A triangular number or triangle number counts objects arranged in an equilateral triangle.
Spark your math thinking!
Set up your math mini spark recording page: #81 Triangular Numbers
Use this interactive tool to construct triangular numbers until you can see the pattern to answer this question.
This is a teaching page that REALLY gets into the math behind these types of problems. Use the formula and see if you can get the right answer to the counter problem.
When you have a solution and a written statement about what you did to solve the problem you can click here to see the solution.
Check out this triangular number chart. After looking over the first page, click on “getting started” to explore this resource.
Connection: Research the original Lite-Brite, a 1960s toy. Come up with some unique ideas on how teachers can use these toys to teach math, science, and art.
Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
1. Set up your early enrichment mini spark recording page: #53: How to Catch a Unicorn
2. Listen to the book How to Catch a Unicorn
3. On your recording page, make a list of the traps they tried in the book.
4. On our recording page, make a drawing of your own plan for a unicorn trap.
5. Design a unicorn-Include a description about where it live, what it looks like, what it eats, and its powers. Include a picture of your unicorn in its habitat. Make a pic collage about your unicorn and its features.
6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
You will use your scientific calculator in science and math classes in middle school and high school. Work on this STEAM mini spark to learn how to use this tool.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your STEAM mini spark recording page: #51: Scientific Calculator Lesson
2. Find a scientific calculator to use for this mini spark. If you don’t have one you can use an online one. Type “Scientific Calculator” and one will come up for you.
3. Print this reminder sheet or open it up. This is an image of a graphing calculator, but most of the buttons will be the same on a scientific calculator. Record all of the words and what they do on your recording sheet.
4. Watch this video. Take note on your recording page and try out the different keys she discusses on your own calculator while you watch.
5. Write down any of the common mistakes that the teacher discusses in the video.
6. Explain to another student how to find the square root, take a number to the 3rd power, and how to write a number in scientific notation.
7. Remember to ask your teacher before using a calculator on an assignment. There are times when it is ok to use a calculator, and times when your teacher wants you to practice the math skills.
8. Share your STEAM mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Roller coasters are all about physics! Unlike most moving vehicles, cars, trains, and buses that rely on engines, roller coasters rely on gravitational potential energy. What goes up, must come down.
1. Set up your STEAM mini spark recording page:#50: STEAM Challenge: Roller Coaster
2. For this mini spark, you will be building your own roller coaster. Visit the Instructables website linked below to find templates you can print and cut out. Or, use your own materials and come up with your own design. Get creative and don’t forget to take pictures to document your progress.
3. Go to the Instructable website and read the information from the top to the bottom. Record examples of potential and kinetic energy on your recording sheet.
4. On your recording page, make a list of the supplies you will need. If you need help getting supplies talk to your EY coordinator.
5. Print out this template. If you want to used colored paper, talk to your EY coordinator about getting some to use.
6. Complete all of the steps. Take at least 5 pictures of your process.
7. Take a picture and a video of your challenge.
8. Add all of your pictures to your recording sheet. If you would like to make Pic Collage of your challenge that is great.
9. Share your STEAM mini spark recording page and your video with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Martin Luther King Jr’s father was the pastor of the Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States of America.
Martin was a gifted student. He was awarded several university degrees.
He decided he wanted to become a minister and delivered his first sermon at his father’s church at the age of 18.
In December 1955, in Montgomery Alabama, Rosa Parks, a black woman, was arrested for failing to give up her bus seat to a white man.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was appointed president of the Montgomery Improvement Association which led the boycott of the Montgomery bus services. (A boycott is where you stop using goods or services to bring about a change.)
The bus boycott lasted 381 days at the end of which the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation was illegal.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a very brave man who believed in non-violent protest. During the course of his campaign his house was bombed, he was arrested on numerous occasions, and he was stabbed. Finally, he was shot and killed at the age of 39 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Dr King was a very powerful orator (speech maker). His most famous speech, “I Have A Dream”, was delivered to an audience of 250,000 people.
Following Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder, a national day of mourning was declared in the USA.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, held on the third Monday of January, is now a public holiday in the USA.
Have you heard of Kid President? Click on the video below to watch him tell the story of Martin Luther King, Jr. Then, in the comments, tell us how will you celebrate and honor Dr. King on his special day.
