Four Color Map of the World

Every week at our Tuesday-morning meeting, one member of the Center staff brings a creative, thought-provoking activity with which we kick off our meeting. One of our more recent meetings featured a fun twist on an old math problem—the Four-Color Mapping Problem. Here’s the backstory, from YoungZones.org:

Francis Guthrie, a 21-year-old mathematics student at University College in London, was mapping the counties of England in 1852 when he noticed that he only needed four colors for the map. He asked his younger brother, Frederick Guthrie, if this was true for any map. Frederick took the problem to his professor, Augustus de Morgan.

In 1878 Arthur Cayley presented this problem to the London Mathematical Society. He and various others tried to prove it over the next century. In 1976 Wolfgang Haker and Kenneth Appel of the University of Illinois proved the theorem using a computer. It took them four years to write the computer program for the Cray computer, which took 1200 hours to check 1476 configurations.

Some mathematicians are troubled by the proof by computer. They feel that a theorem so easy to understand should be able to be proved by hand. Anyone who can prove the theorem without the computer may win the Fields Medal, the math equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

From left: Karen and Sarah, Emily and Matthew work in pair

The rules of the game are as follows:

• Each partner has 2 colors.
• Each player must lay the tiles out so that no two of the same color touch. Our problem had one additional twist—because we had square tiles, we added the stipulation that the corners couldn’t touch either.
• Taking turns, place one tile at a time on the table.
• Continue placing tiles to create a rectangle. The width and length can never vary by more than one tile. (So you can have 3 rows and 4 columns, but not 3 rows and 5 columns.

The team that uses all of their tiles first, following the above rules wins.

Oh, and two more important rules – no touching your partner’s tiles, and no talking for the first minute!

Alex (left) and Frank place tiles on the table

The Keep Away! A Four-Color Mapping Challenge is a great activity for every classroom, setting, and subject. It’s easily adaptable, because you can use pretty much any material with different colors—cut-up paper, M&Ms, colored pencils/crayons, markers and a white board, etc. It can be used as an ice breaker, a brainstorming activity, a team building activity, or a problem-solving assignment.

Here is a virtual coloring map: www.subtangent.com/maths/ig-mapcolouring.php

More information on the Four-Color Mapping Problem:

Wikipedia: Four Color Theorem

Wolfram Alpha: Four Color Theorem

 Matthew Worwood, Sarah Schauss, and Kerry Macfarland visited EDUCATION CONNECTION‘s Head Start program to work with Pre-K students. These students filmed their pre-rehearsed play of the fairytale Three Billy Goats Gruff using iPod touches.

Head Start students practice filming with iPod touches

Frank views a student's Storykit digital story

Students prepared masks for each of the Billy Goats and the Troll, and used other props to create a space in which to perform their play. They then took turns acting in the play, recorded sound effects (the students used rhythm sticks to mimic the sound of clopping hooves), and filmed their production using the iPods.

Frank LaBanca visited second and fourth graders at Sandy Hook School in Newtown for Digital Learning Day. Using iPod touches loaded with the StoryKit app, Frank, fourth grade teacher Ted Varga, and the fourth grade students created riddles that modeled the literary device personification. Students selected an inanimate object in the room to personify.

Some examples of their work include:

•  Pen, Pencil Sharpener, and Plants
•  Hand Sanitizer, Clock

Frank also visited second grade teacher Robin Walker’s class. Using the same app, students recorded observations of growth patterns of the Wisconsin Fast Plants they are growing as part of a science unit.

Justine LaSala visited 1st and 3rd graders at Middlebrook Elementary School. First grade students in Miss Berry’s class used iPod touches loaded with the StoryKit app to create digital storybooks about the different species of penguins. Mrs. Lopez’s third grade students wrote, illustrated, and recorded their own adventure stories using the same app.

