Working with rates

For our athlete comparison project we will need to do a lot of calculations involving logic, and our understanding of rates and proportions.  Below are the steps we would take to solve a problem involving speed.  Remember the steps are the same no matter what rate you are working with.

Rates, Ratios, and Proportions

We've been exploring multiplicative thinking by exploring rates/ratios and proportions.

Below are some definitions of key words:

Ratio:  A comparison between numbers.  

If we had 10 kids in a group, and 4 had glasses:

We could write this as a part to part ratio:  4 glasses: 6 no glasses

Or it might be part to whole:  4 glass: 10 kids total.  

If we write a ratio as part:whole we can also represent it as a fraction:

4

10 

Kids have glasses

Rate:  A comparison (type of ratio) when we have 2 different units.  The most common of these is speed, which shows a comparison between time and distance.

Other rates include hourly pay ($/hr), bulk food prices ($/kg), or gas mileage (L/km).  

With every rate there are 2 units so there are always 2 unit rates.  

Proportions:  Two ratios that are equivalent are said to be proportional.  This means they are related by multiplication and division.

So for our glasses example if the whole school is in the same proportion as the group 2 out of every 5 kids would wear glasses.  

If there were 500 kids, 200 would wear glasses.

Science

We've been working on a number of tasks as we start to explore the Biology of Cells and Systems

Here's what we've been doing:


1) Adaptation task.  This is a non-research based task that should take a total of 30 -40 min

Identify a need (food, movement, breathing, protection).  Identify at least 3 different organisms.

For each organism, provide a general description (e.g.  where does it live?  What specific challenges would it have meeting this need? )

Identify specific adaptations that the organism has made in order to meet the need they identified

Analyze the similarities and difference between the different ways of meeting the needs between their 3 organisms. 

2) Is it alive.  We've spent a couple of class periods on this.  You should have it finished in your book by the end of next week.

Choose “something” that doesn’t fit nicely into the classifications of living or nonliving.  Possible examples include:

• The Earth
• Viruses
• Artificial Intelligence
• Fire

Your job is to provide: 

At least 3 arguments explaining why your organism is “living”

At least 3 arguments explaining why your organism is “non-living”

This part can be done at 6 detailed point form sentences.  Give your reason, and then explain it.

A final decision

After analyzing your reasons come to a final determination whether your topic should be considered living or nonliving.  Make sure you support your decision with specific reasons. Your final argument needs to be based on the defined characteristics of life.  You can also include your own ideas about what it means to be alive.

3) Biomimicry. This is a task where we will have one or two more classes to work on:

Your challenge:

Brainstorm at least 3 different possible ideas.

On your own or in groups of 2-3 create your own proposal for Biomimicry technology based on 1 of these ideas.

Your technology proposal should include:

- What 'biology' your technology is based on.

- How it works in nature.  Be specific describe the mechanism.  

- The biological purpose it serves.  Think about how it 'elegantly' serves a purpose.  Be specific

- How you would apply the biology into technology.

4)  Finally we are now exploring a task that focuses on Body Systems.  The task sheet will be shared with you next week.

- What problems would it solve

- What advantages would it have

- Why it would be better than a 'traditional' technology.

Average Athlete

We are going to be exploring proportions and ratio by using speed to create projects that try to give an audience a sense of how fast great athletes really are.

Here is the task:

You’ve been hired by TSN to create a visual, that could either be put on the website, or shown on TV, that effectively and clearly compares a rate or speed of a professional or Olympic athlete with an “average” person (you get to choose how to define average).

We started by watching some examples of videos that tried to provide a sense of speed as inspiration and a starting point:

In order to start the project you need to:

1) Identify your "athlete of excellence" - This can be any professional or world record holder.  The project does need to be based on a speed or rate.

Once you've identified your 'athlete of excellence' you need their speed that you will use as your comparison.  For example Usain Bolt's world record 100m time is 9.58second.

2) Identify who or what you will be comparing your athlete to in order to help show how fast your athlete of excellence is.

This can be one person (yourself, your friend, your Mom), multiple people, or an average of people.

Once you've identified your comparison you need to get a speed.  This means you need to find out how fast your average athlete did your identified task.  This might be as simple as finding how fast your run 100m (or using your last years track time) or you might need someone help you measure how fast you can shoot a puck, or throw a ball. 

You will need your data by the end of the week to avoid falling behind.  If you can't choose an athlete or task Mr. Hassett can give you an athlete and sample times.

What Does it Mean to be Alive

As we start to our explore biology we have had some fascinating conversations about what makes something alive.

Here is a video we watched on some of the complexity of defining life.

Watch and think about how you would define life.

What characteristics/qualities would something have to have in order to be considered alive?



We also watched this video on the characteristics of living things:

Now choose “something” that doesn’t fit nicely into the classifications of living or nonliving.  Possible examples include:

• The Earth
• Viruses
• Artificial Intelligence
• Fire
• Someone on Life support

Your job is to provide: 

At least 3 arguments explaining why your organism is “living”

At least 3 arguments explaining why your organism is “non-living”

This part can be done at 6 detailed point form sentences.  Give your reason, and then explain it.

A final decision

After analyzing your reasons come to a final determination whether your topic should be considered living or nonliving.  Make sure you support your decision with specific reasons. Your final argument needs to be based on the defined characteristics of life.  You can also include your own ideas about what it means to be alive.

You need to create a short convincing argument that you will present to your peers (small or large group), that convinces them of your decision.  Be prepared to present this argument to the class.

You will have a more class time to work on this and we will pick a day that you will share.

Similar Shapes

We have shifted our focus towards working with proportions, ratios, and rates. 

Proportional relationships are ones where numbers are related by multiplication and/or division.


To start we looked at 'similar shapes' or shapes that have the same angles, and the same proportions of sides. 

We explored similar shapes, created our own, and used a variety of strategies to identify whether shapes were similar to each other.

In your book you should have the following finished:

1) Using the similar triangle page draw a triangle that is similar to the 4 on the page.  How do you know its similar

2) On graph paper draw your own set of 4 shapes that are 'similar'.  In your book make sure you've proven their similar

- Do they have the same angles?

- Are the side lengths in proportion?

3) Solve the find the fakes sheet.  Record your thinking in your book. 

Biomimicry

We're going to be exploring what we can learn from nature, or the wisdom that nature holds.

As a starting point we are exploring Biomimicry, or technologies that mimic natural forms and process'.

Here are a couple of videos and links with some great examples.






https://synapse.bio/blog/10-biomimicry-examples


Your job is to pick 2-3 examples


For each:

Brief 2-3 sentence explanation of your example.  Make sure to include what problem it is solving.

Is it mimicking: Form, Process or ecosystem

Think about:

What are the advantages of the natural way of solving the problem? 

What can we learn from the natural way of problem solving?