Lately I've made an experiment of sorts, and that is I've checked what it is like to create a website with Weebly. Weebly is a service that lets you build a website with a drag-and-drop interface.
My testing website is called Cute Cat Videos. I've collected a few videos of cats doing tricks, silly cats, cats and kittens with other animals, and such.
So far, so good. You can create a simple, small website with Weebly, without technical knowledge. It could be good for anyone (even kids) who want to build a small website without learning html, css, or any of that stuff.
I liked the selection of templates. Drag and drop seems to work fine. You can add custom html. You can add videos or other media, or Google Adsense.
Of course it has its limitations - don't expect too much. For example, in the two-column layout, I can't edit the html to change the background color. Or edit the html for the images so they wouldn't have borders. Or customize the title tags for the inside pages. But, for small needs it could work well.
I also really liked the idea of giving students the answer, and asking them to explain why and how it is gotten, as is explained in Why is this answer right?
But there are many more and Denise has worked hard to create this beautiful carnival so check it out!
The Soma cube is a dissection puzzle. It has seven pieces that have to be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube. So, that is the main challenge, but you can also arrange the pieces into all kinds of other interesting 3-D shapes.
The seven pieces of the Soma cube
I received a wooden Soma cube from Monkey Pod games. The cube comes in a neat, good-looking wooden box that can be showcased in your bookcase as a decorative item. But, it's certainly not meant for decoration only! It is quite a fun challenge! The Soma cube from Monkey Pod games comes with a little booklet that shows you the solution so you can get the pieces back to the box, but it also shows you several dozen other 3-d shapes to make with the pieces.
I enjoyed trying to put together some of those. And the kids enjoyed just playing with the pieces, trying to come up with something interesting, and of course they did! It was great fun for them.
I let a neighbor family borrow the cube, and the results were similar: adults enjoyed the challenges, and kids enjoyed the fun of building something. One adult visitor spent over an hour trying to recreate several different shapes given in the booklet. It's really easy to get totally absorbed in doing these!
The other item I received from Monkey Pod games was a tangram. Again, the pieces and the box were of quality good-looking wood (made from monkeypod wood, in fact!).
You probably know what a tangram is - it is a puzzle of seven flat pieces that can be arranged into lots of different 2-dimensional shapes.
The little booklet that came with the tangram showed dozens and dozens of shapes to try to make with the tangram pieces. My kids immediately took to it, and had fun trying to make the shapes, especially the animal ones. I did some too. It is certainly fun, but not necessarily evident what pieces to use at first.
Overall, the games (or puzzles) from Monkey Pod games can provide hours and hours of educational fun that stretches your brain. They come with little instructional guides, which you can also download from the website.
Also, these puzzles are great gifts since they look so good (not plastic or cheapy looking). They are also great items to showcase at parties. Don't be surprised if your guests get totally immersed in them!
Monkey Pod games has dozens of different kinds of wooden puzzles and other items to choose from.
It's like being in a candy store! And the prices are not bad either, a lot of the puzzles are around $10. Amazon sells them as well.
Disclaimer: I was given the Soma cube and the wooden Tangram by Monkey Pod Games. Other than that, I have received no other compensation. The opinions are mine. Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links so if you click to Amazon through them and then buy something, I will earn a few cents.
The speed of a freight train is 14km/h slower than the speed of a passenger train. The freight train travels 330 km, in the same time that it takes a passenger train to travel 360 km. Find the speed of each train.
Again, an algebra problem about speeds. Again, we will make a simple table about the two trains. The table will have columns for speed, distance, and time.
| distance | speed | time ----------------------------------------------- Freight train | 330 | v | ------------------------------------------------- Passenger train| 360 | v + 14 |
Notice the problem says "in the same time". Let's call that t.
| distance | speed | time ----------------------------------------------- Freight train | 330 | v | t ------------------------------------------------- Passenger train| 360 | v + 14 | t
Of course, the goal is to have an equation in a single variable, not in two variables (t and v).
Since the time is the same, we can build an equation of the time t = ... for both trains, and then set those expressions to be equal.
For the freight train, t = distance/speed = 330/v For the passenger train, t = 360/(v + 14)
Now let's make those equal:
330/v = 360/(v + 14)
Cross multiply:
360v = 330(v + 14)
360v = 330v + 4620
30v = 4620
v = 154
So, the speed of the freight train is 154 km/h and the speed of the passenger train is then 168 km/h.
