Category Archives: Learning Opportunities

#92: π Day

Math Mini Sparks, Uncategorized

Pi is one the most studied numbers in mathematics and on March 14 (or 3/14), we celebrate Pi Day because 3.14 are the first digits of pi.

Spark your math thinking!

  1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #92: π Day
  2. Learn about 18 ways that NASA uses Pi!  https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/list/oh-the-places-we-go-18-ways-nasa-uses-pi/. Record a few ideas on your recording page.
  3. Learn about other interesting Pi Facts at https://www.piday.org/pi-facts/. Create a info page about what you learned
  4. Find your “Pi Day” using this site. Type in your birthday and record where in pi your date appears.  Do this for a friend or your teacher and record their pi day. I put in my birthdate and the sequence of numbers does not show up until digit 169, 266! 
  5. Choose an interesting way to represent Pi! Check out the ideas at the end of this post.
  6. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Check out the Pi Masters badge at the EY website.

PiSong1

Screen Shot 2016-03-01 at 10.28.23 PM

Pi Grid Art

#61: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Early Enrichment

In January, we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. If you could change something about the world, what would you change?

Spark your thinking!

1.  Set up your Early Enrichment Mini Spark recording page: #61: Martin Luther King, Jr.

2. Read these informational points. On your recording sheet record all of the bold words.

  • Martin Luther King Jr.’s father was a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Martin was a very smart student and earned several university degrees.
  • He wanted to be a minister, and he gave his first sermon at his dad’s church when he was just 18 years old.
  • In December 1955, Rosa Parks, a Black woman, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for not giving up her bus seat to a white man.
  • Martin Luther King Jr. became the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, which organized a bus boycott, where people stopped using the buses to make a change.
  • The bus boycott lasted 381 days, and in the end, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that segregation was not allowed anymore.
  • Martin believed in peaceful protests, but he faced many dangers, including having his house bombed and being arrested multiple times. Sadly, he was shot and killed at the age of 39 in Memphis, Tennessee.
  • His famous speech, “I Have A Dream,” was heard by 250,000 people, and now Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a public holiday in the USA on the third Monday of January.

3. Watch Kid President tell the story of Martin Luther King, Jr.  On your recording page, tell us how will you celebrate and honor Dr. King.

4. Share your Early Enrichment Mini Spark recording page with your teacher or EY Coordinator.

#52: The Acropolis

Social Studies Enrichment

Ancient cities were often built around a fortress on top of a hill. When a city spread to the area below, the high part came to be called the acropolis, which means “city at the top” in Greek. The best-known acropolis is in Athens, Greece.  The Acropolis of Athens contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your social studies mini spark recording page: #52: The Acropolis

2. Watch this introduction video and respond to this prompt: Why was it important to the Greeks to have a location high above the city? 

 

3.  You will go on a virtual tour of the Acropolis of Athens. The Virtual Tour of the Acropolis highlights the most prominent monuments. Record these 4 monuments on your recording sheet: The Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion, and the Temple of Athena Nike. Leave room so you can record 3-4 details about each one.

4.  Watch this introduction video.

Go to https://www.acropolisvirtualtour.gr/ to start your tour. Add details on your recording sheet for each monument.

6. Share your social studies mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Check out the Greek Mythology badges at the EY website.

#57: Ice Ice Baby!

Full STEAM Ahead

Explore a frozen castles, frozen caves, and frozen music in this STEAM mini spark.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your STEAM mini spark recording page: #57: Ice Ice Baby!

2. Complete a 3-2-1 for the video Building Frozen Castles with the Master of Ice

3 new things you learned

2 things you wonder

1 question you have

3. Complete a 3-2-1 for the video This Chinese Ice Cave Never Thaws

3 new things you learned

2 things you wonder

1 question you have

4. Complete a 3-2-1 for the video BAIKAL ICE live sound

3 new things you learned

2 things you wonder

1 question you have

5. Share your STEAM mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#91: Mythical Mathematical Mind Reader

Math Mini Sparks

This is an interesting game to solve. When you are done, challenge yourself to explain your math thinking.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #91: Mythical Mathematical Mind Reader

2. Go to The Mind Reader website created by Transum and follow the instructions

         

The Mind Reader

4. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Record all of your math step-by-step on your paper.

5. Do the puzzle several times. Look for patterns. Make a chart.  Do the symbols stay the same each time or change?

6. Brainstorm possible reasons why The Mind Reader is able to predict your symbol every time.

7. At the end of the 5 minutes, write a several sentences about how you think this game works.

8. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

lesson adapted from https://www.transum.org/Maths/Investigation/Mind_Reader/ and Yummy math

#60: Thanksgiving Lessons

Early Enrichment, Uncategorized

Thanksgiving is one of the favorite holidays we celebrate in America. As we get ready, let’s take a look at some fun facts about the holiday.

Spark your thinking!

1.  Set up your Early Enrichment Mini Spark recording page: #60: Thanksgiving Lessons

2.  Read these thanksgiving facts. On your recording page record one of the facts that you did not know.

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 over a three-day harvest festival. It included 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians. It is believed by historians that only five women were present.

Turkey wasn’t on the menu at the first Thanksgiving. Venison, duck, goose, oysters, lobster, eel, and fish were likely served, alongside pumpkins and cranberries (but not pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce!).

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3rd, 1863. Sarah Joseph Hale, the woman who wrote “Mary Had A Little Lamb”, convinced him to make Thanksgiving a national holiday after writing him letters for 17 years!

There are 4 towns in the United States named “Turkey”. They can be found in Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, and Louisiana.

