CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS -...
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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 21 - 27, 2014 A15 The St. Louis American’s award winning NIE program reaches more than 7,000 teachers and students throughout the school year. Monroe Elementary School 3rd grade teacher Kristen Hutchison does a water experiment with students Aariyah Bowman, Samuel Williams, and Anyha Martin, all 9, for a STEM project. The school is in the St. Louis Public School District. Photo: Wiley Price / St. Louis American FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN PHD OF MATHEMATICS: Elbert Frank Cox December 5, 1895, Elbert Frank Cox was born in Evansville, Indiana. His father was a school principal and his family valued education. When Cox showed that he had an ability in math and physics, he was encouraged to go to college. In 1917, Cox graduated from the University of Indiana. Cox received an A on every math exam he took there. After graduation, he taught math at Alves Street School in Henderson, Kentucky. He served in the army during World War I, and was stationed in France. When Cox returned to the US in 1919, he worked at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was chairman of the Department of Natural Sciences. In 1922, he was awarded an Erastus Brooks Fellowship. Three years later, he earned his PhD in mathematics from Cornell University. He was the first African American in the world to earn this degree. Cox married an elementary school teacher, Beulah Kaufman, in 1927. They had three sons. Cox taught mathematics at West Virginia State College where he was head of the math and physics department, before moving to Howard University where he served as chairman of the mathematics department. He retired in 1965. On November 28, 1969, Cox died. In 1975, Howard University created the Elbert F. Cox scholarship fund to recruit African American students to pursue mathematics degrees. The National Association of Mathematicians (NAM) honored Cox with the creation of the Cox-Talbot address, which is recited at NAM’s annual meetings. Learning Standards: I can read a biography to learn about a person who has contributed in the fields of math, science, and technology. Teachers, if you are using the St. Louis American’s NIE program and would like to nominate your class for a Classroom Spotlight, please email: [email protected]. SCIENCE CORNER Have you ever been disappointed when you opened a bag of chips to find the bag was half empty? Most foods, including snack chips, are sold by weight. If you look at the front of the bag, you’ll see the exact weight of the chips. The package, however, has a much larger surface area. Many consumers are fooled by the packaging, thinking a larger package means more product. Careful readers know to compare the weight of the chips to determine the better value. Nitrogen is added to bags of chips to provide a cushion of air to protect the chips during shipping. Other items, such as rice and boxed pastas, will also have empty “space” in the packaging to protect the product, as well. Packaging can also serve another purpose— advertising. A large, colorful package catches your eye while you are shopping and can lead to higher sales. This leads to a lot of unwanted packaging in landfills. Carefully observe how much packaging you see in the products you use. Is the packaging necessary to keep the product safe or is it a design to create a larger surface area for the product marketing? For More Information, Go To: http:// abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/product- bags-boxes-full/story?id=9233043. Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text to learn main idea and supporting details. The Math Behind Product Packages ! CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS DID YOU KNOW? Content—Jennifer Wirthwein • Design—Beth Sharpe Background Information: Juice boxes are often shaped like a rectangular prism. You can use this shape to calculate how much the box can hold, which is the volume, and how much packaging was used to create the box, which is surface area. Materials Needed: • Metric Ruler • Juice Boxes (five or more different brands, one per brand) • Calculator • Lab Notebook Procedure: q Make a table in your lab notebook to collect information. w Take the first juice box and record the brand name and volume in ounces (most manufacturers will print this information on the front of the juice box). e Use the ruler to measure the length, width, and height of the juice box in centimeters. Record the information in the table. r Next, calculate the surface area and record the information in your table. Surface area = 2 × length × height + 2 × width × height + 2 × length × width—S = 2lh + 2wh + 2lw t Finally, calculate the volume using the following formula: volume = length x width x height—V = lwh y Repeat procedure with all five juice boxes. Analyze: Which brands use the least amount of packaging material? Compare the fluid ounces to calculated volume. How do they compare? Are they the same? Which brands give you the most juice per juice box? Learning Standards: I can follow sequential procedures to complete an experiment. I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem. I can analyze results. SCIENCE EXPERIMENT Juice Box Geometry Mathematicians are good problem solvers. Put your critical thinking skills to the test and solve these word problems. Carmen wants to ride the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, and the log ride. The Ferris wheel costs 5 tickets, the roller coaster costs 7 tickets and the log