Spring SAVY 2019, Day 1 – Using Algebra to Make and Break Records (3rd/4th)
It is with great enthusiasm that I tell you how excited I am to talk about our first Saturday together! In this class, we are using world records to learn about Algebra with an emphasis on relationships. We are focusing on analyzing change by using graphs, tables, and verbal situations. We will continue to learn about Algebra as a set of concepts tied to the representation of relationships through words, tables, and graphs over the course of the session. Here’s to five more weeks of learning!
Today, the students were able to give me their own definition of the term variable. We were able to extend their mathematical thinking of the term as we included a second definition of variable as a quantity that varies or changes. The students were able to identify variables in a variety of “Wacky World Record Situations” and discuss how the variables changed in relation to one another. I was truly impressed at how much the students were able to recognize the relationships between the variables as well as identify some of the less-obvious variables. In our second activity, we used “NBA Star Stats” to interpret some information from a graph. Most of the students seemed to struggle with interpreting the graph due to the idea that it did not have a scale. This made it a little more difficult to identify each player. Nevertheless, students persevered through the task and were able to discuss their findings.
Since we are learning about world records, I would like to start working toward a record of our own. The students shared with me their favorite series of books to read. I have challenged each student to record the number of pages they are reading each day. I have set a class of goal of reading 10,000 pages by the end of our last class (March 2nd, 2019). Please know that I will participate in logging the number of pages I read each day as well. We will track the number of pages read each Saturday as we attempt to meet our goal!
Please print the log that has been created so that we can keep a record of the class progress towards our goal! We will share our progress towards our goals each Saturday. I look forward to reaching our goals and learning more about mathematical relationships next Saturday!
–D. Polk
Our Record Breakers Hard at Work