Many of you know that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a crusader for Civil Rights. He had a dream. In some ways, that dream became a reality through the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your social studies mini spark recording page: #43: The Civil Rights Act
2. Read the background information below. Identify 5 pieces of information that are new to you.
The Declaration of Independence declared that “All men are created equal.” However, when the country was first formed this quote didn’t apply to everyone, only to wealthy white landowners. Over time, things did improve. The slaves were set free after the Civil War and both women and non-white people were given the right to vote with the 15th and the 19th amendments.
Despite these changes, however, there were still people who were being denied their basic civil rights. Jim Crow laws in the south allowed for racial segregation, and discrimination based on gender, race, and religion was legal. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for the civil rights of all people. Events such as the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Birmingham Campaign brought these issues to the forefront of American politics. A new law was needed to protect the civil rights of all people.
On June 11, 1963 President John F. Kennedy gave a speech calling for a civil rights law that would give “all Americans the right to be served in facilities that are open to the public” and would offer “greater protection for the right to vote.” President Kennedy began to work with Congress to create a new civil rights bill. However, Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 and President Lyndon Johnson took over.
President Johnson also wanted a new civil rights bill to be passed. He made the bill one of his top priorities. After working the bill through the House and the Senate, President Johnson signed the bill into law on July 2, 1964. Martin Luther King, Jr. attended the official signing-in of the law by President Johnson.
A year after the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, another law called the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. This law was meant to insure that the right to vote was not denied any person “on account of race or color.”
3. Watch the video about the civil rights movement and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While watching, write down 8+ important details and key points.
4. The law was divided up into 11 sections called titles. Read the list. On your recording sheet record the title that you would like to learn more about.
Title I – The voting requirements must be the same for all people.
Title II – Outlawed discrimination in all public places such as hotels, restaurants, and theatres.
Title III – Access to public facilities could not be denied based on race, religion, or national origin.
Title IV – Required that public schools no longer be segregated.
Title V – Gave more powers to the Civil Rights Commission.
Title VI – Outlawed discrimination by government agencies.
Title VII – Outlawed discrimination by employers based on race, gender, religion, or national origin.
Title VIII – Required that voter data and registration information be provided to the government.
Title IX – Allowed civil rights lawsuits to be moved from local courts to federal courts.
Title X – Established the Community Relations Service.
Title XI – Miscellaneous.
5. Take a 10 question quiz to test what you learned about the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Record your score on your recording page.
6. OPTIONAL: Research one of the titles of the Civil Rights Act. Make an information page to share with your classmates.
7. Share your social studies mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Check out these mini sparks to learn more about Martin Luther King, Jr.
Art requires creativity and imagination and enhances flexibility, adaptability, productivity, responsibility and innovation – all required skills for a successful career in any field of study. The ‘A’ in STEAM represents ‘Art’ which includes music.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your STEAM mini spark recording page: #49: Intro to Opera
2. Get started with this informational video. Record details from this clip on your recording page. Add in details about conductor’s role and actions. Explain how he is positioned during the opera.
3. Watch this video, The Physics of Opera. Record at least 8 vocabulary words and a short definition on your recording page.
4. Answer these questions on your recording sheet. Rewatch the video if necessary. ****Remind your teacher that the answers to these questions can be found in the STEAM mini spark folder.
What techniques do opera singers use to project their voices over an orchestra?
How does the shape and material of an instrument affect its sound?
Explain the concept of harmonics as described in the video.
Why is it beneficial for an opera singer to emphasize higher partials?
Describe the role of the concert hall in enhancing the sound of opera singers.
What factors can influence a singer’s vocal ability as they age?
How do the vocal techniques differ between a Wagnerian singer and a bel canto singer?
5. Share your STEAM mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Check out the Marvelous World of Opera Badge on the EY website.
5. Add a screenshot of your art to your recording page or print it out.
6. Create a second piece of word art with a different theme. Use the same website and experiment with different shapes, fonts, colors, etc. Add a screenshot of your art to your recording page or print it out.
7. Share your language arts mini spark recording page and your art with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Check out these unicorn topics to stretch your knowledge about this mythical beast.
You will use your scientific calculator in science and math classes in middle school and high school. Work on this STEAM mini spark to learn how to use this tool.
Roller coasters are all about physics! Unlike most moving vehicles, cars, trains, and buses that rely on engines, roller coasters rely on gravitational potential energy. What goes up, must come down.
Art requires creativity and imagination and enhances flexibility, adaptability, productivity, responsibility and innovation – all required skills for a successful career in any field of study. The ‘A’ in STEAM represents ‘Art’ which includes music.
WordArt.com is an online word cloud generator that enables you to create amazing and unique word clouds with ease.