December Resources for Math Teachers -2017

Week 1 - Stars

Early Childhood:

Jessica looked out her window and  made her wish, "Star light, star bright first star I see tonight, grant me this wish tonight." She noticed 3 very bright stars that could be connected to form a triangle. Draw a picture of how the stars Jessica wished upon might have looked.

Upper Elementary:

The brightest star in our sky is Sirius, which is 8.6 light years away. This means the light we see from Sirius left that star 8.6 years ago ... so we are kind of looking back in time!

If a light year (the distance light travels in one year) is approximately 5,878,489,000,000 miles, about how far away from Earth is the star Sirius? Explain how you know.

Middle School:

The vastness of space is nearly impossible to imagine. We can think about distance in several ways: miles, astronomical units (AUs) or light years. Let's explore all three in terms of how far each planet is from the Earth.

We can use astronomical units (AU) to measure the distances in space. One astronomical unit (AU) represents the mean distance between the Earth and our sun. An AU is approximately 93 million miles (150 million km). It’s approximately 8 light-minutes.More exactly, one astronomical unit (AU) = 92,955,807 miles (149,597,871 km).

Below are the mean distances of the planets from the sun:

Mercury: 0.387 AU

Venus: 0.723 AU

Earth: 1.000 AU

Mars: 1.524 AU

Jupiter: 5.203 AU

Saturn: 9.582 AU

Uranus: 19.201 AU

Neptune: 30.047 AU

Calculate the distance in miles from the sun for each planet.

If a light year (the distance light travels in one year) is approximately 5,878,489,000,000 miles, find out how many light years away each planet is.

Which measurement is most helpful in understanding distances in space? Miles away? AUs away? Light years away? Explain your thinking.

Website Resources:

Early Childhood

Max's Math Adventures

Upper Elementary 

Star Child: - Learning Center

Middle School

Nasa Explorer Pre-Algebra UnitAnswer Key


 Week 2 - The Boston Bruins

Early Childhood:

The Boston Bruins won their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs by 3 points. If the Bruins scored 4 points, how many points did the Maple Leafs score? Show how you know.

Upper Elementary:

The Tampa Bay Lightning are in first place with their record showing 7-2-1 wins-losses-ties. The Bruins record is 5-4-1.

What do you notice?

What do you wonder?

Describe what would need to happen in order for the Bruins to move ahead of Tampa Bay. How many games would it take for this to happen? How many wins and how many losses would need to happen for each team.

Middle School:

During the 2016-2017 season, the Boston Bruins played 41 games at home to an average attendance of 17,565. What could be the total number of fans to attend the home games? Show how you solved this.

Check this link to see how this compares to other years. 

Explain why attendance may be lower in certain years. Research to see if your explanation is accurate.

Website Resources:

Early Childhood

Bruins Curriculum Lessons

Upper Elementary

Bruins Standings

Middle School

Bruins Home Attendance


 Week 3 - Winter Solstice

Early Childhood:

Joey noticed that every day it gets darker earlier and earlier. Today, he noticed it was dark out at 4:30. He remembers that in the summer it didn't get dark until 8:30. How much earlier does it get dark now than it did in the summer?

.

Upper Elementary:

December 21 will be the shortest day of sunlight of the year. It is called the winter solstice. The sun will rise at 7:10 am and set at 4:15 pm. How long will the day be?

.

Middle School:

This calendar shows the sunrise and sunset times for November. Create a graph of the information. What can you conclude from this information? Justify your conclusion.

november-2017-solstice.jpg

Website Resources:

Early Childhood

Celebrate Winter Solstice'

Upper Elementary

Sunrise Sunset Chart

Middle School

Solstice And Equinox