STEAM Explorations

Would you like to create a STEAM exploration? (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, or Math) 

S-  Science experiments make for interesting STEAM explorations. 

       Use a plastic bottle to create a boat design

T-  Technology projects

       Use a Google application to create a research project. (Slides, Sheets, Web Stories, You Tube)

        

E-  Engineering designs 

       Use a plastic straw and a sheet of paper to make a rocket design. 

A-  Art projects using a virtual illusion

    Use colored pencils and a sheet of paper to create a tessellation (a repeating geometric pattern)

M-  Math create a math pattern or secret code

     Use numbers or symbols to create a secret code that you can use with family or friends. 

Please Try out and share in the comments about one of these STEM explorations, or share a topic or idea that you have done.   

Explore STEAM

Explore STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics)

Mission Unstoppable TV Series  Newsela 

Real World Heroes: Marvels TV Show  Scholastic Math 

Explore Earth: Hidden Wetland in Antartica  Muse

  

Summer Math Project

My Summer Road Trip Book
It’s time to plan your summer vacation! Use the next few pages to decide your
destination, vehicle, and hotel. You will have a budget of $900. Be sure to spend wisely so
that you will have money left over in case of emergencies!

Choosing a Destination      
Distance from Chicago
790.8 miles to New York City
926.1 miles to New Orleans
759.19 miles to Philadelphia
799.99 miles to Richmond
1,156.07 miles to Orlando
989.33 miles to Boston
297.21 miles to St. Louis
697.03 miles to Washington D.C.

1. Which city is the furthest distance from Chicago?
2. Which city is the closest to Chicago?
3. How much farther from Chicago is Richmond than St. Louis?
4. How much farther from Chicago is New Orleans
than NYC?
5. How much farther from Chicago is Orlando than
Boston?
6. ABOUT how far is Washington D.C. from
Chicago?
7. ABOUT how far is Philadelphia from Chicago?
8. ABOUT how much farther from Chicago is
Richmond than Philadelphia?

Order the cities by distance (Nearest to Farthest) from Chicago

Round each city’s distance from Chicago to the nearest mile.

New York City
New Orleans
Orlando
Boston
Philadelphia
Richmond
St. Louis
Washington D.C

Thinking about Gas
If the national Average for gas per gallon in the United States is cur-
rently $3.49, how much will you be spending on gas for your trip?
Choosing your Vehicle  Car Mileage Weigh your Options
Do the Math to find out how much you would spend on gas to your two top destination choices.

Toyota Prius 48miles per gallon
Jeep Wrangler 21 miles per gallon
Honda CRV 31 miles per gallon

How do calculate the cost?
Divide the total distance in miles by your car’s miles
per gallon to find out how many gallons of gas you will
need for your trip. Then, multiply that number by the
average cost of a gallon of gas. Don’t forget to
multiply by two for a round trip.

How many hours are you willing to drive per day? How much ground will you cover?
Safe Speed—60 MPH

# of Hours	Miles Driven
1	60
2	120
3	180
4
5	300
6
7
8
9

How many hours/miles are you willing to drive per day? WHY?

For some destinations, you will need to break your trip into two days.

Calculate how many days of driving each destination will take.

New York City

New Orleans

Orlando

Boston

Philadelphia

Richmond

St. Louis

Washington D.C

HOTEL COSTS

Hotel	Cost per Day	Special Features
La Quinta Inn	$49.92	Low Ratings             Breakfast Outside Pool Only    AC/Cable
Days Inn	$59.62	Okay Ratings           No Breakfast Outside Pool            AC/Cable/WiFi
Comfort Suites	$96.72	Okay Ratings           Breakfast Inside Pool              AC/Cable/WiFi
Hampton Inn	$93.48	Great Ratings           Breakfast Outside Pool            AC/Cable/WiFi
Courtyard by Marriot	$84.52	Good Ratings           Breakfast Inside/Outside          Pool AC/Cable

1. How much more money does the Courtyard cost than La Quinta Inn?

2. How much more money does Comfort Suites cost than Hampton Inn?

3. How much more money does Days Inn cost than La Quinta Inn?

How many days will you need to stay in a hotel?

