. : Mr. Crawford : .

Story About a Cultural Artifact From a Mathematics Perspective

During the month of November we worked on a cultural artifact project!

Overview of project
Classes 831 and 834 used cultural artifacts to create stories that will inform readers about their cultural heritage while incorporating a math topic. The project was broken into sequential sections:

Section 1: The students chose a cultural artifact

Section 2: The students chose a math topic and related it to their artifact

Section 3: The students wrote a story that incorporated their math topic and their artifact.

Section 4: The students created displays to showcase their work

Section 5: The students presented their work

Section 6: The students wrote a reflection of their project

Why did we do this project?
We live in one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the entire World! The students who attend our school come from many different countries and it is important that we celebrate our cultural heritage?

What did we learn? We learned that between our 2 classes, we have students from over 25 countries!! We also learned that we can relate math to our cultural heritage.

Some of the countries that we learned about are: Russia, China, Honduras, El Salvador, Argentina, Myanmar, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, Greece, Equador, Colombia, England, Italy, and Ireland!!!!

Want to learn more about cultural diversity? Click here and visit this great web site

- Mr. crawford

Social Entrepreneurship Project

Interactive 8th Grade State Exam Resource Guide and Tutorials

Description of the project
Classes 831, 834, and 835 are preparing for the NYS Eighth Grade Math exam. As we prepare for the exam, students will work collaboratively to create a resource guide for the state exam and also a series of interactive tutorials for other eighth grade students. The resource guide and tutorials will be copied onto a CD that can be viewed on a computer.

The CD will include the following basic components: (1) List of major topics on the state exam (algebra, geometry, etc), (2) Overview of the format of the test, (3) scoring rubrics for the different types of questions, and (4) Sample questions and answers. In addition to these basic components, students will work in collaborative teams of 3 students to create PowerPoint tutorials for specific math concepts. For example, one group may create a tutorial that teaches how to add and subtract positive and negative numbers. Another group might create a tutorial that teaches how to solve problems involving complimentary and supplementary angles. All of the tutorials will be included on the CD.

The finished product will be distributed to teachers and students in our school. If possible, we will distribute the CD to other schools.

In addition to the CD, each team will present their tutorial to the rest of their class. Teams will also prepare a homework assignment that goes along with their tutorials.

Want to try a project at home? Try these Webquests!

Tower of Hanoi WebQuest

1. Click here to read the Legend of the Tower of Hanoi

2. Click here to use the online Tower of Hanoi

Geometry of 3-D Drawing
Vanishing Point WebQuest

1. Click here to read about 3-D drawing

2. Click here to read about perspective drawing

3. Click here and here to read about 1 point perspective drawing

4. Click here and here to read about 2 point perspective drawing

5. Draw a 1 point perspective drawing

6. draw a 2 point perspective drawing

Polyhedron Webquest

We are going to attempt to make the World's largest polyhedron model!!

1. What is a polyhedron? It is a 3-dimensional solid consisting of a collection of polygons, connected at their edges. Click here to learn about Polyhedrons.

2. What is an Icosahedron? It is a 20-sided polyhedron.

2. Click here to see nets for various polyhedrons

3. Build!