Crew Tournament: Prepare for Take-Off!

Are you ready to stand with your fellow Cadets or have you already taken the initiative to join a Crew or create one of your very own? Our first ever Crew Tournament is flying into Math Blaster! Max and the team are hosting a 4-round, bracket style tournament with a high stake prize on the line - a never before seen HyperCycle for you to use while racing through the tunnels in HyperBlast!

MB-tournament-brackets

It’s time to start sharpening your math skills because when it comes to out-of-this-world competition, what matters most is your accuracy and determination to come out on top! Here’s how this galactic mission will be broken down -

  • Location: Math Blaster’s Math Academy
  • Your Mission: Join or create a Crew to begin earning as many Trophies as
    possible in the Math Academy. Remember, the more you learn,
    the more you’ll earn! After all, this is the area of the Space Station where you will earn trophies for completing in action packed learning games.
  • How it works: For each weekly round of the tournament, your Crew will go head to head against another group of Blasters to determine who will advance to the following round with the exception of the first week, which is considered pool play. In the first round, your Crew will be competing against groups of Blasters from your assigned division. From round to round, we will be determining the top Crews to advance as you face off against 1 other Crew until we are down to our top 2 Crews, who will battle it out in the final round of competition! Remember, only Trophies earned during a specific round of play will count toward your tournament standing. If you advance to the next round your scores will be erased and you and the Crew that you face off with next will both start at the same Trophy average of 0.To determine scores, at the end of each weekly round of play, Max and the team will be averaging out the number of Trophies that your Crew has earned by the number of members that are part of your Crew. Your score will ultimately determine if you are able to advance to the next round until we are down to our top 2 Crews who will battle it out in the last week of competition to claim the title as our first ever Math Blaster Crew Tournament Champions and bring home a never before seen HyperCycle.

    Remember, each week of competition will be active starting at 2PM PST - 12 Noon PST, the following Monday. Also, to keep things fair, each Crew’s Trophy count will be brought back to “0” at the start of each round.

  • Schedule: 4 rounds of competition, lasting from 03/03 - 03/30
    03/03-03/09: First Round Pool Play
    03/10-03/16: Second Round – Top 8 Crews
    03/17-03/23: Semi-Finals – Top 4 Crews
    03/24-03/30: Finals – Top 2 Crews
    03/31: Winning Crew Announced

From top scores and achievements to an increase in rank and a few newly earned merits, there are so many ways for Blaster Cadets like you to show off their individual strengths while training in the I.S.P.! But, now is the time to prove your ability to work as part of a larger team! Start gathering your fellow Cadets for our upcoming tournament, today!

Worksheet of the Week

 

Trip to the Aquarium - Free Math Worksheet for 5th Grade

Picture Perfect Paper Snowflakes

If it is snowing or just too cold to have fun outdoors, don’t let the wintry weather blues get the best of your Blaster. Harnessing your their creativity indoors is a great way to keep minds busy enough to not cater to boredom. You can bring some of the fun outdoor elements inside with paper snowflakes—an easy craft for both you and your kids to enjoy!

Photo by Suzette Pauwels

 

Not only will kids enjoy this hands on craft, but they can easily learn mathematical concepts with symmetry through their paper folding techniques.

Here is what you will need:

  • Scissors
  • Choice of paper
  • Glitter (optional)
  • Glue (optional)

Steps:
1. Starting with a square piece of paper, fold it in half diagonally to form a triangle.
2. Fold the triangle in half, evenly, to meet the pointed corners.
3. Fold this triangle into thirds to create a “V” shape. Try to adjust the folds so that the sides evenly match up.
4. Take your scissors and cut a straight line across the top part of the “V” shape.
5. Now you are ready to get creative! Cut the folded paper with straight or curved lines, big or small. The key is to experiment with your cut-out designs to achieve a unique look.
6. Unfold your paper to see the kind of snowflake you have made!
7. Using glue and glitter, decorate your snowflakes for added shimmer (optional).

Use double sided tape, poster putty, or even string, to hang them from the ceiling or to stick them on a wall or window. Help transform your Blaster’s room into a winter wonderland with a blizzard of these paper snowflakes!

Calling All Blasters!

Have you noticed that Max, G.C., and the entire team aboard the Space Station have been unusually busy these last few days? From all the chatter around the Pods, it sounds like they are planning for something BIG to share with all you cadets! Think that you have the math skills and blasting experience to take on their biggest challenge yet?

Math Academy

Start preparing for the surprises ahead by joining a Crew. After all, if there’s anything we’ve learned from our experience and training aboard the Space Station, there is always strength in numbers! Keep up your efforts in the Academy and sharpen your skills so that you are able to blast your way to the top of our ranks, no matter what challenge is ahead!

Counting Whales from Space

Who knew there are high tech gadgets to help us count whales? Scientists created a new, high resolution satellite technology to not only just count the number of whales, but to estimate their population size.

Photo by Isaac Kohane

Photo by Isaac Kohane

It has always been extremely difficult and costly to estimate whale population size of marine mammals. This new method is revolutionary in the sense that it is much more accurate and it can cover larger areas at the same time, which is very beneficial for conservation efforts to protect the whale species.

This technique has a 89% chance of identifying probable whales in space. This semi automated method however, still need some manual input to give the most accurate results. Future satellite platforms will provide even higher quality imagery.

Spread the Love around the I.S.P.!

It’s that time of the year when you could shower your fellow space cadets with love and kindness by sending them gifts! Choose from a variety of goodies from the space station store – from food and toys, to hair brushes and sponges, your Valentine or beloved BFF will definitely feel that you care. Click on the Credits tab at the top right corner of your screen, tap onto the gift icon, and choose your gift from a range of selections! Don’t limit your love to just your human and alien friends, be sure to adopt a larva from the Larva Den and raise it into a Monster Mutt! There is never enough love to go around a dimension as big as our galaxy, but let’s start with our space station!

Space Station Overview

Worksheet of the Week

Measuring Tape - Measurement 6th Grade

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