Fairfield Math Club
Monthly Newsletter
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Greetings!
We all had a lot of fun at our Annual Beach picnic last Friday. The weather turned out to be good after all and the food was yummy!
Congratulations to Aakash Bhattacharya for first place in Connecticut in 2008 AMC 12B math contest. He received a plaque from the Mathematical Association of America along with a letter that states:
Dear Aakash,
On behalf of the committee on the American Mathematics Competitions we send our congratulations to you for your outstanding performance on the 2008 American Mathematics Contest AMC 12. Your first place ranking among all the participating students in your state is truely an outstanding accomplishment. - Steven R Dunbar, Director
For more information on AMC 12 contests click here.
Our summer vocabulary and math problem solving
courses are going on in full swing. The participants are enjoying the classes and having fun too! Congratulations to our enthusiastic teachers for running the classes smoothly. The teachers are Aakash Bhattacharya, Sagar Kaushik, Arvind Kalra, Arjun Jain Neil Gade, Anurag Chinnepelli. Aakash is also teaching the Art of Problem Solving Volume 1 book to grades 8-9.
Last class for summer session is on June 28. We'll resume for Fall practice in September.
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News From Mathematical Association of America
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Studying Biology Now Requires a Grounding in Math
By Aakash Bhattacharya
Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, May 2008
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Recent
reports suggest that biomedical scientists need a strong grounding in
mathematics. Mathematical modeling, quantitative analysis, and
bioinformatics are necessary to understanding the workings of neural
networks, genetics, cardiac blood flow, and disease pathways within
cells and throughout populations.
"There's an uphill battle," neuroscientist Ronald Calabrese of Emory University
told the HHMI Bulletin. "I've heard faculty members at department
meetings say, 'Why do premed students need differential calculus?
They're going to medical school!' Biologist Karl Joplin of East Tennessee State University is an exception. "I wasn't good at math in high school," he
admitted. "I thought biology was a field with no math. But boy, was I
wrong." Joplin helped develop a three-semester introductory biology course at
ETSU that integrates calculus, statistics, modeling, and other
mathematical skills into the traditional curriculum. He has also pulled
together more than two dozen academic institutions to revamp how
biology majors are taught quantitative reasoning skills.
Neuroscientist Fernán Jaramillo of Carleton College
has also realized that the nature of biology has changed in the past 20
to 25 years. "Quantitative issues are much more central, and that is an
accelerating trend," he said. "Students have to realize they won't do
well without some quantitative competencies."
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Documentary Compares High School Performance in U.S. with India and China
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Failing Reports on U.S. Schools, ABC News
by Mousumi Bhattacharya |
A recent study from Strong American Schools
reports that 40 percent of seniors still do not understand the math
they were taught in the eigth grade. And an earlier study from Common Core
found that nearly a quarter cannot identify Adolph Hitler, more than
half cannot place the American Civil War in the right century, and a
third do not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees free speech.
U.S. students are far
less diligent than their Indian and Chinese counterparts, as shown in
an unsettling documentary, Two Million Minutes. Two million minutes is the estimated time that students spend in high
school. It is also the title of a new documentary film that suggests
American students squander too much of that time. While their peers in
China and India study longer hours to sharpen their math and science
skills, top students from one of the best high schools in the United
States are playing video games and watching Grey's Anatomy during a
group study session, at least in clips seen in this documentary.
The film websiteRead the Business week article hereRead the U.S. News & World Report article hereRead the ABC News article here. For the report click here
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Looking Ahead
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Suggested books for Summer
Vocabulary
Continue studying the Red Hot Root
Words, by Dianne Draze, published by Prufrock Press www.prufrock.com
Book 1 for grades 2-4
Book 2 for grades 5-7
Math
Continue practice from the following books. Try Level 3 and einstein level problems.
Books by Ed Zaccaro published by Hickory
Grove Press www.challengemath.com
For grades 2-4: Primary Grade Challenge Math
For
grades 5-7: Challenge Math
For more practice in elementary grades try these books from Singapormath (Buy U.S. edition)
Completing Grade 2 start with Primary Mathematics 3A, the Workbook 3A and Intensive Practice 3A. Grade 3 do Primary Mathematics 3B, the Workbook 3B, Intensive Practice 3B, Challenging Word Problems 3 and Extra Practice 3. Grade 4 do Primary Mathematics 4A, the Workbook 4A, Intensive Practice 4A. Follow up with Primary Mathematics 4B, the Workbook 4B, Intensive Practice 4B, Challenging Word Problems 4 and Extra Practice 4. Grade 5 do Primary Mathematics 5A, the Workbook 5A, Intensive Practice 5A.
Follow up with Primary Mathematics 5B, the Workbook 5B, Intensive, Challenging Word Problems 5 and Extra Practice 5.
Remaining classes
Wed June 25, Fairfield Main Library, Memorial Room, 7-8:30 Math
Sat June 28, Fairfield Main Library, Rotary Room, 2-2:30 Vocabulary, 2:30-4 Math
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Aakash & Mousumi Bhattacharya
E-mail: mbhattac@yahoo.com
Web: http://gifted.wordpress.com/fairfield-math-club
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