Sigma Team

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Are Your NCAA Picks Smarter Than a Sixth Grader's?

It's March and with that comes college basketball action. With our lesson in finding the mean for a set of data and then being able to compare and analyze, Sigma students made 2012 NCCA tournament picks based on specific statistics. We will follow our predictions throughout the tournament to determine which statistic most closely aligns with the most game winners. We will award 1 point for correctly identifying the first round winner, 2 points for the second, 3 points for the Sweet Sixteen, 4 points for the Elite Eight, 6 points for the Final Four and 10 points for the champion.

Our predictions:

Name: Mick
Stat: Blocks Per Game
Prediction: Kentucky 64, Syracuse-59

Name: Kevin
Stat: 3pt Field Goals Made
Prediction: Florida State 84, Iowa State 80

Name: Max
Stat: Rebounds Defensive
Prediction: Mississippi Valley 52, Syracuse 51

Name: Andrew
Stat: Assists Offensive
Prediction: Iona 83, Creighton 80

Name: Kate
Stat: Rebounds Offensive
Prediction: New Mexico State 105, North Carolina 96

Name: Lauren
Stat: # Losses
Prediction: Murray St 82, Syracuse 68

Name: Mili
Stat: Points Total
Prediction: New Mexico St 79, North Carolina 82

Name: Anna
Stat: Steal %
Prediction: VCU 30, Ohio 22

Name: Elton
Stat: Offensive Points Average
Prediction: Iona 87, North Carolina 81

Name: Josh
Stat: Offensive Rebounds
Prediction: North Carolina 88, New Mexico 80

Name: Kyle
Stat: 3-pt Field Goal %
Prediction: Indiana 104, Creighton 95

Name: David R
Stat: Offensive Rebound %
Prediction: New Mexico St 89, West Virginia 76

Name: Nick
Stat: Assist %
Prediction: Kentucky 104, Syracuse 98

Name: Matthew
Stat: Free Throws Made
Prediction: New Mexico St 83, UNC Asheville 58

Name: Jake
Stat: Number of times in Final Four
Prediction: North Carolina 54, Duke 53

Name: Gina
Stat: Free Throw %
Prediction: Lehigh 54, UNC Asheville 36

Name: Hannah
Stat: Number of Championships
Prediction: Duke 26, Syracuse 23

Name: Katherine
Stat: Number of Wins
Prediction: Kentucky 32, Syracuse 31

Name: David P
Stat: Points Defensive Average
Prediction: Long Island 70, UNC Asheville 68

Name: Jaz
Stat: Conference Wins
Prediction: Syracuse 105, Wichita 95

Name: Sammi
Stat: Number of times in NCAA tournament
Prediction: Kentucky 26, Purdue 23

Friday, March 9, 2012

Weekly Update 3/9/12 by Morgan, CiCi, Gina, Hannah, and Sammi

We had a busy week on Sigma, with ISAT testing and a crazy flipped schedule. We managed to get a lot of learning in, too, as you can see in the photos and graphics below from language arts and social studies. Be sure to check back next week for pictures and an update about our Kraft Packaging Project presentations!

In social studies we made 3-D relief maps of China and learned about the geography of China. Here we are working on our group maps and posters.

In language arts this week we finished reading our literature circle historical novels. We used tagxedo to make the posters below. We added text to describe our main characters and then we chose colors and shapes to symbolically represent our novels. Some of us finished early and had time to make tagxedos about ourselves.

The Kite Rider group (13th century China):

Samson made his in a lightning shape to represent when Haoyou bravely flies into a storm.

Lucas and Shane made theirs in the shape of China, where the book is set.

David P. made his in a tree shape to represent when Haoyou flew on his kite into a tree.

Catherine, Called Birdy group (Medieval England): We made our Tagxedos about Catherine, from Catherine Called Birdy. They are in a bird shape because she is like a bird herself; she is "caged" and doesn't know how to flap her wings on her own in life yet.

Katherine

Gina

Hannah

Ties that Bind, Ties that Break group (1905, China):

Matthew and Jake used a foot shape to represent Ailin rebelling against having her feet bound.

Matthew

Jake

James's image is in the shape of a Chinese temple.

Jaz and Sammi chose a map of China for their design.

Crispin groups (1377, England)

Several people used a cross shape to represent the lead cross Crispin carried.

The cross was the clue to his true identity.

Kevin & David R.

Nicholas & Eddie

Kate chose a key shape because Crispin was searching for the key to his true identity.

Mili and Anna both chose the shape of England, where the story is set.

Mili

Anna

Lauren's chose a heart shape because Crispin "lost his heart"and was devastated when his mother died.

The Golden Goblet group (ancient Egypt):

Both groups chose a goblet shape for their design because the main character, Ranofer, must solve the mystery to find out who is robbing tombs of valuables such as the goblet he finds.