Math Rigor

Students learn about a particular Native American group from California, changes in local populations, and geography. Content covers social studies, ELA, and math - estimating populations, distances, and trade. Sandra Kaplan's Depth and Complexity icons are identified.

Students will be introduced to ideas such as density, Charles's Law, Boyle's Law, and buoyancy. They will model with mathematics, using linear equations, ratios and rates. The students will apply the ideas and physical properties to scuba diving and transfer the knowledge to explain why objects float in air. Ultimately, students will become "teachers" of the subject and will work together to create a model and poster session.

Students test their engineering and design skills and show school pride while learning about American history and symbolism. Activities include designing a historical American flags (+ how many ways are there to draw 20 stars?), learning about the Washington Monument (+ obelisk, circular symmetry of the flags), engineering loads, and logbooks.The project culminates with students having built an object which represents the community or school, given constraints. Sandra Kaplan's Depth and Complexi

Students practice writing roman numerals and create a multiplication table.

Students model precipitation as a function of altitude in the California Sierras. Algebra- linear models.

One week of daily puzzles with math exit slips which encourage students to learn and discuss problem solving strategies. Teacher's notes are included.