Well fro Maths Weeks Mrs Mac posed the problem off how many blown up balloons would fit in Mr Devine's car.
Room 8 were quite serious about this math's challenge. We found out we had no real idea about how many balloons might fit. the idea of trying balloons on a similar car seemed like a good way to estimate, rather than just guess, the amount that could fit in Mr Devine's car. So Mr Cooper suggested we try his car. It wouldn't be a very good trial if all the rubbish in his car took up space for the balloons. Wow 26 helpers cleaned his car in no time, two car-seats removed and all.
We checked with Mrs Mac about the size of the balloons and then used the balloon she approved of as a 'master' balloon. We soon learnt that the shape of the balloons meant we wouldn't fill all of the car, there would be lots of gaps.
The balloon pump didn't work that well, so we just huffed and we puffed. After lots of balloon failures we ended up with 80 balloons filling the back of Mr Cooper's car. People had made a 'best guess' before filling Mr Cooper's car. After filling his car people were allowed to alter their estimate for Mr Devine's car. The end result was 167 BALLOONS. WOW........ a number of people came very close to that number.
We learnt:
- Balloons aren't good for stacking neatly
- Filling a car with balloons on a windy day if difficult
- Countdowns balloons were expensive at $4.40 for 40, whilst Pak n Save were $6 for 100 and better quality
- Most of us underestimated how many balloons would fit in the car at the beginning
- We learnt more about the volume of 3D shapes
- We need to have a 'master balloon size' in order to ensure the activity had some sense of fairness
It starts on the 11th of August and goes till the 15th. Click the link on the side of the blog under 'Maths Sites' to join in the fun.
Towards the end of this term we have the school Hangi again.
Are you able to tell me the order in which the Hangi is made and why is it made in those steps? This fun online game gives you the chance to test your knowledge. Just click on the link under 'Inquiry' to the right of this page.
In our daily challenge we have sometimes been having difficulty in naming the shapes each day. On the Maths Links, on the right hand side of the blog, I have attached a great link that explains the 2D shapes we are likely to see. You can also find information on 3D shapes as well.
Today in class the Year 4's are reading a great book called Paper Bag Princess, as part of our puberty lessons. The ideas in the book however are in our everyday society, including our class. This person has shown a novel way of doing a book report on this book. Later on this year we may look at doing similar reports on simple, but meaningful children's stories. Start thinking of some stories with special messages in them that may be good for a report. Prezi is free software you can find online.
End of term is coming and I thought we might do some work on direction and co-ordinates. See if you can control the turtle to get him to his pond. Click the link on the right hand side under 'Maths Links'
Well today was the last of the Science Activation Activities that we had to do. We were able to play around with the new magnetic kit that had just arrived at school. Playing with the metals shavings making different patterns was popular as was dealing with the magnets repelling each other.
