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<br />LESSONS <br /> <br />Mathematics <br /> <br />The elementary school mathematics program must be designed so that <br />students will be motivated and learn mathematics. It is particularly important <br />Ihat the mathematics program be sufficiently flexible to accept, at any time, <br />students who express new or deepened interest in mathematics, <br />The goals of the elementary school mathematics program are two-fold: for <br />those who will terminate their mathematics education at Grade 8 or Grade 9, <br />the program must provide the survival skills in mathematics that contributing <br />members of society must know, For those who will elect additional math- <br />ematics courses, the program must provide a strong foundation and back- <br />ground that will enhance the student's opportunity for success. <br />In eilher case, mathematics must be presented so that students will <br />become enthusiastic and develop both an intellectual curiosity and a spirit of <br />inquiry, Students need learning experiences and classroom environments <br />which will give them opportunities to explore, investigate, create and recreate <br />mathematics. <br />The most striking feature of the best mathematics presentations is the es. <br />tablishment of a classroom climate which, under the direction of the <br />enthusiastic teacher, is student oriented and self.directed in design. In this <br />climate, teachers drop the role of the authoritative figures who pass judgment <br />solely on what is right or wrong, <br />They frame questions, plan work that excites curiosity, and encourage the <br />students to exploit what they know and develop an intuitive feeling about the <br />situation at hand. Within definable instructional objectives, they assume the <br />role of guides who conduct their students into regions uncharted to them.' <br /> <br />This statement of mathematics philosophy was taken from the Course of Study used throughout California, <br />a document which generally reflects the educational goals of school districts across the country, The quotation <br />embodies the spirit with which the mathematics section of this workbook was designed and seeks to provide <br />basic mathematic skills in a student-oriented format, with the flexibility to challenge students of varying <br />abilities, <br />Mathematics concepts and skills form a consistent curricular thread which weaves its way through the in- <br />vestigation of the physical properties of water. The five pages of math lessons found in Captain Hydro present <br />the opportunity to focus on some specific math skills and to utilize these skills as they relate to interdisciplinary <br />learning experiences, Opportunities to apply these concepts may be found everywhere and the lessons lend <br />themselves to adaptations according to the grade and ability of the students, For example, fourth graders <br />require more help in setting up a graph before applying the data, Sixth graders, however, having acquired the <br />basic skill of translating the data to the graph, can begin to set up their own graph, There is sufficient data <br />provided to develop a series of graphing tasks for any ability level. Additional possibilities emanate from data <br />the students collect, such as the lesson using the home consumption survey, <br /> <br />LESSON NOTES: The following annotations to the mathematics lessons are included to provide clarification and <br />assistance in the implementation of the material. <br /> <br />Meet Your Meter, p, 6. <br />Students who live in apartments may not have a water meter for their unit. Alternative meter-reading sites might be <br />the meter for their entire apartment building, the meter at the home of a friend, or the school meter, <br /> <br />Water Problems, p, 7, <br />Caution the students against trying to change a washer without supervision, <br />Tie Fred Rood's problem into the science experiments on rainfall, evaporation, erosion, percolation, irrigation, and <br />garden watering, . <br /> <br />1. Contra Costa County, Course of Study (Pleasant Hill. CA: 1974), p. 105. 0<8: ~ <br />~ <br /> <br />-5- <br />