Geometry - Theme Park Design

Spoke-Hub Pathway Design

Math is always about turning abstract numbers, equations and measurements into something real and useful. One of the best examples of math being put to the creative test is Walt Disney World, where creative math is used everyday.

In order to put our knowledge of geometry into practice, we are going to begin the construction of our very own theme parks. Today you will begin creating a blue-print for the design of your first three attractions. To begin take a look at the Walt Disney World artistic blue-print for the Magic Kingdom. Its design is based on the spoke-hub design where all paths to attractions radiate out form Cinderella's Castle. In order to keep traffic flowing there are very little dead-ends and 90 degree angle paths in the Park.

 In your own blue-prints feel free to borrow some ideas from Walt Disney World (almost all theme parks do), but add your own original ideas as well. On grid paper you must connect your attractions with intersecting paths so that people can get to your attractions without any dead-ends. None of the paths can be 90 degrees. Construct three attractions to resemble three different polygons.

Learning Goal: Apply your understanding of measuring and constructing lines, angles and shapes to create a theme park blue print.

To be successful at this task I can...

• Use 0.5 cm grid paper or 1 cm grid paper to as the first draft of my Theme Park
• Review the Magic Kingdom map and use the spoke-hub design in my blue-print
• Use a protractor to measure, construct and identify all angles and shapes
• Use a ruler to measure and identify lengths of all lines
• Use no 90 degree angles, curves or circles
• Use benchmark of acute, obtuse, right and straight to ensure the accuracy of my measurements
• Review my previous work and the exemplars on the blog to see how to bump up my work

Geometry - Week of April 15 - 19

This week in Geometry we will continue to look at Lines, Angles and Shapes.

By the end of the week you will be able to say... I am able to construct lines, angles and triangles! To achieve this goal I can...

• use the benchmarks - acute, obtuse, right and straight angles to estimate and determine an angle 
• use a protractor to measure and construct angles from 0 degrees to 180 degrees.
• use my favorite geometry app to construct lines angles and triangles

We will be having a short quiz on Wednesday to see if we are reaching our goals!

Quiz Tomorrow

Hey friends you have all been working very hard. Let's find out what we have learned over the last two weeks!

Grade 6 - your quiz will be on...

Converting fractions, decimals and percent

Grade 7 - your quiz will be on...

Adding and Subtracting fractions with like, unlike denominators,
Converting Mixed and Improper fractions

Quiz Tomorrow!

Remember to study for your fractions quiz tomorrow! Review representing, comparing and ordering fractions.

Can Chess Help Me Become Better At Math?

In class we have been playing a lot of chess. Anytime we are finished our work for the day, away go the pencils and note books and out come the checkered boards. At first, many of you didn't know how to play chess at all, but very quickly you have learned the moves and the strategy behind the game.

Have you every asked the question, what does chess have to do with math? Just like Math, chess requires the ability to problem solve. In Math you learn formulas and steps, in chess you learn the moves of each piece - these things do not change and are constant; however, even though we may memorize our formulas or chess moves, outcomes are always changing and our brains have to adapt to a real-life math problem you've never encountered before or a chess move you have never seen.

What do you think of Chess, do you think it will help you with your Math skills? Parents, here is a link to a great article about the benefits of chess for students.

Welcome to Fractions!

Welcome to the beginning of our Fractions Unit. Over the next 6 weeks we will be taking a look at how to represent, compare and how to add, subtract and multiple fractions. Check out the pencast for a quick introduction.

Mr. C Pencast
This pencast is flash enabled and will not work on iphones or ipads Livescribe

Math Quiz Coming Up!

There will be a Math quiz for both grade 6 and 7 on Wednesday, January 23, 2013.

Grade 6 your quiz will be on mean, median and mode.

Grade 7 your quiz will be on the measure of area for parallelograms, triangles and irregular figures.