The average number of calories consumed on Thanksgiving is 4, 500!

The tradition of football on Thanksgiving began in 1876 with a game between Yale and Princeton. The first NFL games were played on Thanksgiving in 1920.

3. Thanksgiving is a time to be THANKFUL! Watch a video below to see what Kid President is thankful for! List 5 reasons you are thankful.

4. Share your Early Enrichment Mini Spark recording page with your teacher or EY Coordinator.

 

#50: Thanksgiving 

Social Studies Enrichment

As a nation we celebrate Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday in November each year. Thanksgiving wasn’t alway a national holiday. In this mini spark, you will learn about the history of Thanksgiving and how it became a national holiday.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your social studies mini spark recording page: #50: Thanksgiving

2. Set up your recording page with a section for each of these topics

  • Native Americans
  • The Settlers
  • Settling and Exploring
  • The Celebration
  • The Myths
  • Native Americans and Thanksgiving
  • Modern Thanksgiving

3. Read this article. For each category, record 3+ bullet points.

4. Watch this video about how Thanksgiving became a national holiday. When you are done watching, choose 5 questions to answer thoughtfully. Remind your teacher that the key can be found in the social studies mini spark folder.

  1. What year did the first Thanksgiving celebration take place in Plymouth, Massachusetts? Who was the great Indian chief that attended the first Thanksgiving celebration? 9. In what year did Congress officially make Thanksgiving a national holiday?
  2. Describe how Abraham Lincoln contributed to the establishment of a national Thanksgiving holiday.
  3. What message did Lincoln convey in his Thanksgiving proclamation during the Civil War?
  4. Identify why Sarah Josepha Hale believed a national Thanksgiving celebration was important. How did Hale promote the idea of Thanksgiving through her work as a magazine editor? 
  5. What was the significance of Lincoln’s proclamation being the first in a series of annual Thanksgiving proclamations?
  6. How did Lincoln’s view of Thanksgiving differ from the political divides of his time?
  7. Reflect on the idea of gratitude discussed in the video. Why is it important to express gratitude during Thanksgiving?

5. Optional: This is an interactive about Thanksgiving and the early settlers. Check it out.

CLICK HERE TO EXPLORE AND PLAY!

6. Share your social studies mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator

#56: Code a Trick or Treat Game

Full STEAM Ahead

Code a spooky game for others to play. Follow the tutorial instructions to make a simple game. Customize your game to make it your very own.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your STEAM mini spark recording page: #56: Code a Trick or Treat Game.

2. Watch this video that show how to code this project in scratch junior.

3.  Now you are going to design your own game.

4. Decide if you want to do a trick or treat theme, or use this same idea, but with your own designs.

5. Please have at least 3 items coded in your final project.  Example: the pumpkin the first candy, the second candy.

6. On your recording page, write what project you are going to create.

7. Code your project. If you want to make a split screen, and run the video again as a guide that is an option.

8. Take a screenshot of the blocks for each of your items. Add this to your recording page.

9.  Share your STEAM mini spark recording page and you finished project with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Check out the Scratch Jr coding badge at the EY website.

#90: A Ridiculous, Long Way to Find Out the Day of the Week You Were Born

Math Mini Sparks

Do you know what day of the week you were born on?  If not, you could…

  1. Ask your parent(s)/guardian(s) if they remember the day of the week.

  2. You could “Google”: What day of the week was May 16, 1975 (that’s my birthday)

OR

You can do this ridiculously long way…which is more fun IMO!

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #90: A Ridiculous, Long Way to Find Out the Day of the Week You Were Born

2.  Follow the steps. If you would like to see an example of the steps, scroll down to the bottom of this post.

Step 1: Take the last 2 digits of the year in which you were born.

Step 2: Divide that number by 4 and ignore any remainder.

Step 3: Add the day of the month to the answer from step 2

Step 4: Add the month’s key value to the answer from step 3.

January and October:Key Value = 1

February, March, and November: Key Value = 4

April and July: Key Value = 0

May: Key Value = 2

June: Key Value = 5

August: Key Value = 3

September and December: Key Value = 6

Step 5: Subtract 1 for January or February of a leap year.

Step 6:

Add 0 if the date is in the 1900s

Add 6 if the date is in the 2000s

Add 4 for the 1700s

Add 2 for the 1800s

Step 7:  Add the last 2 digits of the year.

Step 8: Divide by 7 and take the remainder.

Remainder 0 is Saturday

Remainder 1 is Sunday

Remainder 2 is Monday

Remainder 3 is Tuesday

Remainder 4 is Wednesday

Remainder 5 is Thursday

Remainder 6 is Friday

3. Now double-check your work by searching on Google!

4.Create a product that shows your work!  Example:

5. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#89 Matrices

Math Mini Sparks

Matrices are rectangular arrangements of rows and columns. In this mini spark, you will learn about the basics of matrices.

Here are three examples.

    

Spark your math thinking!

  1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #89 Matrices

2. Watch the video below and take notes with the teacher and answer the questions that follow. Remind your teacher that the key can be found in the math mini spark folder.

  1. What is a matrix, and how is it defined in the video?
  2. Describe the different ways a matrix can be represented as mentioned in the transcript.
  3. Explain the condition that each row and column must meet in a matrix.
  4. Give an example of a matrix with two rows and two columns, and list its elements.
  5. Why is the arrangement with three elements not considered a matrix according to the video?

3. Watch this second video. Please record at least 5 pieces of information from the video.

4. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

You can extend your learning by completing the Marvelous Matrices badge!