Big scary warm up??

Too long of a warm up...

Today's warm up, which I thought would be a challenge... but turned into a riddle!, sparked a conversation about equations today.  So, no Jacobs!  Ha!

We will pick up at Chapter 8, Lesson 1, Set II when we return on Monday.

Have a great break!

The Shell Game

Today we spent our entire time talking about the Jacobs Shell Game -- a probability problem that my Jacobs class from last year posted a video about on YouTube.  Check it out:

Welcome to Chapter 8!

Today, after our warm up, we REALLY started Chapter 8 by working through Lesson 1, Set 1 together as a class.  (If anybody was absent, they'll need to complete this by Monday!)

Warm up

Probability Definitions

Chapter 8... and Blackjack @ Elmo's

First I must apologize for not posting yesterday.  (And not just not on-time... not at all!)  So this post will cover yesterday and today.

Yesterday the kids' test corrections were due, plus their poem.  We read their poems, finished processing the test and began discussing Chapter 8, The Mathematics of Chance.

Today we met right at the beginning of fourth period and hit the road for Elmo's for lunch.  What about the math?  Well, we schlepped our Jacobs books to Elmo's and had class in the middle of the restaurant!  Covered much of the introduction to the chapter via the first set (basic definitions of probability and such).

Obviously when you think of games of chance and probability you will think of card games and dice games--and you'd be exactly right!  That's why you'll be hearing, "We played blackjack in math today!"  Rest assured, there is a mathematical reason behind all of this game playing. :)

Elmo's!!

Corrections...

Processing the Chapter 7 Test

The kids got their Chapter 7 test back today and were asked to make corrections, plus reflect on how they did on the test... in the form of an 8-lined, rhyming poem. :)  This is all they will need to do for homework.  (Except for Will and Anthony who need to work on the first Set of the Chapter 7 Review.)

Ch 7 Test Today

Today we took our Chapter 7 test!  The kids will get the final results and do corrections early next week. :)  Enjoy the weekend!

Test Tomorrow!!

Our test is tomorrow!  Today we worked through some review problems.  That's it!

Warm up

On the Chapter 7 test...

I think I may have mentioned how the Jacobs text ramps things up a bit as we go along... more of your children hitting a mental wall and such.  This could very well happen on this next test on Chapter 7.  For the first time, they'll be given a test filled with problems where they have to figure out what tool to use (permutations, combinations, or the fundamental counting principle) to solve each problem.  So... you can see where the train can easily come off the tracks.  They might be able to solve these three types of problems swimmingly when they're explicitly told what kind they are.  Not so for this test.

Just a quick heads up so you know what's coming.  The questions we'll talk about to use during the test revolve around, "Does the order in which things come make a difference?"  "How many CHOICES do we have?"  "Does one CHOICE make a difference with a subsequent choice??"  Fun stuff!!!! ;)

The Crash Course

Today was all about getting ready for the Chapter 7 test on Wednesday.

Tomorrow will be review.  Today was a crash course in everything we've done in the past 2-3 weeks.

I'll post more later on prepping for this test...

Warm up

Ch 7 Crash Course

Set II, Combinations

After checking Set I, we moved into Set II together today... working all the way up until the last four or five problems.  Their job is to get those last 4-5 done before 11:20AM on Monday. :)

An aside, the kids have really got to nail down the relationship between (1) The Fundamental Counting Principle, (2) Permutations, and (3) Combinations.

In particular, today it was revealed that some folks don't remember what nPr and nCr mean (permutations and combinations, respectively).  I'll try to explain here.

nPr = n -- the number of total "things" taken r at a time

So, 9P2 (pretend the 9 and 2 are subscripts) = 9 * 8 (start at 9, go down two, multiply) = 72

Well, nCr = nPr/r!

So, 9C2 = (9*8)/2!

Remember that "!" in math does not mean what it does in the English language. :)  ! means factorial, or take this example:

5! = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1

Whew.  Make sense???  Ha!

Try this out

After a day of math...

Combinations

We're moving steadily towards the end of Chapter 7 in Lesson 4 on Combinations.  The kids and I worked together on Set I during class.  If they need to finish, they should do it at home.  Tomorrow will be Set II... test early next weekish???

Warm up

Man, we worked hard...

Today was full, full, full of Jacobs.  We checked ALL of our work from the past few days and moved ahead into the final lesson on Combinations from Chapter 7.

We'll be looking towards our next test soon!

Warm up

Notes on combinations

Still working...

The kids are to continue working to finish Set 1 and 2 of Lesson 3 (and 1 and 2 of Lesson 2) BY WEDNESDAY (no class tomorrow because of block schedule). :)

Warm up