Here are some examples of student work from Middlebrook Elementary School:

Justine helps a student with their iPod

1st grade:

• Emperor Penguins by Ryan and Dylan
• African Penguins by Lily and Magdalena

3rd grade:
Picnic On The Beach By Lauren And Amanda

Jennifer Silverman will be visiting Miss Porter’s School in Farmington to conduct a Digital Learning Day activity with freshman enrolled in Algebra 1. Students will first translate set situations into algebraic sentences. Then, using an iPad loaded with a graphing calculator app, they will then compare the costs of developing a product from two different companies. Students will work with a number of variables to answer the algebraic problems using a new  technology.

Center for 21st Century Skills is proud to have been a part of the first-annual Digital Learning Day. Thanks to all of the schools, teachers, and students who participated!

More than 200 high school students from across Connecticut will travel to Quinnipiac to attend programs on movie making and entrepreneurship on Dec. 19 and 20.

Sessions will run from 8:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at various campus locations each day.

Participants in the Digital Media and Movie Making program on Monday, Dec. 19, will study producing, camera, lighting, editing, marketing and advertising, multimedia production and design for both traditional and emerging broadcast platforms.

Liam O’Brien, professor of communications, will make a presentation about his student film project in South Africa.

“This program is unique nationally for its cutting-edge involvement in digital media arts technology for high school students, in their preparation for higher education work in film, video and interactive digital media production and design and for their future careers in the entertainment and information industries,” O’Brien said.

On Dec. 20, students who attend the E-Commerce Entrepreneurship program will hear lectures on business marketing, business planning, web design and media and break-even analysis. Thomas A. Capone, chairman and CEO of www.MTP-USA.com, one of the country’s fastest growing telecommunications companies, will deliver the keynote address.

These programs are part of Connecticut Career Choices, an initiative set up by the Connecticut Office for Workforce Competitiveness. They engage high school students throughout the state in education that stimulates interest and develops skills in science, technology, engineering and math. Connecticut Career Choices is implemented by the Center for 21st Century Skills at Education Connection who recently received an Investment in Innovation Grant (i3) from the U.S. Department of Education to develop an Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

The Digital Media and Moving Making Program, currently in 12 Connecticut high schools, will become the 10th grade technology course for the academy sequence next September. Ten Connecticut high schools are involved with the E-Commerce Entrepreneurship course this year. E-Commerce Entrepreneurship is set to be the 11th grade technology course for the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Student work will be presented at the CT Innovation Expo with films submitted to the Connecticut Student Film Festival in May.

Quinnipiac has been involved since the inception with the Connecticut Career Choices’ Digital Media and Movie Making Program and is now a partner of the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Several area schools will be participating in a program designed by Education Connection that promotes digital literacy, collaborative problem solving and social responsibility while using the Internet.

“It’s about creating a sequence of courses, a model program in high schools, that engages the student in the stem fields,” said Frank LaBanca, the director of the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for Education Connection, which is based in Litchfield.

The program is being funded through a $4.43 million U.S. Department of Education grant that was obtained by the educational group, which is scheduled to hold an official launch ceremony today (Jan. 14) for the program.

It had initially been scheduled for a day earlier but was postponed due to the questionable road conditions that day after storm Benedict delivered about two feet of snow to the area.

Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Stamford) and U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Cheshire) had planned to attend the event before it was postponed.

Dr. LaBanca, who formerly was the chairman of the Science Department at Oxford High School, said the instruction would include collaborative problem-solving activities in the stem fields, as well as instruction in digital persona, knowledge of role in the digital society and protection of your personal information that is online.

A news release from Education Connection stated that 16 middle schools and 12 high schools, including Brookfield High School (BHS), would participate in the program.

The news release reported that Education Connection’s application to the federal Education Department was the only one that was approved from Connecticut and was rated as the sixth best application that was submitted.

BHS Principal Bryan Luizzi said the school already is part of a program developed by Education Connection in which ninth-grade students in Earth and Energy are using digital skills.

He said the program would be expanded to a biology class during the next academic year.

“Information literacy is an important 21st-century skill,” Dr. LaBanca said.

“Students need to be able wade through the vast amount of information that is online,” he added.

