How Math Guides Ships at Sea

Check out this cool TedEd video about a real life application of math in the old days...

1. According to the video, why was math so important? 

2. Why do you think you learn math at school? 

3. Do you know what logarithms are? How was logarithms used? 

Check out the Decimals Song

Folding paper can get you to the moon??

Check out this awesome TedTalk video about how folder paper can get you to the moon...

1. How many times can you fold a paper? Try until the paper gets too small to be folded any further

2. Define exponential growth. How does it work?

3. How many times do I have to fold a piece of newspaper to get 0.008 inches if the original height of my newspaper is 0.002 inches high?


Credit to my fantastic high school student assistant, Matt Chan, for finding the video and writing the questions!

Fraction Help Videos

Math 6 has been studying the concept behind fraction operations. Here are some videos to supplement your learning in case you need extra help:

BROWNIE PANS FOR MULTIPLYING FRACTIONS

SUBTRACTING MIXED NUMBERS WITH BORROWING - THIS IS TOUGH! This video is particularly great because it shows how to set up these problems vertically.

Students vs Beasts Project

Here are the instructions.
Here is a sample graph to use.

Here is the rubric:

Need help with the conversions? Check out this example:

Here are some examples (note they are not necessarily 4s or 3s - they are simply an example of what students have produced in the past):

Verizon Math

Check out this YouTube recording of a phone call between a customer and Verizon, a phone company in the US. It really shows the importance of knowing place value in decimals!!!

Here is an excerpt from the customer's blog:

I have a Verizon unlimited data plan in the U.S. and recently crossed the border to Canada. Prior to crossing the border I called customer service to find out what rates I'd be paying for voice and data. The data rate I was quoted was ".002 cents per kilobyte."

I received my bill and was charged $.002/KB - which is dollars - "point zero zero 2 dollars per kilobyte".

My bill for my data usage in Canada was therefore much greater than I had expected - using the quote I was provided before my usage.

I have tried to resolve this issue with customer service reps on the phone, but no one seems to see the difference between ".002 cents" and ".002 dollars".

Adapted from http://verizonmath.blogspot.sg/2006/12/verizon-doesnt-know-dollars-from-cents.html

Up for a challenge? Try these problems out!

1) Is the writer correct? Is .002 cents different from .002 dollars? Clearly justify why or why not.

2) Suppose the writer used 35,254 kilobytes. How much should his bill have been if charged in a rate per cent versus per dollar.

3) How do you think this confusion could be avoided? Design a poster or flyer that can help.

Hat Riddle!

Here's a new riddle..

Good luck!