Check: How long will it take for the freight train to travel 330 km? Well, 330/154 hours, or 2.142857143 hours.
How long will it take for the passenger train to travel 360 km? Well, 360/168 hours, or 2.142857143 hours. Seems to match.
What is "subitizing"? It's probably a new word for most. It basically means being able to recognize instantly how many objects you see, without counting.
We all do that with the dots on the face of a dice. People who play dominoes with the larger set also learn to do that with the dots on the dominoes (they can go up to 18).
But why would such be important? It is for children, because it promotes number sense, and also ties in with the concepts of addition, subtraction, and even place value.
Look at the dominoes in the picture, and especially the one in the front with turquoise dots on the left side and three orange dots on the right.
Looking at the turquoise dots, can you tell how many there are without counting?
Most of us realize that it is just one less than three rows of three, or nine. So therefore it has eight dots. That is "subitizing".
By learning to subitize a child is learning: • number sense • to associate a number with a whole collection • to visualize quantities and the associated number • relationships between numbers • to visualize subsets of a number • to use subsets of numbers to quickly make addition and subtraction equations • the foundation for quick and creative mental arithmetic • place value concepts
I recently had the opportunity to watch a video made specifically to address this math concept, called Subitize Me! It is about 28 minutes long and meant for children from PreK to 2nd or 3rd grade.
This is the trailer of the video:
In it, two children go through an adventure of sorts inside ancient ruins where they have to first be able to tell the number of gold coins before they can escape. The children get there through a series of seven "lessons", for example with dice, with a snowman, or spacecraft. In each lesson they learn more and more about subitizing, until finally they are able to see the large number of coins in groups of ten tens (hundred) and groups of tens.
My children liked the movie and wanted to watch it twice (thus far). It is actually recommeded to watch it repeatedly over time so children can cement the concepts shown in the video.
This is a commercial movie on a DVD. The DVD also has some additional exercises for children to watch and think through. You can also purchase (separately) a booklet for the teacher that has activities you can do and has a brief summary of the movie.
The video is well made and ties in with the math concepts very well. I would recommend it to elementary school teachers, libraries, co-ops, math clubs and any such places where many children have the opportunity to watch it.
I'm definitely not against home users (parents) purchasing it, either. This concept is beneficial for all children and teachers! However, I consider it a bit pricey, as compared to other math-related movies and DVDs that are available commercially, because it does not really cover that big a part of the typical math curriculum. So you need to consider your budget. Maybe you could resell it afterwards, which would reduce the cost.
I also hope they would make it available for watching online for a small fee, kind of like how you can "rent" (download) movies from Amazon for a few dollars. That would make it more accessible to larger numbers of parents.
Please see more information about the movie at Movie Makers.
Disclaimer: I received from Movie Makers company a link to be able to watch this movie for free, plus the PDF version of the teacher activity booklet. I did not receive any other compensation. The opinions are mine.
There are now three new books available in the Blue Series. They are all for grades 5-6. The material for these books came from the Light Blue 5th and 6th grade curricula. Please click on the links to learn more and see samples.
The main topics studied in this book are simple equations, expressions that involve a variable, the order of operations, long multiplication, long division, and graphing simple linear functions.
The idea is not to practice each of the four operations separately, but rather to see how they are used together in solving problems and in simple equations. We are trying to develop student's algebraic thinking. Many of the ideas in this chapter are preparing them for algebra in advance.
This worktext concentrates, first of all, on two important concepts: ratios and proportions, and then on problem solving.
First, we study thoroughly the concept of ratio, including how it connects with fractions and the aspect ratio in rectangles.
Solving proportions is divided into three separate lessons. In the first one, we solve proportions by thinking through equivalent ratios. In the second one, the usual method of cross-multiplying is introduced. Then follows a lesson that explains just why cross-multiplying is allowed. Then there is more practice with solving proportions and word problems. We also study scaling geometric figures and floor plans.
The last lessons concentrate on various kinds of word problems that can be solved with the help of bar or block diagrams (the same kind as in Singapore Math). These involve problems with fractional parts, and then problems involving ratios. The diagrams become a powerful tool to solve such problems without the use of algebra.
Math Mammoth Place Value 5
Math Mammoth Place Value 5 is a short worktext that covers value up to the trillions—that is, numbers up to 15 digits—rounding them, and using a calculator.
The first lesson covers place value up to billions. Then, we study exponents, and right after that, place value up to trillions, writing the numbers in the expanded form using exponents. After working with addition a little, there are two lessons about calculator usage.
