In Class
A snapshot of what Kimball Union students are studying
What’s Going On in This Graph? Math students learn graphical literacy Math teacher Beth Gilmartin is always thinking about how to deliver information that goes beyond mathematical equations, often bringing the world to the doorstep of her classroom in Fitch. “One of the key ideas is teaching 21st-century skills and thinking about graphical literacy,” she says. “The truth is not all the kids are going to use a quadratic formula in their lives, but being able to look at graphs and interpret them is really important.” To help prepare her students, Gilmartin’s Algebra I class participated in The New York Times’ weekly feature, “What’s Going On in This Graph?” In February, the class examined “World Cities’ Air Pollution” graphs that show the air quality for 12 major cities from November 2018 to November 2019. Prompts such as “What do you notice?” and “What do you wonder?” encouraged the students to analyze the information and share their comments online, where discussions are moderated by teachers, industry professionals, and a collaborator from the American Statistical Association. Gilmartin says that the students took particular note of air pollution spikes in Delhi, India, and San Francisco, California. Correlating the cities and the dates, they were able to piece together a larger picture of how life on the planet impacts air pollution. They took note of a crop-burning cycle in India’s capital and the impact of wildfires on air pollution in San Francisco. “This is teaching kids ways of getting stories. It’s not just about math, but also about social science to some degree,” says Gilmartin. “They’re learning good quantitative reasoning.” Each week, The Times circles back to share insights from the student conversations and reflections. On February 25, the paper’s website cited Teegan ’24, who crafted her own headline to capture the story of the air pollution graphs: “Air Pollution, the Silent Killer.” “Everyone is going to have to read and interpret graphs,” says Gilmartin. “The skills we’re developing can be used in all sorts of applications in the real world.” K
“This is teaching kids ways of getting stories. It’s not just about math, but also about social science.”
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An Interdisciplinary Odyssey Students chart the velocities of the epic poem’s journeys. Two ninth-grade classes— Literature of the Quest and Conceptual Physics—combined forces for an interdisciplinary class period to chart the velocities of Odysseus’ journeys. Jenny Blue P’24, the Peter Holland ’57 Lionel Mosher Chair of English who teaches Literature of the Quest, provided students with the steps along Odysseus’ journey; while science teacher Jesse Mathers, who teaches Conceptual Physics, posed questions related to Odysseus’ velocity.“The disciplines aligned well since the epic poem provides an application for the formula that students in conceptual physics are learning: velocity=displacement/ time,” says Blue. They collaborated to tackle questions that drew from both disciplines. Mathers offers an example from the course: Scylla and Charybdis travel to Helios (perhaps near modern-day Malta). The journey continues as they sail to Helios’ island (Thrinacia) through stormy seas. Upon arriving in Thrinacia, they encounter Helios’ sacred cattle. The stormy seas slow their travel and they are only able to travel at a speed of 25 kilometers each day. How long (in hours) did it take them to make their escape from the horrors of Scylla and Charybdis if they made it 290 kilometers fighting against the sea? K
