An Interesting Math Problem

My favorite math problems are the ones that come up in real life. Yesterday I cooked a pizza for my three sons. Since I always try to be fair I wanted to cut it as evenly as possible. Since it is difficult to cut a circle into thirds I wanted to cut the pizza in half, the cut each of those pieces in half making quarters and keep cutting until I could divide the number of pieces evenly. So my question was how many pieces would I end up with when the number of pieces was evenly divisible by three.

Another way of stating the same problem would be...if you start with the number 2 and repeatedly double it (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc) how long will it take until you get a number which is evenly divisible by the number 3.

I will post the answer in the comment section.

Microscope Video

I shot this video with my new microscope. Can you guess where the text comes from? I will put the answer in a comment below.

Something New

I got a digital microscope today so that I can investigate items we study in class in greater detail. It can magnify items 400 times their original size. Here are the first three items I magnified. I wonder if anyone can tell what the items are. I'll say what they are in a comment below this post.

The Class Play

I distributed the script for our class play on Friday. In case your son has misplaced the copy I gave him, it can be seen here. I will email a cast list in case he forgets the part he is playing. The play will be performed on Wednesday, February 9th at 8:45 AM.

Greece vs. Persia Round 1

In history class today we began studying the Greek and Persian wars. In the first battle there were 120,000 Persians against 10,000 Greeks . To demonstrate the 12:1 ratio that existed in the battle we acted it out in class. The boy on the right in the first picture represents the lone Greek against the dozen fierce Persians. The results of the battle can be seen in the second picture with the lone Greek standing tall amongst his fallen foes. Round 1 went to the Greeks!

The Best Ninth Age Spirit Day Ever!!!

Last Friday we had an absolute blast on our first annual Ninth Age Spirit Day. We hung a banner between our classrooms which proclaimed to all, that this was our day of all days. Being out of uniform in our favorite green clothes (in honor of our class color) we even sported eye green and had green hair. For snack we were treated to cupcakes with green icing. It was awesome. Even Mother Nature got in the act by providing green snow!!! (Well maybe it was white, but by that point in the day everything seemed green to me.) Here are a few pictures:

Technology Class

In technology class we used this website to collect data for a geography project. We are analyzing the effect of the tilt of the earth on our average daily temperature. We will then take data about the average temperature from this site.

A Great Spirit Week Activity

In honor of Ninth Age Spirit Week, we made green paper. I make paper with the class every year as part of our study of China which invented papermaking in 105 AD. This year to celebrate our class color, we combined yellow and blue paper to make green. The Chinese used mulberry bark, hemp, and rags to make pulp, but we use other paper in our class experience. The first step is to rip up the paper and put it in a blender. After it has been turned into pulp we add the pulp to another container with more water. Then we dip a screen and deckle into the water/pulp mixture and lift it out. We put the screen on the heater to speed the evaporation of the water. The next morning we have paper. The steps can be seen below.

A Fun Yankee Swap

One of the students (the one in the yellow shirt doing a great imitation of Wilson from Home Improvement) was kind enough to bring in treats for all of the boys, so that we could do a Yankee Swap. The boys did a great job with the frequent coming and going of much sought after treats.

A Letter From Sparta and Save the Turkeys

In class we have been doing a lot of great writing. Recently each student pretended that he was a citizen of Athens on a visit to Sparta. The boys wrote letters home telling of the deplorable conditions. In our next composition, the boys took on the role of a turkey and pleaded their case for an alternative main course for Thanksgiving dinner. Below are excellent examples of each of these compositions.

Grammar Games

In technology class we used this website to reinforce some of the skills we have been working on in grammar class.

Amazing Flashcard and Study Website

I found a great website that can be used to create flashcards or use flashcards others have created to study for tests. I have made up a set of 27 that can be used to study for the next history test. They can be seen here. I will be showing the boys how to use them, but even though the site is a bit text-cluttered, figuring out how things work is not that challenging.

History Study Guide

Here is a blank and a filled-in guide to help with the studying for the test on Friday.