Days on the road ____________ (Based on mileage– If you need to stop to stay at a hotel

because the distance is farther than what you are willing to drive in one day Remember, you

will need to do this twice for a round trip!)

Days at destination _______________

What is the cost of your hotel stay?

Round the daily rate of your selected hotel to the nearest dollar amount. Then,

multiply that amount by the number of nights you will be staying in a hotel.

Total Cost of my Hotel Stays:_______________________

Use the chart below to help you decide where you would like to visit! :)

City	Things to Do
Washington D.C	National Zoo-Free National Children’s Museum $10 Six Flags America $39
New Orleans	Ghost Tours $25 Swamp & Bayou Tours $49 Cool Zoo Water Park $11
Richmond	Museum of Fine Arts$13 History Tours $27 Go Carts $32
Boston	McDonald’s Museum- $10 Whale Watching- $36 Mayflower Tour- $14
Philadelphia	Insectarium $9 Musical/Theatre $16 Sesame Place $63
St. Louis	Gateway Arch-$18 Six Flags- $40 “M”yseum- $10
NYC	Coney Island $24 Big Apple Circus $32 Botanical Garden $10
Orlando	Universal Studios $99 Lego Land $55 Magic Kingdom $102

Further Research

Use an online search engine to help you find more information about the cities you are considering,

City	City
Research Notes	Research Notes

Weighing Your Decision

Take your two top choices and weigh the costs and benefits of each

Choice #1: _____________________________

Costs	Benefits
* * *	* * *

Choice #2: _____________________________

Costs	Benefits
* * *	* * *

My Destination Choice

Use the space below to tell about your decision making process.

The city I choose to visit is ____________________________ because ________________

The Logistics

Miles (Round Trip– Multiply the distance by 2!) ___________________

Vehicle: _________________ Mile per Gallon: ________________

Total Cost of gas (Round Trip): ______________________________

Number of Nights I will stay in a hotel: _______________________

Total cost of hotel stays: ______________________________

Selected Activities (Entertainment Budget):

_______________________________________________________

Total Cost of Selected Activities: ___________________________

Total Food Cost: ________________________

$$TOTAL TRIP COST$$

__________________

How much money have you left for emergencies or unforeseen

circumstances?_________________

The Plan

Use the space below to jot down your plan for each day. Will you be driving? If so, how far? Will you

be spending a night in the hotel? Which one? Will you be going sight seeing? Where?

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

My Trip Scrapbook

Use the space to draw pictures of the memories made on your trip. Use the

space beside the photos to describe your memory.

Summer Math Project Board

The project ideas listed below are some ways to do math over the summer. Give yourself a challenge and work to earn at least 50 points.

Math Project Board

Make a math vocabulary dictionary.   20 points	Write a compare and contrast essay about area and perimeter. 20 points	Make a math poster explaining about your topic. 30 points
Watch a Khan Academy video and complete the practice questions.  (Create an account) 10 points	Make a math puzzle and include a solution to the puzzle 10 points	Long division practice sheet 10 points
Create an informational booklet about your math topic. 30 points	Solve an investigation problem 30 points	Create a math song/skit to learn a math skill. 20 points

Examples of "Investigation Problems"

• What are the different ways can you find the area of each polygons? Write a number sentence or an algebraic expression that would represent each of your methods.      
•  What different shapes can you make with 5 cubes?  Compare the surface area of each of these different shapes, what do you notice?  Compare the volume of the 3-D shapes what do you notice?