ride costs 1 ticket. Carmen has 5 tickets. How many more tickets should Carmen buy? ________ Ronnie is in the orchestra. Janelle is in the band. There are 39 students in the orchestra and twice that number in the band. There are 23 boys and 13 girls in the choir. If each student only participates in one group, how many students total are there in the orchestra, the band, and the choir? _________ Orchestra students? _______ Band students? ________ Choir students? MATH CONNECTION Use the newspaper to complete these activities to sharpen your skills for the MAP test. Activity One — Summarizing: Choose a news article to summarize. Remember to include the 5 Ws and 1 H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) in your summary. Trade summaries with a classmate. When you read their summaries, underline the 5 Ws and 1 H. Activity Two — Calculating Averages: Estimate how many paragraphs are in each story on the front page of today’s newspaper. Count how many are in each story and then find the average number of paragraphs found in a story on the front page. Then, find the average number of paragraphs in a story on page two. What is the difference between the averages on the two pages? Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can summarize a news article and find key information in a summary. I can calculate averages and compare numbers. Robert Recorde invented the equal sign = in 1557. A number is divisible by 3 if the sum of its digits is divisible by 3. Zero is the only number which cannot be represented by Roman numerals. MAP CORNER This special Newspaper In Education initiative is made possible through The St. Louis American Foundation and its NIE Corporate Partners: ________ Total students? ________ For soccer season, Kevin wants to buy a new soccer ball, a pair of shorts, and a pair of soccer shoes. The ball costs $9.60, the shorts cost $11.40, and the shoes cost $9.35. Kevin has $8.90. How much more money does Kevin need? $______________ Delilah walked 2 blocks from her house to the bus stop. She rode the bus 7 blocks to the library. Later, she came home the same way. How many blocks did Delilah travel in all? _________ Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem. 5Ws & 1H Who What When Where Why How The pilcrow (¶), also called the paragraph mark, paragraph sign, paraph, aline (Latin: a line, “off the line”), or blind P, is a typographical character used for individual paragraphs. ¶ 0123455789 Our numeral system is Arabic in origin. These numerals developed in North Africa, but are related to Indian and eastern Arabic numerals. The Italian scholar Fibonacci first encountered the numerals in the North African city of Bejaia. His work was crucial in making them known throughout Europe, and then worldwide. Put On your...
Transcript of CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS -...
ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 21 - 27, 2014 A15
The St. Louis American’s award winning NIE program reaches more than 7,000 teachers and students throughout the school year.
Monroe Elementary School 3rd grade teacher Kristen Hutchison does a water experiment with students Aariyah Bowman, Samuel Williams, and AnyhaMartin, all 9, for a STEM project. The school is in the St. Louis Public School District. Photo: Wiley Price / St. Louis American
FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN PHD OF MATHEMATICS:
Elbert Frank CoxDecember 5, 1895, Elbert Frank Cox was born in Evansville, Indiana. His father was a school principal and his family valued education. When Cox showed that he had an ability in math and physics, he was encouraged to
go to college. In 1917, Cox graduated from the University of Indiana. Cox received an A on every math exam he took there. After graduation, he taught math at Alves Street School in Henderson, Kentucky. He served in the army during World War I, and was stationed in France. When Cox returned to the US in 1919, he worked at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was chairman of the Department of Natural Sciences. In 1922, he was awarded an Erastus Brooks Fellowship. Three years later, he earned his PhD in mathematics from Cornell University. He was the first African American in the world to earn this degree.
Cox married an elementary school teacher, Beulah Kaufman, in 1927. They had three sons. Cox taught mathematics at West Virginia State College where he was head of the math and physics department, before moving to Howard University where he served as chairman of the mathematics department. He retired in 1965. On November 28, 1969, Cox died. In 1975, Howard University created the Elbert F. Cox scholarship fund to recruit African American students to pursue mathematics degrees. The National Association of Mathematicians (NAM) honored Cox with the creation of the Cox-Talbot address, which is recited at NAM’s annual meetings.
Learning Standards: I can read a biography to learn about a person who has contributed in the fields of math, science, and technology.
Teachers, if you are using the St. Louis American’s NIE program and would like to nominate your class for a Classroom Spotlight, please email: [email protected].
SCIENCE CORNERHave you ever been disappointed when you opened a bag of chips to find the bag was half empty? Most foods, including snack chips, are sold by weight. If you look at the front of the bag, you’ll see the exact weight of the chips. The package, however, has a much larger surface area. Many consumers are fooled by the packaging, thinking a larger package means more product. Careful readers know to compare the weight of the chips to determine the better value.
