Spring Accomplishments

Noon Day Project Success

The Class of 2008 conducted their Noon Day Project experiments on March 21st. Though originally scheduled for the first day of spring, March 20th, overcast skies forced the students to hold off for one day. Despite the interruption, the students performed beautifully. All four class sections measured the sun's angle at high noon and recorded their findings. Back in the classroom student groups compared their measurements and agreed upon a "best angle" submission to the Noon Day site. Two classes submitted sun angles of 41 degrees and two submitted findings of 40 degrees. In subsequent calculations the four classes found Earth's circumference to be approximately 40,715km to 44,280km. The actual circumference is about 40,076 km, making their rate of error only between 1.6 and 10.4%. Not bad for measuring Earth with only a stick, a string and some data sharing!

Click here to view some great pictures of our Noon Day experience.

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Silhouette of construction worker on site

Mrs. Silvestri's Bridge Project

In this project students are presented with the problem of planning and designing a new bridge for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Plans for the new construction over the Hudson River must meet the needs of the anticipated increases in traffic. Students will ultimately demonstrate their designs in the form of popsicle models. Click here to see more about this project.

Sixth Graders Investigate Geometry Through Playground Designs...

Mrs. Silvestir's sixth graders are investigating geometry concepts by planning and designing a community playground. Their final design illustrations must demonstrate the strategic use of 25 geometry concepts covered in class.

8th Graders Explore a Personal Finance Unit

Eighth graders in Mrs. Silvestri's math class are exploring the world of personal finace by applying their math skills and concepts to balancing savings and checking accounts, managing debit cards and using credit wisely.They are learning to make informed decisions about education, employment, purchases, loans, insurance, and retirement. Working in pairs, the students teams are applying math logic to avoiding common pitfalls in today's world of finance. Spreadsheet and graphing software play an important role in this innovative unit of study.

As a tribute to the Noon Day process, last year's sixth graders and their teachers created a Noon Day slideshow and song about Eratosthenes and his famous experiment. Click below and follow the links to access this intriguing project.

"Old Eratosthenes Had A Way"