Math Unit

Describe what you liked about playing the game Factor Captor.

I think Factor Captor is a neat way of learning the multiples of a number. I helps you learn about some numbers that you never knew had multiples as well as having fun. What I liked about this game was that I learned numbers that had more than two multiples (1 and itself) like fifty-one. It's also a very fun game to play if you want to know the multiples of different numbers.

Explain how making an array might help someone find factors of a number a number.

Suppose you want to know 2 factors of fifty-one. Draw fifty-one circles in rows and columns. You could end up with three rows and seventeen columns (visa versa) or one row and fifty-one columns. Making an array can help.

Look back through journal pages 2-28. What activity or lesson did you enjoy most in this unit and what did you learn from it?

I liked the square numbers. I loved squaring and square rooting numbers. This was a lesson I never knew about. So I learned quite a few things in this unit. This unit was also very fun.

September 16th, 2009

Math is a subject that I'm okay on. Sometimes I'm really good at it and other times it's just so confusing to me. Over the past few weeks in 5th grade I'm liking math. The first unit was pretty easy and fun for me which is why I enjoyed it. Other times in math, I find it challenging, hard and boring. I'm not the type of person who is ALWAYS excited when it's math time. One of the ways I like learning math is on the smart board. It's cool writing on the smart board and I feel that I really understand what I'm learning. I also like playing math games because I learn as well as having fun. Sometimes, I even like it when it's just completely silent while I'm jotting down answers and explanations. Last year I was in the Math Olympiad and I found it very challenging and sometimes even boring. I had to practice Math Olympiad at home as well as all the other homework I had. I didn't really feel like I learned that much when I did the Math Olympiad tests because I usually didn't get good marks and It was so hard to understand. I like the Everyday Math system because they make you understand what your doing. I like adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions. I also like symmetry. I think that my learning in math is improving more and more.