Category Archives for Math and Social Studies
Patriots’ Day 2012
April 19th is the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord that began the Revolutionary War 237 years ago in 1775. Both Paul Revere and the British regulars started moving towards Concord between 10pm and 11pm on the 18th. … Continue reading
Budget 2012
Show our debt clock to your class and ask your students some questions. What do you see happening on this clock? When will the U. S. hit the next trillion dollars deficit milestone? How fast is the deficit increasing every … Continue reading
Presidents Day
Monday, February 20th, is Presidents Day. We honor presidents, veterans, purple heart recipients and sell cars. Is there more to Presidents Day? Students can learn a little of the history of the day while they check out how much various … Continue reading
When is Hanukkah?
Tuesday evening, December 20th, is the first night of Hanukkah this year. Students look at the Hebrew calendar and appreciate the incredible mathematics involved in creating a calendar that aligns both our moon’s rotation about the Earth and the Earth’s … Continue reading
The Euro and the international debt crisis
Lately the news is filled with talk of the Euro, US foreign debt, the fragility of European monetary systems, and the interdependence of all of these crisis. In this activity students become familiar with the Euro, practice translating the Euro’s … Continue reading
Veterans Day 2011
As Veterans Day approaches, let your students learn about and appreciate the meaning of the day by analyzing the powerful data that we’ve supplied. Students can use our numbers to create questions for their classmates … questions that are intended … Continue reading
Happy Birthday Statue of Liberty
Friday is the Statue of Liberty’s 125th birthday. Student’s can practice scaling with ratios, multiplication factors, or similar figures as they engage in the news of the day, learn a little about the statue’s history, see some amazing old photos … Continue reading
Approaching Seven Billion people
During the Fall 2011 the 7 billionth human on earth was born. The counter above gives updated approximations of the current world population. When will we hit 8 billion people? Students look at the number 7 billion, try to grasp … Continue reading
Bank of America Debit Card Fees
Millions of people and businesses use debit cards every day. Banks didn’t charge customers for their use. Banks actually gave rewards and incentives to customers for using them. So how did banks make money from debit cards? Banks charged the … Continue reading
Light bulbs are almost burnt out
Recently the House of Representatives voted to withhold funding to enforce a law that was passed in 2007 and increases efficiency standards for light bulbs. There’s a lot of misinformation out there about the cost to consumers of CFL and … Continue reading
Labor Day 2011
In this short activity, students learn the meaning and history of Labor Day as they look for patterns emerging from the Labor Day dates over 35 years. Students then use those observed patterns to predict future dates of the holiday. … Continue reading
Memorial Day
Your students will learn about the meaning and history of Memorial Day as they look for patterns in the date and analyze casualty totals. Brian’s latest investigation will also help your students become aware of the intent of Memorial Day … Continue reading
Budget talks
Show our debt clock to your class and ask your students some questions. What do you see happening on this clock? When will the U. S. hit the next trillion dollars deficit milestone? How fast is the deficit increasing every … Continue reading
Patriot’s Day
April 19th is the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord that began the Revolutionary War 236 years ago in 1775. Both Paul Revere and the British regulars started moving towards Concord between 10pm and 11pm on the 18th. … Continue reading
