Math Word Search, Anyone?

Looking to keep your brain thinking about math this summer?  How about a word search?

This link should take you to word search that you can print out and solve.

Enjoy!

Buying Hot Dogs at Constellation Field

A Friday Word Problem:

Mr. Tauser went to a Skeeters' game on Thursday night in Sugar Land.  (Thank to the Skeeters for the free tickets #TeacherAppreciationNight).  During the game Mr. Tauser and his son bought food. They bought three Skeeter Dogs and two soft drinks.  The Skeeter Dogs were $4.50 each. The soft drinks were $2.00 each.  Mr. Tauser paid with a $20 bill.  How much money did he get back in change?

Solving this problem involves four steps (above).  First add the price of the three Skeeter Dogs for a total of $13.50.  Then, add the price of the two soft drinks to find $4.00.  Third, combine the price of the drinks and the dogs to determine that a total of $17.50 was paid for the food.  Finally, subtract the cost of the food ($17.50) from the $20.00 that Mr. Tauser gave the concession stand worker.

This final step gives you the answer of $2.50 that Mr. Tauser received in change.

How Old Would John Bateman Be?

I have always enjoyed baseball.  When I was young, I collected many baseball cards.  One of the things I liked about the cards was all of the statistics that could be found on their backs.  In fact, when I was in elementary school, I learned quite a bit of math on the back side of baseball cards.

For example, it was always a challenge to figure out how old a player was.  I could look at a card like the one above of John Bateman and determine what his age would be on his next birthday. Or to put it another way (if the player in question was no longer living), I could determine how many years had passed since John Bateman was born.


FYI: Determining passage of time in this manner is a concept that is covered in 4th grade math.

We can see on his baseball card that John Bateman was born on July 21, 1942.  If want to calculate how many years have passed since his birthday, I subtract 1,942 (the year he was born) from 2,016 (the current year).

Note: The answer of 74 years is accurate on John Bateman's birthday of July 21.  Prior to his birthday, only 73 years have passed.

Books About Scientists Who Struggled With... Science

I recently came across this article about the benefits of learning about famous scientists who struggled with science.  According to a study cited in the article, students who learn about scientists who struggled with science are more motivated to learn about science.

The article  mentions several books about such scientists.  If you get a chance this summer, see if you can find a few of these books at the local library and read them.