Math+Enrichment+Group

(This document contains iinformation about the Differentiated Math Enrichment Unit "Problem Solving" and the key teaching points for f2f mini lesson as well as links for follow up.)
We meet in Room 200 every Wednesday during Period 2 or 3. You decide which is the best period for you to miss your regular class. Your parent's and teachers' signature are needed on the permission slip.

We have 4 goals for our Math Erichment Program this year:
1. Prepare to write the University of Waterloo Math Competition (Gauss) May 14, 2008 and the University of New Brunswick Math Competition May11, 2008. 2. Learn some specific math skills such as probability, algebra, and problem solving that you may not get in your regular classroom because teachers just don't have enough time. 3. Develop your leadership skills by participating in at least one Math-related project such as Noon-time Peer Tutoring, SMARTboard mentoring, or MATH public relations. 4. Have fun with Math!!



Each Enrichment Class


1) Spend at least 10 minutes practicing old exams by going to the Gauss or UNB websites and downloading the questions. Keep your answers in a word document clearly labelled as to the grade level and year. Keep all your work in a folder for Math Enrichment. Transfer your results to your Wiki page. [|Gauss Math Competions]

[|UNB Math Competition]

2) Add content to your Wiki Electronic Portfolio Journal http://nms-mathletics.wikispaces.com/ (See the powerpoint presentation below to get started) Follow the links on the Navigation Bar. 3) Work on your Leadership Project 4) Have some fun and help someone!

If you are looking for more to work on or for a lesson to share with your tutor group try the BBC Math Site [|BBC Math] http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/beg_algebra/beg_alg_tut26_exp.htm This is an exponents and beginning algebra tutorial.

[[image:275w_MATH_P_FILIM.jpg align="right"]]
If you are trying to figure out which Leadership Project would be best for you, take the Multiple Intelligence Quiz to decide where your strengths lie......build from there!

= =

=February 19, 2007 Sorry I am away today but.......=

This is what I want you to do......
1. Make sure that you have asked to join the Mathletics wiki page. 2. Make sure that you have watched the powerpoint that tells you what to do with your Wiki page (start your sections) 3. Make sure that you think about your project and under a heading "LEADERSHIP PROJECT" on your Wiki page TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE DOING FOR YOUR PROJECT. Mme. Walsh-McKillop will be in Period 3 to talk to you about your projects. We need some powerpoints and videos of the smartboard before March Break. Maybe you can work on your projects on your extra long weekend. If you are doing Tutoring you should think about a way to document that. (A photostory? a PowerPoint? A tutorial?) 4. If you want to learn about how to figure out those questions about 15 people and how many handshakes or the ones about the number of possible Loto 649 combinations, you should go to this tutorial and learn about PERMUTATIONS AND COMBINATIONS. [|Permutations and Combinations]

**March Break**
Wow between snow days, PD Days, and March Break we haven't seen each other for awhile. I checked on your Wiki postings and would like you to work on making the four sections more clearly defined. You can use "Heading 1" from the drop-down menu so the type is large and bold. You can also add a little graphic (make sure that it is a public domain one). See my example below:

=//SECTION #1 MATH COMPETITION: //= = = = =
 * February 20 - Worked on 2001 Grade 8 Gauss - Completed questions 1 - 15.
 * February 28 - Finished 2001 Grade 8 Gauss in Math class and only had 2 questions wrong. They were # 23 and #24 - Does anyone know how to do them?

=SECTION #2 NEW MATH SKILLS:=


 * February 20 - Tried the new site for Combinations and Permutations. I think I understand how to do the handshake question now. This is the site:

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = SECTION # 3 LEADERSHIP PROJECT = = = = =

=
I have chosen to do Math Tutoring at noon time. I have a group of 3 students in Grade 8 who come Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 20 minutes. We work on their homework and I re-explain things to them. If they have all their homework done, we practice math facts with flash cards. My students say that their marks have all gone up!=====

 =SECTION #4 MATH FUN = = = =Here is a link to my favourite Math game. You can set the questions to any three subjects. (I like the 3 levels of Math.) = = = =[|Spherox]= = = = =

=Teacher Notes for Math Enrichment= = = ==

= **Problem Solving Strategies**  =

- **“Problems worthy of attack, prove their worth by hitting back.” Pete Hein** - **not all strategies work for all situations** - **the more you do the more quickly that you will see which one to apply to which situation** - **Try in this sequence:** o  **Read carefully and highlight key points** o  **Ask “have I ever seen something that looks like this?”** o  **Look for patterns** o  **Transfer points into a chart of what is known and what is unknown** o  **Look for a known algorithm that connects the information** o  **Try to create an algebraic expression with the information** o  **Draw a diagram and label with what is known and unknown** o  **Look for relationships between the known/unknown (supplementary angles?)** o  **Start a trial and error, or heuristic search for possible solutions** o  **Try a “what-if”** o  **Try a few examples and then look for patterns** o  **Look at the first step in the solutions download or ask for a clue, then see if you can go from there** o  **Once you have solved, make a mental note of this type of question as you will see it again**

The link below will take you to BBC Schools Algebra Site. Many of the problem solving strategies above are shown. (formulae, trial and error -the British call it Trial and Improvement-, patterns, solving for two unknowns - called simultaneous equations, etc.) ( be sure to go to the bottom of the page and look at the sections on determining the next item in a sequence and finding the general term )**
 * [|Problem solving using algegra]


 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/maths/algebra/index.shtml**
 * (look at the section on number patterns)**

=March 19= Are you looking for a change of activities from practising the Gauss Exam? Try the activities in the link below. You should especially try the sequences, area, powers, and probability. If you find you can't do the activity, go back to the sites above and do a review. [|Activities]

March 26
How would you like to be a Mathionaire? Check this out [|Who Wants to be a Mathionaire?]

media type="custom" key="609701" Watch this Teacher Tube for a review of simple probability and to learn about probability when talking about area. You can search teachertube for videos of other new math skills to embed in your wiki page. Be sure to use the widget button on the editor bar and to embed only one video at a time.

media type="custom" key="609713" Another Teacher Tube about simple probability. You could use this with your tutoring group.

April 23
Let's set as a goal for our group to make perfect scores on the Sections A & B of the Gauss exam on the 14th. Remember 3 coins tossed - what is the probability of being all heads? 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/8 If you missed the f2f class on Wednesday, we did the questions in Section B from the 2002 Grade 8 together. Don't forget.....Sometimes the distance speed time questions take a number of steps and a number of times of using the formula to arrive at the answer that was originally asked.

April 30
We are getting down to the wire!!! Let's look at all the things that we know about triangles. What about quadrilaterals? What about pentagons?