Nitrogen is added to bags of chips to provide a cushion of air to protect the chips during shipping. Other items, such as rice and boxed pastas, will also have empty “space” in the packaging to protect the product, as well.
Packaging can also serve another purpose—advertising. A large, colorful package catches your eye while you are shopping and can lead
to higher sales. This leads to a lot of unwanted packaging in landfills.
Carefully observe how much packaging you see in the products you use. Is the packaging necessary to keep the product safe or is it a design to create a larger surface area for the product marketing?
For More Information, Go To: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/product-bags-boxes-full/story?id=9233043.
Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text to learn main idea and supporting details.
The Math Behind Product Packages!
CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS
DID YOU KNOW?
Cont
ent—
Jenn
ifer W
irthw
ein
• De
sign
—Be
th S
harp
e
Background Information: Juice boxes are often shaped like a rectangular prism. You can use this shape to calculate how much the box can hold, which is the volume, and how much packaging was used to create the box, which is surface area.
Materials Needed:
• Metric Ruler • Juice Boxes (five or more different brands, one per brand) • Calculator • Lab Notebook
Procedure: q Make a table in your
lab notebook to collect information.
w Take the first juice box and record the brand name and volume in ounces (most
manufacturers will print this information on the front of the juice box).
e Use the ruler to measure the length, width, and height of the juice box in centimeters. Record the information in the table.
r Next, calculate the surface area and record the information in your table.
Surface area = 2 × length × height + 2 × width × height + 2 × length × width—S = 2lh + 2wh + 2lw
t Finally, calculate the volume using the following formula: volume = length x width x height—V = lwh
y Repeat procedure with all five juice boxes.
Analyze: Which brands use the least amount of packaging material? Compare the fluid ounces to calculated volume. How do they compare? Are they the same? Which brands give you the most juice per juice
box?
Learning Standards: I can follow sequential procedures to complete an experiment. I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem. I can analyze results.
SCIENCE EXPERIMENT Juice Box Geometry
Mathematicians are good problem solvers. Put your critical thinking skills to the test and solve these word problems.
Carmen wants to ride the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, and the log ride. The Ferris wheel costs 5 tickets, the roller coaster costs 7 tickets and the log ride costs 1 ticket. Carmen has 5 tickets. How many more tickets should Carmen buy? ________
Ronnie is in the orchestra. Janelle is in the band. There are 39 students in the orchestra and twice that number in the band. There are 23 boys and 13 girls in the choir. If each student only participates in one group, how many students total are there in the orchestra, the band, and the choir? _________ Orchestra students? _______ Band students? ________ Choir students?
MATH CONNECTION
Use the newspaper to complete these activities to sharpen your skills for the MAP test.
Activity One — Summarizing: Choose a news article to summarize. Remember to include the 5 Ws and 1 H (who, what, when, where,
why, and how) in your summary. Trade summaries with a classmate. When you read their summaries, underline the 5 Ws and 1 H.
Activity Two — Calculating Averages: Estimate how many paragraphs are in each story on the front page of today’s newspaper. Count how many are in each story and then find the average number of paragraphs found in a story on the front page. Then, find the average number of paragraphs in a story on page two. What is the
difference between the averages on the two pages?
Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can summarize a news article and find key information in a summary. I can calculate averages and compare numbers.Robert Recorde invented the
equal sign = in 1557.
A number is divisible by 3 if the sum of its digits is divisible by 3.
Zero is the only number which cannot be represented by Roman numerals.
MAP CORNER
This special Newspaper In Education initiative is made possible through The St. Louis American Foundation and its NIE Corporate Partners:
________ Total students? ________
For soccer season, Kevin wants to buy a new soccer ball, a pair of shorts,
and a pair of soccer shoes. The ball costs $9.60, the shorts cost $11.40, and the shoes
cost $9.35. Kevin has $8.90. How much more money does Kevin need? $______________
Delilah walked 2 blocks from her house to the bus stop. She rode the bus 7 blocks to the library. Later, she came home the same way. How many blocks did Delilah travel in all? _________
Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem.
5Ws & 1H
WhoWhat
When
Where
WhyHow
The pilcrow (¶), also called the paragraph mark, paragraph sign, paraph, aline (Latin: a line, “off the line”), or blind P, is a typographical character used for individual paragraphs.
¶
0123455789Our numeral system is Arabic in origin. These numerals developed in North Africa, but are related to Indian and eastern Arabic numerals. The Italian scholar Fibonacci first encountered the numerals in the North African city of Bejaia. His work was crucial in making them
known throughout Europe, and then worldwide.
Put On your...
