Summer SAVY, Session 1 Day 5, Encounters with Measurement (1st – 2nd)
Dear SAVY Families,
I can’t believe we have already completed SAVY Summer 2024 Session One: Encounters with Measurement. This week has been so fun for me as I learned with and from the SAVY mathematicians. I hope your SAVY mathematicians feel the same!
Most of our day was spent on completing our final project. For the final project, mathematicians had to use their body measurements to create their own true-to-size Yeti. Mathematicians learned that Yeti are known to be at least 6-10 feet tall. To create a Yeti this size, mathematicians were challenged to double their own size measurements. By doubling their measurements, students will be in the range of a real Yeti! The mathematicians had a lot of fun seeing some of themselves in the Yeti they created. Next, mathematicians had to use strategies to figure out the area of the Yeti they created. The Yeti is a very irregular in shape, and we did not have enough square-inch tiles to cover an entire Yeti, so the mathematicians were very challenged by this puzzle! I was so impressed with the determination they showed in finding the area of their Yeti. Make sure to ask your SAVY mathematician the strategy they used to find the area of their Yeti!
Mathematicians who completed the first part of their project had the opportunity to extend their thinking using the knowledge we developed throughout our course. Some mathematicians chose to use a strategy to find the perimeter of the outline of the Yeti. Other mathematicians used their knowledge of area to create a floor plan for a home for the Yeti. Mathematicians who excelled in volume chose to create a recipe for a drink at a Yeti party. Finally, some mathematicians who were feeling more creative chose to write a short story about what would happen if a scientist discovered their Yeti in the wild. This prompted a fun discussion about whether or not we think the Yeti could actually exist!
To end the day, students presented their projects to their peers. I was very impressed by how confident each mathematician was in presenting their thinking, and how respectful the other mathematicians were in listening to their peers.
Questions to ask your SAVY Mathematician tonight:
- How did you find the measurements for your life-size Yeti?
- What was the experience like presenting your mathematical thinking to your peers?
- How did you develop your math problem-solving skills at SAVY this week?
I had so much fun learning with and from the SAVY mathematicians this week. Thank you for allowing your child to spend part of their summer at SAVY. I am truly grateful for this experience. I hope to see each of them in a future class at SAVY! If any mathematicians wish to continue learning about measurement, there are some pages in their SAVY mathematician journal that we did not complete this week. I encouraged them to go find these pages and continue working on them this summer!
Sincerely,
Miss Gruchot