Today, the class worked on an assignment comparing decimals and fractions. To do this, remember to first change the fraction to a decimal by dividing the bottom into the top. Then compare this decimal to the other decimal. On the fractions that turn into repeating decimals, remember that you only need to write as many of the repeating number that will make it easy to compare to the other number. For example:
1/3 and 0.325
Change 1/3 to 0.333.....the three will repeat so I typed it 3 times since the other decimal has 3 numbers after the decimal. Now I can see that 0.333.... is bigger than 0.325 because the numbers in the hundredths places are 3 and 2. 3 is bigger so 1/3 is bigger than 0.325.
Math - This week during math and science, Mrs. Lassiter and I are team teaching a unit called "Save the Penguins". It is a unit essentially about heat transfer but we use all kinds of math, science, and engineering to teach the lessons. We are using both the math and science times to teach the unit. It is a great project! If any parents have questions or would like to know more, feel free to email me.
Geography - We took notes over Chapter 11, Section 4, today. There is no homework. There will be a test on Wednesday over Chapter 11 and a Country Quiz on Thursday over another Latin American country. Please be sure you are studying your notes this evening so you are ready for the review tomorrow.
Pre-Algebra - We did an activity on Simple and Compound Interest today. The homework is to complete the table on compound interest. You do not have to answer the Evaluation questions.
Algebra I - More factoring practice and factoring the greatest common factor. When you factor the GCF, what you are doing is looking for the largest number and the variables with the highest degree THAT EACH TERM HAS IN COMMON. Here is an example:
In the above example, you are looking at both terms. They both have a 3 in common so you will be pulling a 3 out. When you look at the variables, you are looking for what the terms have in common. The first term has x squared, but the second only has x with no exponent. So you can only take an x out. Looking at the y's, you see that the first term has just a y, while the 2nd term has y to the third. So you can only take a y out. So, you will be taking out 3xy from both terms. You have to think in terms of 'factors' and remember that factors multiply, so when you take a factor out, you are leaving what would be multiplied to get the number. So, when you take a 3xy out of the first term, you are just leave with 1x. When you take 3xy out of the second term, you are left with 2y squared. You get a 2 because 3 x 2 = 6. You can always double check by using the distributive property. You will get the original expression when you've done it right.
There is a video at this link from last year's blog that shows how to find GCF using another method. It might be useful.
Please email me if you have questions. I have the worksheet with me, so can help on specific problems.
See you tomorrow!
Mrs. Swickey
