Emperor Penguins

Emperor penguins are birds who can swim up to 9 km/h  and dive about 520 meters below the surface of the sea. Even though they are flightless and do not have the abilities that other 'normal' birds have, they are unique in their own way. Most emperor penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere in Antarctica- and can move down to the Equator.

The article "Climate Change Threatens Penguins" has concluded many interesting, tragic facts about penguins. 

- 11/18 penguin species are declining and considered at extinction risk
- Two species are considered stable
- The population status of the remaining 5 are unknown.

Studies that are shown in the article have connected climate change to past, ongoing, and future population declines of many penguin species. Because penguins live in different ocean habitats of the Southern Hemisphere, climate change affects penguins in those regions in many different ways.

Pn+1 = Pn + Pn (B-D) - Equation

B- Birth Rate in Decimal Form
D- Death Rate in Decimal Form

1) Three variables that will influence B:
   - More food to eat
   - Less predators
   - Less pollution (oil spills, habitat destruction & disturbance, etc.)

2) Three variables that will influence D:
    - Global Warming which causes the sea ice to melt
    - Less krill to eat
    - Pollution - ocean acidification

Real Life Polynomial Situation

 

A room has a rectangular shape with one side that is double the size of the other. The given height is 5 meters less than the longer side. Find the expression for the volume of the room.

x = shorter side

x times 2 = longer side

2x-5 = height

volume=
x times 2x (2x-5)
2x^2 (2x-5)
4x^3-10x^2

If we know the length of only one side, we can easily calculate the volume of the room.

Unit Reflection

                                  
                                   UNIT REFLECTION


During this fantastic unit, we discovered many amusing things involving different assignments, projects and tasks that gave us the opportunity to learn something new, but also improve and reinforce our math knowledge that we already  had. Some lessons were very easy, while some were very haunting- so I needed much more practice and include some effort, but overall, I'm satisfied with the things we did in this unit!

What was interesting? 
Beside the fact that we brought basketballs to class, used Google sketch up and IXL for practice, the most interesting assignment was the Independent Project (Math vs Volleyball in my case), because I had the chance to investigate more about the sport I really like and apply it along with connecting it to math skills, moreover, presenting it to my classmates. This Study, on the other hand, has also been a challenge to me because it was one of the first and hardest (at first sight) project I did involving Geometry. As you can see, although it was interesting, it was also frustrating at the same time! The factors such as radicals, scientific notations and other algebra theories were pretty easy and good for my knowledge of algebra because they have shown me that the things I've already learned well can be reinforced and improved with just a little additional work.  

What was a challenge? 
As I said, the Math Volleyball project was a challenge, but there were also other things. The biggest challenge was learning about geometry in general. At the beginning, I had troubles with memorizing the formulas for each shape and understanding the word problems. However, we were given the time to practice it each class, and so I got better and better. I'm glad we covered geometry + algebra this unit. 


Where would you like to improve?
I would like to improve on my communication skills with my peers. Even though we didn't get along very well  (ex. one person disagrees with the other and they start arguing and fussing over who is right) I still think we should try collaborating and getting along with each other + work well together. In the future, I hope to see some improvements. 


Overall, this unit was BOISTEROUS and BAFFLING at the same time!