different mathematicians who contributed substantially to the material presented.  Newton, DesCartes, Leibniz, and others, are studied.  This brings history into the context of mathematics.

Another feature of the curriculum was its emphasis on assessment of the material taught.  The curriculum provides criteria by which the students can self-assess their own or others' work.  The assessment criteria are specific to each section of the curriculum.  Students are expected to work out problems on their own or with others, and to develop innovative ways to both answer problems and to self-correct their own problem-solving skills.

Lesson plan

Subject: Saffron

Time: 10 minutes

Big Idea or Question for the Lesson: why saffron is the most expensive spice in the world?

Objective: Students will be able to explain why saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.

Materials:  Saffron and Saffron ice cream

Assessment Plan: The entire students should be able to answer the big question.

Hook and Introduction: (1 min)

Check for prior knowledge

Opening up by asking if anyone taste or smell saffron

Development: (about 8 min)

Teacher-led: Present some information

Independent Work: Students smell and taste saffron

Group Activity: Students work in pairs to see what part of plant saffron come from and share their ideas.

Closing (1 min):

Check for understanding by sharing observations with the class, taking it a step further to ask students to think if there is any benefit in using saffron.

 

 

 

 

The Giant Soup Can Puzzle

The real soup can has dimensions of 10 cm (height) and 3.5 cm (radius). So the ratio of its height to radius is 10/3.5

My bike (as an average bike) has length of 175cm. Based on the picture, it seems that the length of the tank is 2.5 times longer than the length of the bike.

So the length of the tank is estimated to be 2.5*175= 437.5 cm ~ 4.30 m

Using the above ratio, the tank’s radius is estimated to be 150 cm ~ 1.5 m.

Thus, the volume of the tank is estimated to be 30 m³.