Blog Assignment #3 -south, east, and west

Blog Assignment #3:
We will start this in class during the week of February 27th. Ms. Saarinen will give further directions then. 

Choice #1:
Julia’s phone calling plan is based on a set price $20.00 a month plus $0.04 a minute for calls.
1. If Julia makes m minutes of calls in a month, what would the expression be that would represent Julia’s cost, in dollars for that month? (Be sure to use “Let Statements” to set this up!)
2. Use your expression to solve each of the following (be sure to explain IN WORDS how you solved each of these):
a. What would Julia’s cost be if she spent 175 minutes on the phone in one month?
b. If Julia’s phone bill in one month was $29.12, how many minutes did she spend on the phone?


Choice #2:
Every morning, Tommy and his dog, Rex, run to the local park, around the park, and back home. It is 525 meters to the park and x meters around the park.
1. Write two expressions for the total distance, in meters that Tommy and his dog run in a week. One of your expressions should involve parentheses. (Be sure to use “Let Statements” to set this up!)
2. Use either of your expressions to solve each of the following (be sure to explain IN WORDS how you solved each of these):
a. What would the total distance be that Tommy and Rex ran, in meters, if the distance around the park was 2200 meters?
b. If you know that Tommy and Rex ran 17,850 meters in one week, what would be the distance around the park?

Reminder:Assignment - In your comment remember to include the following:

• your name (first name and last initial only)
• your class
• the answer to the problem – there are THREE parts – be sure to include every part and number the expressions
• an explanation that includes the strategy you used to solve.
• is there another way to solve the problem?
• any additional thoughts you have about the problem(s)

*** Please be sure to comment on Blog Assignment #3 so that your assignment is not lost on other posts! ***

Remember when you "publish the comment" it will not appear on the Blog until it is past the due date AND Ms. Saarinen has a chance to read and approve it.

Due Date - March 5th

Cold Integers

North Math ONLY -
This blog assignment is due no later than January 28th!

Ms. Saarinen’s dad has always been a hockey fan and has decided to take the family to go visit the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada. Ms. Saarinen wasn’t sure she wanted to make the trip because as you know, she doesn’t like the cold weather. Ms. Saarinen asked her math students to help her find the average temperature in Toronto to help her prepare for the trip.


The average daily temperatures (in Fahrenheit) in Toronto for the previous two weeks are:



+6, -1, 0, -2, +4, -1, -1, -9, -6, -9, -12, -2, 0, and +3.


1. What is the range of the data?


2. What is the median temperature?


3. What is the mean temperature?


4. What is the mode temperature?


5. How would the mean change if the next day’s temperature of +7 was included in the data?


6. Suppose Ms. Saarinen was told that the average temperature in Toronto for one week in December was -2 degree Fahrenheit. She could read the temperatures for six of the temperatures on the newspaper, but the last temperature was smudged by someone’s greasy fingers. The six temperatures she could read were -7, +3, -5, 0, +4, and -1. What is the missing temperature?


Assignment - In your comment remember to include the following:



* your name (first name and last initial)

* your class

* the answer to the problem – there are SIX parts – be sure to include every part and number the solutions
* an explanation that includes the strategy you used to solve.

* is there another way to solve the problem?

* any additional thoughts you have about the problem(s)

And here we go!

This blog assignment will be due no later than December 7th!! For this assignment, students in East, West and South will choose to do one of the following problems. Students in North will do both problems!

Problem 1You count from 1 to 150 and you clap while saying the multiples of the number 6 and the numbers that are not multiples of six but have 6 as the last digit. How many times will you clap your hands?

OR

Problem 2A bus driver works according to the following schedule: he works for 5 consecutive days and has the sixth day off. Last Sunday he had the day off, and on Monday he started work according to his schedule. After how many days, including that Monday, will he have a day off on Sunday again?

Assignment - In your comment remember to include the following:* your name (first name and last initial)
* your class
* the answer to the problem you solved
* an explanation that includes the strategy you used to solve
* is there another way to solve the problem
* would you be willing to use the same strategy if the numbers were much larger
* any additional thoughts you have about the problem(s)

Remember when you "publish the comment" it will not appear on the blog until Miss Saarinen has a chance to read it and approve it.

Are you ready to write about math?

Greetings to my fellow H.E.R.O.E.S! 

I know many of you spend a great deal of your free time on the internet. We'll be using this blog as a way to improve on your ability to write about math. We know how important communication is and it is no different in math. 

