I have always loved Math! There is just something about it,
but I find it enjoyable! Yes most people do laugh when I tell them about my
past few math classes I have taken. The most common response is, “You are
learning how to do elementary school math?” Well, yes, yes I am. That is
exactly what I am learning, but it is fascinating because I am learning it in a
whole new context. At BYU I took 2 different math education classes covering
all the basic concepts of how math works and why we do it the way we do. The
most common response from my teachers when a question was asked was, “Well I
don’t know. What do you think?” Ha and
they are allowed to teach? Really they taught more than anyone would realize.
We were able to discover so much on our own and experiment or take risks with
math! There is a lot more to elementary math then one would think. In my math
class here we learned application of how to apply, instruct, and assess math in
a classroom. This was the fun part! We started with a whole bunch of problem
solving. One goes a little something like this:
There are 7 girls on a
bus. Each girl has 7 backpacks. In each backpack there are 7 big cats. Every
big cat has 7 small cats. How many legs are there on the bus?
Go ahead solve it then check your answer at the end of this
post!
We did a bunch more problems like that that are super fun to
work out. Another day we learned the story of a measurement.
How big is a Foot?
So we learned that the measurement of a foot was changed
every time a new king came to rule. Finally they created one length that stuck
and that foot was made into a ruler. Get it, ruler? I’m not quite sure where
the name inch came from, but if you find out let me know!
Another fun thing we did was exploring the golden ratio. We
traced one of our feet and cut it out 6 times. We taped them all together to
create a feet chain. With this we measured our height. So I would say my feet
are pretty big for my height; we lined up in order from tallest feet chain to
shortest and I was only about 4 from the tallest chain. Although there were
about 5 or more girls to my right who were taller than me, but had shorter feet
chains. I guess I do have big feet! We then measured with strings our base of
our thumb wrapped around twice was equal to our wrist, and neck twice equaled
our waist, and hand span times 3 equals your feet, so on and so it! With this
knew knowledge we were able to create a giant man all off the size of his
hands! Wednesday was so hot, so it was nice to be outside a lot of the day. I
have to say our giant man (Ferdinand) turned out rather good. I am the creator of the
barbed wire and Mom tattoo on his big muscled biceps!
Thursday was the last day of math. I cannot believe how
quickly the time flies by. It is a weird concept to think about because 7 hour
straight of math or any other subject for that matter goes by so slowly, I
honestly think to myself a few times a day, “I don’t think I am going to make
it.” But somehow the end of the school day comes and I made it and then the week
is over before I know it. Each one of us made what is called a Tapa cloth. I am
not exactly sure what it is, but my host family has a tapa cloth hanging on the
wall and also a tablecloth. I know they got the painting on the wall from Fiji,
but they are cool designs in neutral colors. I just Wikipediaed tapa cloth and
a lot came up, if you are curious about them. My design was copied off the side
of a rugby ball. I thought it turned out pretty good. We took brown paper,
sharpied our design onto it, and then had to dye the paper the orange brown
color. The sharpie stayed black and once the dye was dry we were able to use
bleach on a q-tip to turn the parts we wanted white.
Friday was just about the longest day. It feels like it
could have encompassed a week by itself. We began 2 new classes this week.
First science, followed by social studies! Both spent a good chunk of time
talking about and discussing what the definition is and why it is taught. In
social studies we made this…..
Ko Kirsten Taku Ingoa
Ko Tahoe taku Maunga
Ko Golden Hills taku
whenua
Ko Pacific Ocean taku
moana
Ko American River taku
awa
Ko Califonia taku
marae
Ko Oakland temple taku
iwi
Ko Mayflower taku waka
Ko Paul me Renee taku
Matua
Ko Kirsten Taku Ingoa
This tells a little bit about me and my background. It is a
traditional Maori greeting!
School ended a bit early, which is always a nice treat and
we loaded a different bus to deliver us to our destination, the westfield mall!
Yes I found out the westfield malls (like the Roseville galleria) started in
Australia and have spread! Interesting! The mall did not have a ton. I did not
notice any department stores, but instead a countdown and pak n save (both
grocery stores) and a farmers (like a bed bath and beyond). Yea, pretty
strange…. We shopped at a few cute stores, sort of like a h&m style, maybe
a little toned down. To my surprise more clothes are more expensive here. Not
too bad, but more for cheaper quality. I left with a new bracelet and headband
and we made way to Kmart. Yes, I know what you are thinking. KMART? I took this
direct quote from my mom’s email this morning, " I never thought I'd see the day you shopped at Kmart! Haha" Well I have nothing against Kmart and we heard from some other
girls here it was pretty good. I would say comparable to a target! They had
some cute clothes, but some not so cute. Most things were $19 or $25, which is
not expensive, but for kmart that is dang expensive! I ended up with a shirt
for $8 and some short shorts for running! Exactly what I needed in this hot
weather. They also have a store here called reduce to clear, which sells food,
candy, cleaning supplies, bath supplies, etc. All this stuff was either over
ordered or has gotten close to its expiration, so they sell it discounted here!
I got some sour fruit gummies and Emily got some pineapple lumps (chocolate
covering this pineapple flavored marshmallow type stuff. Really Delicious!) 
Another long bus ride home, but we came home to dinner on
the table! Just after dinner our sister Elyse took us out to the Chocolate Boutique. This store was
filled with everything sweet and so much chocolate! A little taste of heaven! I got the DEATH BY CHOCOLATE! It was scoops of chocolate ice cream with chocolate covered peanuts in it, covered with a chocolate mouse, cream, a chocolate flake stick, and a chocolate fish! We decided this might have to be a regular stop for the 3 of us, which could be bad on the diet! We walked a
bit of downtown after eating to let our full bellies settle. By the time we got
back to the house I was exhausted!
and the answer to the math problem is....
10,990 legs!
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