Not discussed in Math class

Divide a Board

When you want to cut a board into equal widths, you can do some tricky math—or do a simple trick. Let’s say you want four strips: Pick a number that’s easy to divide by four (12, for example) and measure that distance diagonally across the board. Then mark the board at 3-in. increments (3, 6 and 9 in.) and your marks will divide the board into equal widths.

Arlington Middle School Girls STEM Conference

4th ANNUAL COLOR OF LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE: A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE 2015

“Get Moving with STEAM!”
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics)

Who: Middle school girls enrolled in Arlington Public Schools

Where: Wakefield High School 1325 S. Dinwiddie Street Arlington 22206

When: Saturday, November 14, 2015 – 8 AM to 3 PM Breakfast and lunch will be provided

Cost: $10.00 – (If paying by check or money order, please make payable to Arlington Public Schools.)

Young ladies currently in grades 6, 7, and 8 in Arlington Public Schools will get a full day of interactive workshops. In keeping with APS’ focus on the whole child, participants will engage with professionals in STEAM fields during the morning sessions and learn self-defense techniques and fundamentals of different types of artistic expression in the afternoon. Attending the conference will help students to recognize their strengths and increase their leadership ability.

Transportation will be provided!

Bus Stops
Gunston 7:40 a.m. - Drew 7:50 a.m.
Thomas Jefferson 7:50 a.m.
Kenmore 7:50 a.m.
Langston 7:35 a.m. - Woodbury Park Community Center 7:45 a.m.
Barrett 7:35 a.m. -  Swanson 7:45 a.m

*HB Woodlawn students should find the stop closest to their home school.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Falbo at 703-228-6152/Jennifer.falbo@apsva.us or the Minority Achievement Coordinator at your school.

Sponsored by the APS Office of Minority Achievement.

Career and Technical APP Contest

Career App contest is part of first lady's Reach Higher initiative 

(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Michelle Obama and the Department of Education have announced a competition for mobile-application developers as part of the Reach Higher initiative. Developers, vying for $225,000 in prize money, must create a comprehensive app that will inform students about career and technical education opportunities, job-skills programs and career outlooks. Education Week (tiered subscription model) (10/22)

For a complete list of Challenge rules, access to APIs, and to submit a concept, visit www.reachhigherchallenge.com

Follow the Challenge:

• Twitter: www.twitter.com/ReachHigher, www.twitter.com/usedgov
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ED.gov
• Twitter: @FLOTUS and @ReachHigher
• Instagram: @MichelleObama and @ReachHigher2020

Being Good At Maths - Asia and Australia

From IFLScience

What Is The Secret To Being Good At Maths?  

October 24, 2015 | by Steson Lo and Sally Andrews

photo credit: Why do Asian children perform so well at maths? Creativa Images/Shutterstock

There is a common belief that Asians are naturally gifted at maths.

Asian countries like Singapore and Japan lead the ranks in first and second position on maths performance in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tables – an international survey that ranks education systems worldwide – while Australia sits around 12th.

What is the secret to being good at maths? Are you simply born clever, or is it the result of a lot of hard work?

To understand the reasons behind exceptional maths performance, I travelled to Japan to see how Japanese children are able to instantly multiply three- or four-digit numbers together in their head.

How Children Are Taught Maths In Japan

From the age of 7 or 8, all Japanese children are taught the times table jingle kuku.

“Ku” is the Japanese word for “nine”, and the title reflects the final line of the jingle, which is

Congress to Begin CTE Programs (Perkins Act) Reauthorization

The Carl D. Perkins Act that supports Career and Technical programs typically enjoys broad, bi-partisan support.   From Education Week:

By Alyson Klein on October 21, 2015 7:50 AM

Get excited, all you fans of vocational and career education: Congress is about to start work on renewing the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Program. That's the biggest federal program for high schools, and it

Paul Hughes Deconstruction Rebuild Event at TechShopDC - Arlington

Our friends at TechShopDC hosted our first Paul Hughes Deconstruction Rebuild event for Arlington high school students on Wednesday, October 21.  

Participating students represented Wakefield HS, Washington-Lee HS, Yorktown HS, the Arlington Career Center, and H-B Woodlawn, with the support of each schools' Technology / Engineering teachers and Resource Teachers for the Gifted.

Paul Sans Hughs died September 15, 2012. This program for Arlington Public School students is dedicated to the his memory.  Paul’s passion environmental stewardship and and social justice lead him to start three companies and one non-profit, the Rebuild Warehouse. 

His life's work continues to provided an example of how sustainable businesses practices can make family, employees, and the environment a primary focus and still succeed.

Photos from last night:

The winning team participants each won a TechShop course.

Click "Read more" below for many additional photos.

A challenge

AUSA Expo Featuring Modern Military Equipment

21 photos from the October 12 expo at the Washington Convention Center:

 

 

 

 

Robotics Event Training for Teachers, Parents

The training on Saturday, October 10 is for anyone who wants to support or run either a small VRC tournament or VRC Skills Day. The training will be on how to set up a tournament using our NOVA equipment and how to pack it up into the trailer when done. It is being held at Bull Run MS in Gainesville from 9am to 3pm. 

Register here: https://2015-16stemtrainings.my-trs.com/

AAUW TechSavvy Event for Middle School Girls

Tech Savvy is a daylong science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career conference designed to attract girls in sixth through ninth grade to these fields and to inform families about STEM education and careers.

Although the program focuses on exciting girls about STEM, Tech Savvy also includes an important program for parents. This component encourages families to reinforce the girls’ interest in STEM. Keep reading for more details on the program for girls and their families.

Tech Savvy Is Coming to Northern Virginia!

AAUW is now accepting applications for the 2016 Tech Savvy program, taking the AAUW Buffalo (NY) Branch’s highly successful, one-day science, technology, engineering, and math conference for girls nationwide. In 2015, 17 selected AAUW branches or states implement Tech Savvy for the girls and parents in their community. Stay tuned for the 2016 sites this fall.

State: Virginia
Event Site: Northern Virginia Community College of Annandale
Event Date: October 24, 2015
Host Branch: AAUW Arlington (VA) Branch and AAUW Alexandria (VA) Branch
Register now

Tech Savvy for Girls

The day begins with hands-on workshops in various math and science fields. Past workshops include “Math: Exploring