Math is its own language. Some people prefer to read math in terms of numbers and symbols, but it is also really important for you to be able to write about your thinking that you've used to solve a problem and to be able to make math connections to other parts of your life. 

So let's start here.
You'll be writing an entry that will be "This is My Life (in Math Class!)"

You will have until September 30th to complete this assignment. 

Requirements/Criteria
1st paragraph - Introduce yourself with a creative and interesting sentence that catches my attention. Continue on with a brief explanation about your attitudes towards math. 

2nd paragraph - Write in detail about your best and worst moments in Math class. What made them the best and worst moments? 

3rd paragraph - Share with me at least two strategies you use in math that help you to solve problems and/or to keep your head up when the going gets tough in math. 


4th paragraph - Share what you are looking forward to and what you are most worried about in 7th grade math. 


We will talk about how you are going to post your assignment to this blog during the first few weeks of school, but I wanted you to start thinking about your "This is My Life (in Math Class)" now if you happen to see this blog!

Blog Assignment #7

This will be your last blog assignment of the school year.
For this assignment you have a choice of one of the following problems.

Due WEDNESDAY June 9, 2010

Choose the one that appeals to you the most to you.

** If you choose to complete more than one of the choices you will receive extra credit based on quality of work, NOT just completion!! ***

Remember to complete all parts of the problem and be sure to submit your response by Wednesday, June 9th.

A. Write two numbers so that the first number is less than the second number and the absolute value of the first number is greater than the absolute value of the second number.

B. Each edge of a cube is 4 inches long. What is the surface area of the cube in square inches?

C. A large bag of cement weighs 80 pounds. The bag weighs 2 pounds less than the weight of 3 small boxes of cement. Write an equation that can be used to find the weight, w, in pounds, of each small box of cement. (Remember your "let statement")

D. The scores on a mathematics placement exam reported from 5 different middle schools are
35.4, 30.9, 26.1, 30.3, and 31.3. Based on this data, the mean school score is 30.8. An error was found at one of the schools. The corrected score changes 26.1 to 29.6. What is the corrected mean school score?


REMEMBER as always your assignment needs to include;
* Your first name and last initial
* Your class
* Answer each part of the problem that you have chosen to complete
* Explain how you solved the problem
* Is there another way to solve this problem?
AND
* Why did you choose this problem as your last blog assignment? Explain!

Blog Assignment #6 -- ABC Toy Company

Blog Assignment #6 is due April 30th!

ABC Toy Company is planning to market a set of children’s blocks. The package of blocks will contain 26 letter blocks, 10 number blocks, and 12 animal blocks for a total of 48 blocks in the package. Each block is a cube with 1-inch edges, so each block has a volume of 1 cubic inch.

The company wants to arrange the 48 blocks in the shape of a rectangular prism and then package them into a box that exactly fits the prism.

1. Find ALL the ways 48 cubes can be arranged into a rectangular prism.
a. How many ways are there to arrange the 48 cubes?
b. What are the dimensions (length, width, and height) of each rectangular prism?

2. Of the rectangular prisms you found, which one gives the least surface area?
a. Give the dimensions of this prism.
b. What is the surface area of this rectangular prism?

3. Explain why the ABC Toy Company needs to package the blocks using the rectangular prism that gives the smallest surface area.

A gentle reminder:

Assignment - In your comment remember to include the following:

* your name (first name and last initial)

* your class

* the answer to the problem and all of its parts

* an explanation that includes the strategy you used to solve.

* is there another way to solve the problem?* any additional thoughts you have about the problem(s)

*** Please be sure to comment on Blog Assignment #6 so that your assignment is not lost on other posts! ***

Remember when you "publish the comment" it will not appear on the Blog until it is past the due date AND Ms. Saarinen has a chance to read and approve it.

HELP! Mrs. Scagos has been captured!!!

*Attention blog followers, this is not your typical math blog assignment but Ms. Saarinen needs your help! Have no fear, blog assignment #6 will be here in April!*

The following ransom note was left by the villain;

Dear Friends of Scagos-

I've taken your friend to a far away place.

She's not happy there as the lights are on all the time.

I don't want your help, you guys have too much to do. So it's time to get your students involved.

I'll return your teacher as soon as I have been given a creative t-shirt deisgn for the H.E.R.O.E.S team.

Design should be done on plain white paper using only pencil, black pen, or black marker. I've left further details with Ms. Saarinen.

Mrs. Scagos says she needs to be back for April 1st so don't delay, start your design today!

Signed,

BBH