Examples of "Math Puzzles"

• Operations Puzzle- Which operations (+, -, X, /) must be performed to get the solution?  
•  For example

  (4 * 1) * (6 * 2) = 1 

  (The correct answer is (4 + 1) - (6 - 2) = 1 or in simplest form 5 - 4 = 1) 
•  More examples   (6 * 4) * 12 = 12;  (4 * 2) * (4 * 3) = 24;  (6 * 5) * (9 * 2) = 19
• Equations Card Game- Write an equation showing (First Expression)=(Second Expression)
• For example:  6 cards numbered 6, 4, 8, 7, 2, 10                                                             (Possible answers 8+2=6+4, 10-4= 8-2, and using Exponents 10^2 - 8^2 =  6^2)
• Game directions and more math puzzles are at:  Home Page for Math Games and Puzzles  

Math Topic Ideas for Project Board (above)

Area, Volume, Surface Area Least Common Multiple/ Greatest Common Factor

Ratios 3-D Shapes

Equations                       Experimental Probability

Number  Patterns Scientific Notation

Inequalities Fractions

Slope of a line Parabolas and Quadratic Equations

Percent of Body Height

Complete the chart below by measuring your body parts and total height.

Body Part                   height (in)                  total height                % of body

head                           ________                  _________                ________

torso                           ________                  _________                ________

leg                               ________                  _________                ________

neck                           ________                  _________                ________

foot                             ________                  _________                ________

Example

Body Part     Body Part Height (in.)  Total Body Height(in)  Work Steps   % of body

head                           10 inches                   72                        10/72=.14       14%

torso                          25 inches                   72                        25/72= .35       35%

legs                            30 inches                  72                         30/72= .42       42%

neck                           4 inches                     72                         4/72=  .05        5%

foot                             3 inches                    72                          3/72=  .04       4%

                                                                                                            1.0       100%

Writing Addition and Subtraction Expressions

Writing Addition and Subtraction Expressions

Expressions can be modeled using a bar diagram like the one below.  This example shows the number of biographies (x) currently in our classroom library and the increase of 13 new biographies from the school book fair.  This expression x + 13 represents the total number of biographies the library has now.

 This expression can also be written as 13 + x to represent this situation.   One way to test the equivalency of the expressions is to substitute values for x and see if the sum of both equations are still the same.   If x = 2,   x+ 13 = 13+ x,   2 + 13 = 13 + 2,   If x= -1   -1 + 13 = 13 + -1

As a result of the commutative property of addition these expressions are also proven equivalent.

Write my own algebraic expression...

1. Start with an input such as "12" (miles from home to downtown)  

2. Add in a variable such as "d" (distance traveled) 

3. Put it together into a situation like I want to get downtown but have already traveled d miles.  How far do I still have to go?

4. Define your variable(s)  D= distance traveled.  

5. Finally, Write the expression   12 - d

Now test out your algebraic expression....  If d= 6.5 how far is the distance from downtown?

12- d   Substitute in 6.5 for d,   12-6.5=  5  

If d= 6.5, I have to go only 5 more miles.

Sample Practice Questions about writing expressions.  Write an algebraic expression to represent each of the following situations.

• The height (h) increased by 6 inches.  
• 43 more than (t);  t= time
• Carrie sold 50 bags of popcorn today.  Carrie sold (p) fewer bags than Terry.    
• Seven less than a number (n)

Graphing on a Coordinate Plane

Graphing Stories

Does a graph always begin at the origin?  

What is the steepest part of the graph where it shows the greatest increase?

We have been learning from graphing videos and answering some of these questions.

Here is some graphing vocabulary to help springboard our discussions.
y-intercept-  the point on a graph where the line crosses the y-axis.
slope- a measure of the steepness of a line.  (Change in 2 y values divided by Change in the 2 matching x values)

About Me...By the Numbers

About me...By the Numbers is a project that uses numbers to show a picture about You.
So, Which numbers have special meaning for you?
The picture above shows an example project from Pinterest.
Directions: 1.  Write your name in the center of the paper.  2.  Brainstorm facts about you that involve numbers.  For example my dad had 16 siblings, my birthday is 6/27, and I my baby daughter weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces when she was born.  3. Write 5 or more numbers about yourself in the area outside your name.  4. Decorate and add a short description about the meaning of the numbers.

Numbers important to me....
 Fractions:  Birth date, favorite holiday, # of ____ in family / total family members.
Large Numbers: distance from my house to a relative's house, number of days until Christmas Break, height in centimeters
Decimals: cost of favorite candy  $0.25, distance of a 5 kilometer race= 3.1 miles, weight of a baby 7.2 pounds