Building Big Labs and Data Analysis and Circle Graphs

Announcements:

• Enjoy your Victoria Day long weekend! (no school Friday, May 17th or Monday May 20th)
• Track and Field Meet Tuesday, May 21st - Good luck to all participants!
• Students who missed work this week can find links to assignments and labs below
• Ms. Bowen can be reached by email at lebowen@cbe.ab.ca if students have questions about missed work

Math:

Today we continued surveying the class in order to practice creating circle graphs. Each student put a tally in the appropriate month of their birthday and then they converted fractions to decimals to degrees of a circle and used protractors to draw circle graphs. They also converted the decimals to percents in order to label the circle graph sectors.

Students who missed this lesson can imagine the class data using this table: 
The next table will help them convert their numbers from fractions, to percents, to degrees.

This circle template is what most students used to draw their circle graphs. This can also be done using a compass or a circular object if you do not have a printer. A protractor is a necessity for drawing the graph. Don't go out and buy one. Complete the table and we will practice again on Tuesday.

This week students have also had quite a lot of practice calculating the measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode). Khan Academy is a great site to visit to learn what these terms mean and how to calculate them. We looked at how outliers (a number that lies an abnormal distance from the other data/numbers) effect the mean, median and mode and did practice questions. Again Khan Academy has some good videos to show the impact of outliers.

Students who missed the Data Analysis assessment or need extra time will be given time on Tuesday.

I have attached a good practice worksheet that will help students remember vocabulary, calculate mean, median, mode and range, and reflect on what the data represents and how outliers impact data.

Science:

This week students did a self-directed exploration of many Structures and Forces Concepts in the Building Big Labs. 

Students who missed this opportunity (and have a home computer) can access the website and fill in the spreadsheet as they go through the activities. Most students seem to really enjoy this self-directed exploration of Forces, Loads, Shapes, and Materials.

Students also learned about the difference between Mass and Weight and did a worksheet to apply their understanding.

Mass and Force Worksheet

Initial Marshmallow with grid lines

Today students continued exploring their understanding of forces with the Marshmallow Lab. If many students are away and have a felt pen and a marshmallow at home, you may be able to give this a try on your own. Here is the lab sheet that accompanies the lab. 

Below are photos of applying the different forces to the marshmallow. Students draw the change in the marshmallow when undergoing each force.

1. Compression (squeezing)

2. Tension (pulling)

3. Torsion (twisting)

4. Shear - Attempting to push one half past the other in opposite directions (not a great photo)