Class #48--10th Age Math

Thursday, April 14, 2011, 2011, 11:45 A.M. 10th Age Math Class. Class #48 on my “50 Classes or Bust!” expedition. My goal of 50 classes is in sight, and I am sprinting to the finish! I hope that my Baltimore-area readers had a chance to get outside, because it is a picture-perfect spring day. Despite the allure of the spectacular weather, Mr. McMahon’s class is already hard at work reviewing fractions as I enter the room. Mr. McMahon is making excellent use of the new ceiling-mounted projector; he shows the classes images that are readily divided into a variety of fractions, including a pizza, several flags (states, countries, and maritime), a football field, a window pane, and a Rubik’s Cube (the rage of yesteryear). The class builds on this knowledge in the next activity, which is to design a personal “fraction flag.” Mr. McMahon shows the students how to make various fractions by folding a piece of paper. The students practice their designs on “scratch paper” (a great school term, by the way) and then move on to the final copy, replete with an original “seal.” This hands-on activity allows the boys and girls to see fractions at work in the real world and not just in an equation.