Group items tagged

"Confucius famously urged followers to heed the Golden Rule: do to others what you would have them do to you. However, he was also famous for another concept: jen. According to Confucius, a person of jen "brings the good things of others to completion and does not bring the bad things of others to completion." In other words, jen represents our ability to make the world a better place…but also a worse one. In this lesson we'll explore the concept of the jen ratio - the ratio of positive to negative observations in our daily lives - and discuss how it influences the way we experience the world. From violent video games to inspiring hip-hop lyrics, how does the Confucian concept of jen shape our lives?" This seems like a very engaging introduction to ratios. This is a paid resource, but the media for this lesson is free and available to all.

Cool lesson idea for pythagorean theorum and ratios. Includes already-made geogebra apps for the lesson so that students can manipulate the size of the TV in order to respond to teacher questions.

This seems like a fun and interesting way to discuss/learn several different math topics. Here's a sample lesson plan that popped into my head when I saw this post: 1. Show to students a GoogleMap/GoogleEarth image similar to the one on the website, but more meaningful to you/them. For example, several different grocery stores around your house. 2. Ask the students, "Which one should I go to?" Have the students justify their answers using the image and mathematical topics that they have learned up to this point. 3. With appropriate questioning you could work in several mathematical topics here (I know I'm missing others as well…) a. Overlay a grid on the GoogleMaps and have the students give each of the locations points on an x,y axis. Use this information to determine distance. Have a conversation if this is the best way to determine which location is easiest to access. When students start to bring up the fact that even though some points are technically closer, but could be slower to get to, bring in… b. Rates, ratios, etc. Discuss how fast you could possibly travel on each route according to number of stop signs, streetlights, speed limit etc. Have students use this information to calculate the appropriate answer.

"As brilliant reader John D. asked, how many miles does Mario have to travel before he finally gets to Princess Peach?" This could be a great lesson starter for ratio, proportion, and estimation. Show your students one of the levels, ask them to predict, and then have the students create a process in order to answer the question. Reveal the article after students have made their calculations.

"Too often kids have trouble with word problems. Too often they don't know what to do with two numbers let alone a bunch of numbers. They guess at division when one number is big and one is small. They add when they see two fractions. They multiply because that was how they solved the last word problem. I will also do this with my 8th graders because I suspect they will have trouble too. And this is exactly the kind of trouble we need to get into. Now rather than later. This task gets them thinking about ratios - which is like the most important math thing in all of the math things." This is a short description of how to get your students developing questions for mathematical scenarios. This would be a great activity to work on if you feel like your students are having difficulty deciphering word problems or are stumped when presented with unfamiliar mathematical scenarios.

Math behind health insurance. Interesting video that could be applied to math (probability, ratios, etc.) or social studies (government spending, incentives, role of government)

"Ever wonder why we are made up of the particular ratio of elements that we happen to be made up of? The answer may be very simple. Perhaps we are that way because the universe is that way." This infographic reminded me of this H21 lesson (http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/21/?s=element+survivor&x=-1067&y=-38) and could provide a neat extension/summary for the lesson. After the students create their products and justify their choices, the teacher could show the infographic on this page and have the students compare and contrast their choices to the infographic and discuss "Why do you believe the human body contains these proportions of the listed elements?" Then, after an appropriate amount of time for the discussion, go for the big reveal and show the graphic that displays the abundance of each element in the universe.

For Will Berry

Hah. Awesome. Here are a few more specifically for middle school literature: 1. Divide the number of pages in your novel by the number of chapters it contains. The average should be equal to or less than your intended audience's age. 2. Determine the ratio of action verbs to any other verbs. If the ratio is less than 5:1, include more crazy twists and scenarios to keep the attention of your reader. And most importantly... 3. The number of characters in your novel that are either vampires, werewolves, or zombies should exceed that of all humanoid characters. If not, revamp your story to comply with current fad.

"Since demolishing 78 traffic signals and installing 80 roundabouts, the northern Indiana city of Carmel has reduced the number of accidents by 40 percent and the number of accidents with injuries by 78 percent." There's a great lesson in here somewhere. I'm not sure of the exact structure for it, but here are some of my random thoughts. Let me know if you have others: Use Googlemaps and GoogleEarth in order to determine how many traffic lights are in a specific location in a county/city. Using the calculations in this article/video, how much could the county/city that you researched in Google maps have saved if they installed traffic circles rather than traffic lights. Extension - Research the number of accidents and injury/fatality stats for the area that you've researched. Using the calculations in this video/article, how many lives would traffic circles save in this area?

Using this article and the tools listed (http://mentalfloss.com/article/56120/how-far-does-mario-have-run-and-swim-super-mario-bros) as the basis for the lesson: How far does Mario travel in this speedrun? Calculate the proportion of the game that this speedrun completes and leaves incomplete. Based on the time it takes for this speedrun, what's the fastest that you could beat Mario if you completed EVERY level.