Computer Capers
www.buddyproject.org
A Silly, Shapely Scarecrow
Have fun creating a fall decoration for
your family by using your computer to
draw a scarecrow made out of shapes.
Use a drawing program to design your
silly friend. Begin with the face by
drawing a circle. Be sure to add eyes,
nose, and mouth using different shapes
(triangle, square, rectangle, rectangular
prism, etc) for each one. The shapes can even be filled
in with different fall colors and patterns. What about
hair and a hat? Next, move down the page to draw the
body. Is your scarecrow wearing anything? Did you
draw buttons on the shirt? Finally add arms, legs,
hands and feet. Again, use different shapes, sizes,
colors and patterns to fill the spaces. Once your
shapely scarecrow is complete, summarize your
drawing. Can you count the total number of “faces” on
your drawing? How many “sides or edges” does your
scarecrow have? What is the total number of
“vertices” in your drawing? Print out your Shapely
Scarecrow and post it for all to enjoy this fall.
Indiana Mathematics Standard 2.4.2 Describe, classify, and sort
plane and solid geometric shapes (triangle, square, rectangle,
cube, rectangular prism) according to the number and shape of
faces (flat sides, like the front of the cereal box) and the number
of sides, edges, and/or vertices (corners).
Sweet Homework
Homework on Halloween? Sweet!
It will be a real treat! After you have
come home from an evening of gathering
all of your tricks and treats, dump out
your bag and begin sorting through your candy.
Choose your top 20 favorites. Use a word processor to
type in a list, but the “trick” is to do it in alphabetical
order! After your list is complete take a look at the
results. Were any beginning letters represented more
often than most? What beginning letters were missing
from your list? Can you think of a candy that begins
with that letter? If not, be creative and come up with a
new candy name. What are the ingredients in your new
candy? When you are finished with this activity,
reward yourself by tasting one of your top 20
favorites.
Indiana Language Arts Standard 3.6.9 Arrange words in
alphabetical order.
October 2007
Message in the Multiples
Can you find the hidden message in
the multiples? Ask that to a friend or
family member after creating a maze
page for them to work with. Design
your puzzle using a spreadsheet.
Begin by making each of the cells
that you are using a square. (Decrease the width
of each column). Next, highlight all the cells in
your puzzle and format with a border. Now decide
on a very simple message or design that you want
to appear at the completion of the puzzle. It could
be a short word, your initials, a simple design like
a smiley face, etc. “Draw” that design by placing
multiples of a number in the cells. For example, if
you were doing multiples of 5, you’d place those
random multiples in the cells where you’d want
them to draw the line. The numbers just need to
be touching at the top, bottom, left, right, or on a
diagonal. Choose a new multiple for each of the
lines drawn in your puzzle. After you have
completed your “message” you now need to fill in
the rest of the cells with numbers. The trick is
making sure that you don’t include one of the
multiples next to
your hidden
message that
would cause an
error. Finally,
at the top of the
spreadsheet,
insert a header
that includes
directions for
completing the
puzzle. For
example, “Draw a line through all the connecting
multiples of 5.” Draw a line through all the
connecting multiples of 7,” etc. Finally, print out
your page and exchange with a friend or family
member. Can they find your hidden message?
Indiana Mathematics 4.2.4 Demonstrate mastery of the
multiplication tables for numbers between 1 and 10 and of
the corresponding division facts.