Hour of Code Computer Science Week

Code.org Off Line Coding Lessons for Computer Science Education Week

Lesson 1: Binary Baubles

Lesson 2: FuzzFamily Frenzy Instructions

Lesson 3: My Robotic Friend


Write your Own Code Overview

Scratch ED Lesson: https://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/hoc/

Determining Simple Interest Rate

Simple Interest Rate:
(A quick overview)
This week in class we have been going over simple interest rate.
Basically we will use the simple interest rate formula ( I=p*r*t ) to find the different components.
The letter I stands for the Interest that is earned on the account.
The letter P stands for the Principal that is being deposited or loaned from the bank.
The letter R stands for the Interest Rate that the bank is offering.
The letter T stands for the amount of Time that the money will be invested or the amount of time that the loan will take to pay off.

The multiple choice Practice Page and Answer Key for Simple Interest that I gave my 7th grade class to do over the weekend can be downloaded by clicking here.

Here is a quick video review

Similar Figures and Proportions

Similar Figures and Proportions

 

The Case of Triangles

 In order to determine if two triangles are similar we must compare the ratios of each corresponding side. The ratios are written by placing the lengths of each line segment in triangle one over its counterpart in triangle two. Each ratio is separated by a "questioned equal" sign. This equal sign below a question mark represents the uncertainty of the ratio's equality. Once equality or inequality is established the appropriate sign can replace the "questioned equal".

 

If the ratios of the triangle's corresponding line segments are proportional, then the corresponding angles must have equal values.

The Case of Quadrilaterals and Other Polygons

In figures with four or more sides, it is possible for the corresponding side lengths to be proportional and the figures to have different shapes. To determine if these figures are similar, first check that their corresponding angles have equal measures.

 

Determining Whether Two Four-Sided  Figures are Similar

Flocabulary.com: Education set to a catchy beat

Teachers, if you haven't been using Flocabulary.com in your classroom, then your students are really missing out. They have awesome videos and music that make understanding concepts from every subject easy and fun. They have videos for many subjects, and their library seems to grow every week. Give the free 2 week trial a test and see how well your kids like it.

Here is a preview that I pulled from their Youtube Channel:

www.flocabulary.com

Dimensional Analysis and the Metric Systems

Dimensional Analysis is a basic unit conversion most often used in Chemistry. The main goal of Dimensional Analysis is to cancel out the units that you do not need and keep the units that you are converting to.

Here are some videos that may make it easier to understand.

Dimensional Analysis Explained in comparison to Unit Conversion

 "King Henry" Killed Math

Many teachers use the following letters to help their students convert from metric unit to another  

K H D U D C M

Teachers have students repeat the phrase "King Henry Dies Unexpectedly Drinking Chocolate Milk"

Associating these units to  non-math terms allows us to get our students over the hurdle of converting from one unit to another, but it doesn't explain the mathematics behind the conversion process. I really like how this is explained in the following video. Replace the prefix with the number that it represents and make both sides equal.

 I plan on explaining Dimensional Analysis further in future posts.

Solving Proportions

This week we are discovering how to find the solution to a variable in a proportion problem.

It is really easy, however, it is also easy to make a careless mistake.

Another way to say cross products is to use the term cross multiply.

Basically, I take the numerator of the first fraction and multiply it 

by the denominator of the second fraction.

Then I multiply the denominator of the first fraction by the numerator of the second fraction.

I then get the variable singled out by dividing what is being multiplied times the variable.

The variable is the letter that is holding the place of the missing number.

The variable will be solved after the number is divided from both sides of the equation.