Siyensya | (She-ent-sha), Cebuano for Science

One of the most important concepts in science is density. To teach this, the student must first understand the difference between the mass and weight of an object. So be sure to teach mass and weight first. I found an easy way to help the students remember this formula using a heart. I have found that they remember the formula and gain confidence using it to calculate the density of various objects. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

My first video dealt with dividing numbers ending with zero, such as 30, 40, 50 etc. See part A below. I will now show you how to divide numbers that do not end in zero. This is the math trick that we use in class to try and beat the calculator. It really gets kids interested in some math and it’s great to do when there is only a few minutes left in class. I believe in not wasting a minute of instructional time. My MathCounts team uses this mathematics trick to sharpen their wits and warm up before we tackle the harder problems in practice. I’m also happy to say that my MathCounts team took first place in our region and also finished in the top half at the state competition. Great job. I’m very proud of them for all their hard word.

Here is some video of when I taught the three color density lab while in the Philippines. I did this with over 100 students. To change the density of the water, we added different amounts of salt to create different densities and gave each layer a different color using food coloring. We then decanted each layer into a plastic cup. We did this outside the school under an overhang on a very hot day. As you can see, many of the students did very well.

Today I will give the list of the top sixteen scientists and mathematicians that we are studying in class. I try to pick a variety of different scientists that I think are relevant to the content. A new scientist is introduced every Monday. We still have sixteen to go for the rest of the year so your favorite may be missing.

Here is my list in the order presented to class this year:

1. Albert Einstein
2. Marie Curie
3. Bernhard Riemann
4. Emmy Noether
5. Thomas Edison
6. Rosalind Franklin
7. Carl Friedrich Gauss
8. Gregor Mendel
9. Galileo Galilei
10. Rachael Carson
11. G.H. Hardy
12. Srinivasa Ramanujan
13. Leonhard Euler
14. Archimedes
15. Robert Hooke
16. Sylvia Earl

On the worksheet given to the student, I usually give the name of the scientist, month and day born, year born and one or two short accomplishments. We then put the year born into the Peg system and link the date to the Peg word.

Background Information

During the school year, I introduce an important scientist or mathematician almost every week. I believe it’s important to study the history of science and math as it puts the science content in perspective. I also try to give an equal amount of male and female scientists so all of my students may find a role model. Usually, I give the name of the scientist, a few items of what they did and the date and year of their birth. We memorize the year using the Peg system. I always give the birthday because it’s interesting to see the reaction of the students when they discover they share the same birthday as Einstein–pi day 3-14 , or Sylvia Earle, August 30th.

The Lesson Plan

Since we now have studied sixteen scientists, I came up with a new lesson plan that includes writing about the scientists and using the sweet sixteen NCAA college basketball format. First, we list all sixteen scientists on the Scientist16 sheet. The student then flips a coin to decide who moves to the next bracket. I’m sure you could find other ways to move the scientists to the next bracket. Students continue to do this until there is only one scientist left. The final scientist may or may not be the person that the student feels is truly the most outstanding, but their assignment is to write a report defending this scientist as the most influential in our society over the other fifteen scientists.

Discussion

This assignment may be a challenge as some of the scientists and mathematicians may not be as influential as Einstein, Curie or Edison. The goal is to get students to think about what is important and to develop their writing. The student should research the winning scientist to discover if any other important information is useful to help write the paper. For an 8th grade class, I specify that the paper should be a minimum of 250 words. For the 7th grade I specify one well developed paragraph of five to eight sentences. You can modify this based on the grade level and time needed to grade. Next time, I’ll give you the list of scientists and mathematicians that I use in my class. Are any of your favorites on the list? Till next time…

I use Club 91 as a fun way to sharpen my students’ math skills. If they can beat the calculator, then they can join Club 91. To divide by 91, one must keep in mind that their are two routines to know before you begin. Today, I will show you what to do when the number to be divided ends in zero. The next lesson I will show you what to do when the number does not end in zero. After you give this a try, practice in your mind so you can beat the calculator. Have fun.

club91a

Welcome to Mars. Let’s get building as we have a long journey to Mars. I hope to post the design plans for the rocket and the Habitat. Till next time…

Hello and welcome to the Philippine American science connection. We will start this first week of March, 2008. I am just getting Continue Reading »