Exam Date and Topic

We have had a good year together.  You have accomplished much.

The final exam is held on Wednesday 26, May 8:30 – 11:00 am

The questions include spreadsheets and GeoGebra.  Be sure you are familiar with these concepts.

You are a great class.  I enjoyed every time we were together.  Your work is excellent.  You try new things and stretch yourself.  Well done.  All the best for your future.

Semester II, Days 32 – 34 –> Independent Study

Mr Richard will not be at school this week.  Students are expected to continue their work.  Here are your tasks:

• presentations must be completed
• when you are finished your presentation, you have the following task:

Complete the NIS Campus in SketchUp.

On your computers My Documents –> Class Files –> Grade 8 –> NIS Campus Kit … you will find the two buildings we completed.

Start with either the High School or Wooden building

Turn off all unnecessary layers.  You only need the foundation

Two students go out and get a rough estimate of how many meters the buildings are apart.  You may use Google Maps to get a reference.

Students should divide the work and share results.  Create the auditorium, gym, store and pool.  Use layers to turn off complete buildings to avoid lag.

In the end, everyone will have a completed NIS Campus.

This is a lot of work.  Students must use their time wisely.  Be good, work hard and I will see you next week.

Mr Richard

PS, if students want to update SketchUp, the installation files on a couple of the new computers.  You may use it to update.  See Nicky for help.

Semester II, Day 31 — Presentations

Today we will watch the presentations that students have prepared.

For those that are not finished, today is the last class given to this.  You will need to complete your work as homework after this.

Semester II, Day 30 — Finalize Presentations

Today is the last period to finalize your presentation.  When you are finished your presentation, transfer it to the computer that will project it.  Check it to be sure it works.

Semester II, Day 29 (I think) — Welcome Back

Welcome back students.

Today,  you are to work on your presentations.  You should have most of your work done on this.  I would like you to stretch yourself and put together something original, creative and informative.  Use your time wisely and get lots done.

It is good to be back.

Semester II, Day 28 — Working on your Presentations

Students are encouraged to use class time wisely and work on their presentations for class.  Remember to conduct research, and use it to create something original and creative to present your findings to our class.  It is important to use class time well to avoid homework over the holidays!

Semester II, Day 26 — Research and Design for Presentations.

Students are to use class time efficiently and effectively to prepare their presentations.  Conduct research, experiment with design and try out software.

In class we will review a few concepts and techniques in creating a presentation.

Here is your marking guideline:  presentation assessment

Semester II, Day 25 — Presentation Skills & Course Content

Students are reminded to send in their last GeoGebra assignments today for assessment.

We begin a new topic in class today.  Students will select a topic, conduct research and present their findings to the class.  This unit of study aims to help you develop your presentation skills and cover content for the course.  Your classmates will learn from your presentations.

We will discuss possible topics for your presentations in class and come up with a list.  We will take a look at some sample presentations to get ideas  of the possibilities.

Presentations for Computer Class Guidelines:

• You may work in pairs or alone – not three or more
• The presentation should stand on its own – you should not need to explain anything
• Research, research, research please.  We want to learn.
• Include facts, useful information, content
• Make it entertaining and fun — original
• Use sound, images, words …

Presentation Tools you may consider:

• CamStudio or other desktop video capture
• Digital camera or video cam
• Windows Movie Maker or other easy video editing application
• Presentation software such as Google docs, Open Office Present or PowerPoint
• Website (remember you all have a WordPress site)
• anything else …

Semester II, Day 24 — Amazing Math Nerds!

Today, students in grade 8 produced a dynamic model of a musical note.  Hmm,  … I think this is a little bit beyond grade 8.  You are amazing.  This is proof you can do anything you want to.

We will leave this unit on creating dynamic math models for other projects.  You have a number of tools you can use now.  Our next unit of study will put these together to cover some content in the course.

Here is a model from a student of a musical note:

Semester II, Day 23 — Each Math Model Worth 2 Marks

Class, as we progress through our study guide on GeoGebra, students are to submit each model we create to niscomputers@gmail.com  The models are worth 2 marks.  One for completing it, and one if it is correct.  So far, students who have done this are earning an ‘A’ in this unit of study.

We pick up this unit with a short review and move on to creating a hexagon using circles.  We will color each circle differently, then constrain two points to the x-y axis.  We then animate and make observations.  I know this is beyond grade 8 math, but you are operating beyond grade 8.