At L.A. school, Singapore math has added value (ExTRa CREdiT # 2)

In 2005, just 45% of the fifth-graders at Ramona Elementary School in Hollywood scored at grade level on a standardized state test. In 2006, that figure rose to 76%. What made this huge difference? The difference between the two years may have been Singapore math. In the beginning of the 2005-06 school year, Ramona began using textbooks developed for use in Singapore, a Southeast Asian city-state whose students consistently rank No. 1 in international math comparisons. Ramona's math scores rapidly rose. "It's wonderful," said Principal Susan Arcaris. "Seven out of 10 of the students in our school are proficient or better in math, and that's pretty startling when you consider that this is an inner-city, Title 1 school." Ramona easily qualifies for federal Title 1 funds, which are intended to alleviate the effects of poverty. Nine of every 10 students at the school are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. For the most part, these are the children of immigrants, the majority from Central America, and some from Armenia. Nearly six in 10 students speak English as a second language. The decision to approve the books could place California ahead of the national curve. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appointed by President Bush, will issue a report Thursday that is expected to endorse K-8 math, in many ways, are very similar to the Singapore curriculum. Although this curriculum is very successful in many ways, not all teachers like it, and not all use it. The Singapore books aren't easy for teachers to use without training, and some veterans are more comfortable with the curriculum they have always followed. But you can tell when you walk into a classroom using Singapore math. The Singapore curriculum "requires a considerable amount of math background on the part of the teachers who are teaching it," said Milgram, "and in the elementary grades, most of our teachers aren't capable of teaching it. . . . It isn't that they can't learn it; it's just that they've never seen it." So based on the teachers attitude towards this curriculum, the students will either improve or just stay the same or even get worse. I thought this article was very intriguing how America is restoring to countries in Asia for help in education. I hope this curriculum doesn’t come to New Jersey because based on this article, it would be very hard.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-math9mar09,1,2133870.story?track=rss

Connecting to the world through math (EXTra CrEdit # 1)

Connecting to the world through math

MONTROSE- Excitement for math was in the air Wednesday, March 15, as local elementary school students tested their skills against thousands of other students around the world in a World Math Day competition. This day, more than 150 countries were taking part of a competition for students where they had a chance to go head to head against students from places such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and El Salvador via the World Wide Web. During each 17-question round, the students rushed to be the fastest to answer addition, subtraction and multiplication problems. World Math Day takes place every March 5. The main point of having this day is to unite the world through numbers. More than 1 million students from about 20,000 schools competed in the 24-hour competition, according to World Math Day figures. About 75 students competed Wednesday from Northside. Each student had a chance to compete for about 30 minutes. What made this more engaging for student was that after they would win by placing first, they would receive ten credits. These credits contribute to buying clothes for their character. Though the characters grab the students' attention, the ultimate goal is to answer as many questions as possible in the 24-hour period. Last year, Hong Kong had the most individual contributors, and two Hong Kong schools also held the top two places for school contributors. The UK was second for individual contributors with Portugal in third. The top 15 mathletes receive a special World Math Day trophy; all students competing receive a participation certificate. I thought this competition is very cool. Mainly because you get to compete with kids all around the world. Which could be very entertaining and competitive. Overall, I thought it was very interesting.
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2008/03/09/news/doc47cf6eaaeef1c679362852.txt

Fake flipper sought for sea turtle

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - When tourists found a 5-inch green sea turtle bloody and missing three of her flippers, the people who run a hospital for the endangered animals here gave her little chance of survival. But the turtle didn’t give up and survived, due to injections of antibiotics and a forced diet of squid. Somehow, she swam with just one flipper, even though she can only move in counterclockwise circles and has to push her now 10-pound body off the bottom with her head to breathe. Since her rescue, her wounds have healed very nicely. But the problem is that she can’t swim very well. What her doctors are looking to give her for the future is a sea turtle fitted prosthetic arm. If this operation is successful, this sea turtle will be the first to have a prosthetic arm. Three flipper turtles that get injured can go back to sea and two flipper turtles can survive in captivity after given the right care. As for those left with only one after predator attacks or run-ins with boat propellers are usually killed. But this turtle was spared because an intern begged for a chance to nurse her back to health the summer she was found. Since then, she has adapted and grown to normal size for her age. But because an Atlantic green sea turtle like her can grow to 450 pounds and live a century or so, her long-term prognosis with only one flipper is not promising. She could be destined to shallow water for the rest of her life, which becomes a quality of life issue. This triggered the idea for her caregivers to make her a kind of bionic turtle. “If we can do something for other turtles, then keeping her alive is worthwhile," said Guillen. "We're hoping we can accomplish something with Allison that will benefit other turtles." I found this article to be very interesting. At first, I wondered why they are trying so hard to keep one animal alive. Well now it make sense to me because she is going to be tested on for prosthetic turtle flippers. And if it is successful with her, it could also be successful to all the other impaired turtles. I also think what these doctors are doing is very kind to the turtle.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080229/ap_on_sc/bionic_turtle;_ylt=AiYzh8EmS0v2LHUY6LmsD_QPLBIF

