Ms. Bearse's Site

Today we’re designing swimming pools. We’ve been working on area, volume and perimeter calculations, and have worked with the pythagorean theorem to help in problem solving.

The pool design has a few criteria: two depths connected by a ramp, and the pool must be surrounded by a security fence.

The presentations include:
A diagram with dimensions
Calculations for the volume of water in the pool in litres (1000 cubic meters is 1 L)
Calculations for the tiled surfaces (walls and floor)
Calculations for the length of fencing required

We measured reasonable dimensions

Then we drew diagrams and did lots of calculations.

How many times can the pyramid be filled and poured into the cube?

The answer is three….every time! As long as the height and base are the same dimensions

Today we calculated the volume of the balloon. We had to use the circumference to calculate the radius first.

We then looked at what the smallest box would be to contain the balloon. We came up with two ideas….a cube and a cylinder….after calculating the surface area and volume for each package, we determined that the cylinder is the best choice because the volume and surface area are both smaller.

To celebrate the end of tests and investigations, and the approaching holidays we went math carolling today.

We went to lots of classes, and also to the office to sing for the principal.

This has become a tradition for my classes, and often there are kids in other classes that sing along when we come to their door.

Graph using transformations

Homework for today, grade 10s

What’s the maximum number of pieces you can get if you cut a cake 20 times?

We modelled this problem in grade 10 with data, graphical, and algebraic models.

Today we modelled what we would find if we painted cubes made from different numbers of blocks. We looked at how many blocks would be painted on 3 sides, 2 sides, 1 side and not at all.

Some of us made lots of cubes. Others made models to show various parts of the question.

We saw patterns in the data, and determined equations to predict the number of blocks in each group given the dimensions of the original cube.