MPM1D1 - Day 76 EQAO Practice & Review

I struggled a little with what to do on the first day back after the holidays. We were supposed to write a test the day before the holidays but the buses were cancelled. Writing the test on the first day back after two weeks off would be a bad idea. I wanted students to review but I figured if I let them study on their own that the period might not be that productive.

As much as I wanted to get started right away a number of students had lots of questions. Questions about when our test would be, the details about the EQAO test as well as questions about the exam. I spent way too long talking about what the next couple of weeks look like and then we got to work.

The warm-up, at the boards in groups, was this visual pattern:

I asked them to find an equation for the volume of the n^th term. Once they had finished that they were to do the same but for the surface area. I was very pleased at how quickly the groups got to work and how well they were able to get a solution and explain it. It seems that they haven't forgotten much over the holidays.

After the warm-up they worked on the multiple-choice questions from last year's EQAO test (in groups at the board). This provided a good overview of much of the content that will appear on their final test of the year. There were some great discussions. It's nice to see them pull the course content together like this.

Most groups only made it about halfway through these questions so we'll finish them up tomorrow.

MPM1D1 - Day 68 Speedy Lines

We started with a visual pattern today:

It was interesting to see how students counted the number of watermelons in each step. It seemed as though most groups had a couple of different ways of counting which made for some interesting discussions. I think the hardest part here was generating the table of values. Once they had that, groups quickly came up with the equation and the number of watermelons in the forty-third step.

We took up the equations mastery test from yesterday and hopefully cleared up some misconceptions.

Today's main event was practicing coming up with the equation for a line of best fit. Everyone can draw a line of best fit but when I ask for the equation many students go to their tables to find the slope. When they do this they don't always choose points that are on the line. We need to work on realizing that we want to use points that are on the line to find the equation.

Today we timed to see how long it takes to assemble 5,6,7,8,9 and 10 linking cubes. This is an idea that I modified from Mary Bourassa's Speedy Squares. Rather than making squares we just connected cubes to form a line. Groups worked to collect data. Some groups needed to work on being consistent but got it sorted out pretty quickly. Then they plotted the data and worked to find an equation of the line of best fit. They then practiced using their equation. Here's the handout.

With about fifteen minutes to go we tried the mastery test on solving equations again.

It occurred to me at the end of the period that I don't take enough pictures of students working or of their work. Something to work on. Sorry about the lack of photos.

MPM1D1 - Day 20 Percents & Footprint Data Collection

We started with a visual pattern today.

All groups came up with the equation and the number of stars in the 43rd step pretty quickly. I sent them back to their seats and had them write up a solution. I explained that I didn't just want an answer, I wanted an explanation of how they got the solution. I collected their work and had a look at it. Some did an amazing job with their explanations, others could use some work.

We did a quick note summarizing percents (converting to and from decimals and fraction, finding percentages, etc.) and I asked them to finish up the handout I gave out yesterday for homework (for those that hadn't finished already).

Next up was collecting data and working on graphs for the Footprint Assignment. Most groups were very quick to get their measurements and getting started. For whatever reason some students seem to feel like they don't need to do any work if they're holding a metre stick. Odd.