tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post4961627098741297623..comments2023-10-07T09:26:02.868-07:00Comments on Exit 10A: Box of ClayJoe Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02304083254248927187noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-35105354163602472072016-01-07T16:27:25.101-08:002016-01-07T16:27:25.101-08:00It was an attempt at a little humor, responding to...It was an attempt at a little humor, responding to one of "wonders" from a student. Not so successful I guess!Joe Schwartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02304083254248927187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-11583709225018653632016-01-06T04:46:30.386-08:002016-01-06T04:46:30.386-08:00Joe, the box isn't made of clay. The prompt s...Joe, the box isn't made of clay. The prompt says it can hold 40 grams of clay.AngieMcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-25858512322224227842015-05-19T13:13:39.634-07:002015-05-19T13:13:39.634-07:00In Britain, despite decades of metric in schools, ...In Britain, despite decades of metric in schools, it's still miles and mph on the roads, still a pint of beer. So yes, conversion charts and so on. As for French state schools, I suspect not. I'll check.Mr Gregghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15114830266540886842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-18746341997324465922015-05-18T16:29:56.498-07:002015-05-18T16:29:56.498-07:00Great idea for vertical planning. The folks over ...Great idea for vertical planning. The folks over at Illustrative Mathematics might like a task like that, especially because it build on previous learning. I think that volume of cylinders is a grade 8 standard.Joe Schwartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02304083254248927187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-78700658607275636462015-05-18T12:00:41.738-07:002015-05-18T12:00:41.738-07:00The task is already rich, and I wonder what happen...The task is already rich, and I wonder what happens if/when they move on to computing the volume of cylinders. It might be interesting to use an essentially similar task, but double just the radius, double just the height, and double both the radius and the height. Students could explore the effect on total volume (and, specifically, observe that the radius change has quadratic effects).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-34339629609250298562015-05-17T13:21:55.276-07:002015-05-17T13:21:55.276-07:00No worries Simon! Keep reminding. And I'm cu...No worries Simon! Keep reminding. And I'm curious: do kids in Europe learn anything at all about the US Customary system? Is it part of a curriculum?Joe Schwartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02304083254248927187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-84968612393808333932015-05-15T09:41:28.411-07:002015-05-15T09:41:28.411-07:00Re-reading my point about the water, I hope it did...Re-reading my point about the water, I hope it didn't sound patronisingly obvious. I often miss, or need reminding about the obvious things myself. And I didn't know how au fait you are with metric - as you say, I have the luck to be in the home of metric!Simon Gregghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07751362728185120933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-34995798854393491762015-05-15T09:10:57.439-07:002015-05-15T09:10:57.439-07:00Thanks Simon! I have tons of those cm cubes, but ...Thanks Simon! I have tons of those cm cubes, but they were back in my room, not in that particular classroom. I do think that having a solid model would have helped. I'm going to try it myself on triangle grid paper.<br /> I've often thought that we're at a disadvantage because our kids need to work in both measurement systems. They often wind up learning neither very well. Using the metric system as a matter of course also promotes decimal place value understanding, so you may have a built-in advantage there too. Joe Schwartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02304083254248927187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907702537884089718.post-85779264592207775342015-05-15T02:46:10.745-07:002015-05-15T02:46:10.745-07:00Wonderful, how the noticing and wondering opens th...Wonderful, how the noticing and wondering opens this up, and moves the class from being passive to active! And how questions like, what happens if you flatten it? can come up in this climate. A lovely lesson!<br /><br />A few thoughts:<br /><br />Questions like this could be made easier, if needed, by having the box full of water (let's hope there are no holes in the clay box!) and then I gram = 1 cm³ and our plastic cubes are the same density too. (Though I think the difference with clay added an interesting challenge!)<br /><br />It must be harder working with g and cm³ in a country that uses pounds and ounces lots too!<br /><br />We've ordered lots of those plastic interconnecting centimetre cubes - so at least one person can make the solid model for us. Also, you know how I like <a href="http://www.printablepaper.net/category/isometric_graph" rel="nofollow">triangle grid paper</a> - that makes drawing these cuboids more satisfying, and maybe gives a good idea of how many cubes are in there. Not that drawing them on blank paper isn't good too!Simon Gregghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07751362728185120933noreply@blogger.com