Tinkering extends life of organism by 10-fold

Scientists have increased the lifespan of yeast, microbes responsible for creating bread and beer, by 10-fold (ten times). That’s twice the previous record for life extension in an organism. This accomplishment is mostly going towards efforts to extend human lives. The yeast lived for about ten weeks instead of living for only one week through genetic tinkering and a low calorie diet. "We've reprogrammed the healthy life of an organism," said Valter Longo, a biologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles who led the life-prolonging experiments. "Evolution designed our genes, our army, to be ready for growth and reproduction," Longo told LiveScience. Problem is, pooling the body's efforts into growing makes room for genetic errors that lead to age-related disease. "We can use our energy to grow and reproduce, or protect ourselves."Longo and his team previously found two genes related to growth and development in cancer that are similar in humans and yeast. They are so alike that you can put the human one into the yeast one and it will still work. Longo thinks that genes act like generals of the genetic army, ordering troops to protect the body’s DNA under caloric stress instead of fighting for growth. To find out how the age-defying treatment works in humans, Longo and his group are now studying Ecuadorians who have similar mutations in age-controlling genes used in the yeast. “People with two copies of the mutations have very small stature and other defects,” he said. Despite the problems, Longo said, the people likely benefit from their condition. "So far, we have never seen cancer in people who have two copies of the mutated genes," he said. “We are now identifying the relatives with only one copy of the mutation, who are apparently normal. We hope that they will show a reduced incidence of diseases and an extended life span." In my opinion I don't actually think Longo is going to get anywhere with this. I just don't believe it is possible for humans to play "God" with humans. Also, plants are not as complicated as humans.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22651648/

Is She Or Isn't She?

Cairo, Egypt- A couple of months after Egypt announced that acherologists have identified a mummy as the most powerful queen of her time, scientists in the basement of a muesmem are still trying to analyze the DNA from the bald 3,500-year-old corpse to try to back up the claim aired on TV. Progress is slow, but so far results indicate the linewrapped mummy is most likely, but not comclusively, Queen Hatshepsut. Egyptology has been led by foriegners for the last 200 years. It’s time Egyptian scientists took control, said Zahi Hawass, Egypts antiquities chief. Many history channels such as Discovery Channel have aired shows and documentries about this unaccurate information. In June, Egypt announced that Hashepsut’s mummy has been found. Discovery Channel aired another documentary, even though the DNA testing is incomplete. Now scientists are comparing Hatshepsut’s DNA to her granmother’s DNA from her mummy that has been alredy identified. But this was incomplete, proving nothing. So the mummy is a mystery people are trying to make reality. In my opinnion, unless you are a hundred percent sure you are correct, don’t make and conclusions or idenifications because it is incorrect. I also think that Discovery channel should stop helping to give out he wrong messages because they are not accurate.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/12/24/mummies.dna.ap/index.html

Earth Science Project

In class we are learning about earth science. We are doing this by researching information on specific topics we chose and then posting a wiki on omegaearthscience.pbwiki.com. And my topic was about how earthquakes occur. So this is what I have learned and chose to share. So , have you ever heard of an earthquake? Well you and almost everyone else have had. But the thing is, no one really knows why they occur. Which is what I will be sharing with you. First off, what is an earthquake? An earthquake is the movement of the earth’s plates squeezing and bending rocks causing them to brake. This brake is what causes the crust to shake and make an earthquake. This is also basically how an earthquake occurs. If that sounds way to confusing you can compare the earth’s plates to a rubber band. When you put too much tension or pressure on the rubber band by pulling it apart, it snaps. The same thing happens with the earth’s crust. The reaction is caused by a release of energy and seismic waves that shake the earth. When an earthquake occurs it moves the earth’s layers across a crack in the earth’s crust called a fault or a release of energy will cause a new fault to be produced. Earthquakes can occur all over the world but the worst earthquakes happen on plate boundaries. The reason earthquakes are more likely to happen at faults is because faults are fractured land and are more fragile to earthquakes. As much as they are dangerous, they could be avoidable. And that is what i learned from this project. I actually thought that doing a wiki was a fun way to learn something differently than just normal ordinary notes.

www.geo.mtu.edu/UPSeis/why.html
www.iris.edu/edu/onepagers/no2.pdf

Sea lion attack

In Perth, Australia, A sea lion leaped out of the water and attacked a 13-year-old girl, Ella Murphy, as she surfed behind a speedboat off Australia’s west coast, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The damage that Ella Murphy got when the sea lion attacked her on Friday, as she was being towed by a speedboat was a broken jaw and the loss of 3 teeth. A marine scientist said that the attack of the sea lion, which can grow to be 880 pounds in weight but usually stays away from humans, was bizarre and that the sea lion might have been trying to play with her. “ This thing just exploded in full-on, frontal attack,” family friend Chris Thomas told the newspaper. “It jumped out of the water and hit her head on.” Sydney Aquarium marine scientist Grant Williams said that he had never heard of such an attack before. Seal lions can be very territorial, but usually only attack humans when provoked. Murphy is in stable condition in a hospital after having surgery, the newspaper reported. I was also surprised as well as everyone else. Getting hit by a sea lion is like getting to meet the president. It is just so rare. I feel bad for her because of her injuries but I know that after she recovers she will be bragging about her accident. Because without the negatives, it is pretty cool to be attacked by a sea lion and live.


http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/15/sealion.attack.ap/index.html