Hello and welcome back! Today’s blog is all about a recent project that we did in scimatics. It was all about polynomials and like terms. Here’s an example if you are wondering what that is.

Our task was to create something using polynomials and like terms. We multiple great ideas and after discussing we concluded that we wanted to bake a cake. Not just any cake, a PLP themed iPad cake. You are probably wondering, How do you include polynomials and like terms into a cake. Here’s how! We then came up with a driving question. How can polynomials represent the quantity of each ingredient in a cake? So as you just read, we included the polynomials and like terms from each ingredient. We would use the quantity of the ingredient as the coefficient and the first letter of the ingredient as the variable. For example, 1 cup of sugar would be 1s. Makes more sense now, right? Every project we are given a few competencies.

The first one is understanding and solving- Apply multiple strategies to solve problems in both abstract and contextualized situations. For this competency, I felt like I did quite well on it. I put my mind to the understanding and solving of the polynomials and like terms. That helped me understand the concept more than I already did. However next time I would like to focus more on the polynomials and like terms in my presentation then the cake part.

Next, we have Communicating and representing- Represent mathematical ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms. This is one of the competencies that I felt like I was most proud of. When presenting I’m usually not engaged and either speak too fast or even stutter at times. For this presentation, I was able to control my speaking pace and I was also quite engaged.

Then we have connecting and reflecting- Connect mathematical concepts and to other areas and personal interests. For this competency, I did quite well on it. The idea was creative and we were able to easily able to include polynomials and like terms to it. Next time I would like to take it a step further and use another sort of measurement rather than in cups.

Finally, we have to apply and innovating- Contribute to care for self, others, community, and the world through individual or collaborative approaches. For this competency, it felt quite easy compared to all of the other projects that I’ve done. It was a topic that I really enjoyed and that made me quite excited and also motivated to work on it. That helped me finish my tasks faster and also more easily.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this project. It was a creative way of learning and it also helped me understand polynomials and like terms in a clearer and a lot of fun way!

See you next time!

Julia