In addition to Brookfield, other school districts participating in the program are Bethel, Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, North Canaan, Region 1, Sharon, East Haven, Manchester, New Britain, New Haven and Waterbury, as well as North Adams, Mass., according to the news release from Education Connection.

“It is a blended experience for students where they have a course Web shell that is similar to the Blackboard system that is used at some of the colleges,” Dr. Luizzi said regarding the use of online functions.

He said the students work on discussion boards, Wikis and videos.

Dr. Luizzi said that in the science class at BHS students have a comprehensive project in which they focused on an oil spill and they worked in groups to come up with a solution.

Dr. LaBanca said the use of the media has taken teachers from being “sages” and turned them into “facilitators.”

“Students know how to assemble a PowerPoint slide show,” Dr. Luizzi said. “The teachers now have to focus more on the end result of what the project should look like.”

Dr. LaBanca said students have to recognize that Internet postings can have an impact on their college applications and job interviews.

John Battelle, a writer and consultant on digitization, told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in 2005 that a search on Google for a person may provide a skewed profile, since the controversial aspects that that person’s life would probably generate the most activity and be on the first page of the Google search.

Also, he has written in his book, “The Search,” that by recalibrating its system Google can cause an online company to lose a vast amount of its business if it suddenly is less prominent during a Web search.

Mr. Battelle stated that Google and its rivals had rewritten how business was being performed in the United States.

“The social network is part of your digital persona,” Mr. LaBanca said, making reference to the impact of Facebook and other social networking Web sites that have grown in popularity in recent years.

Anthony Ciarleglio, the director of the cooperative education work-study program at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, has asked students at that school if they would want a potential employer to read their Facebook page.

“That is part and parcel of who you are,” Dr. LaBanca said.

“Your employer will see your Facebook page,” Mr. LaBanca said. “It is part of your resume.”

Dr. Luizzi said that students also need to learn more about the responsibility of communicating responsibility through digitization, which has become a larger issue as some bloggers believe they can take on a different persona and in some instances aggressively criticize other people, partly because they can be anonymous.

“There are instances of cyber bullying and taking on a persona that they would not have in the real world,” the BHS principal said.

“Students need to learn that good digital citizenship is not much different than good citizenship in the real world,” Dr. Luizzi said.

The Brookfield Board of Education is currently considering a proposal to add a second library media specialist at BHS to help students become more adept at digital communications.

Litchfield, Conn.— On January 13, 2011, EDUCATION CONNECTION’s Center for 21st Century Skills officially launches the “Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences”. More than 40 educators and state officials are expected to attend, including U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy and Gov. Dannel Malloy. The launch takes place at 10:00 a.m. at EDUCATION CONNECTION’s Litchfield campus located at 355 Goshen Road (Rte. 63).

The Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) course sequence designed to motivate student artistic and creative skills in the use of digital media and apply those skills to the study of science and technology. “What really sets the course apart from any other high school course is [the] sheer excitement,” said William Battle, a Kennedy High School alumnus of the program. According to Battle, “You can be absolutely creative, [have] free range over your own projects, and gain real-world experience.”

With the receipt of a $4.43 million U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) grant, the Academy will develop, implement and evaluate a rigorous, dynamic and innovative grade 9-12 STEM curriculum in 16 Connecticut middle schools and 12 Connecticut high schools.

EDUCATION CONNECTION, the regional educational service center for western Connecticut, was one of only 49 districts, schools and non-profit organizations nationally to receive the U.S. Department of Education’s highly competitive i3 grant. The i3 development grants were awarded to entities that proposed the most innovative programs for improving teacher effectiveness, turning around low-performing schools, raising standards, developing new assessments and building data systems. More than 1,700 applications were submitted; EDUCATION CONNECTION’s proposal was the only Connecticut-based application to be funded, and was the sixth highest-rated application nationwide.

“Receiving the Investing in Innovation grant is a great opportunity for us and [for] our partner districts. We all feel extremely grateful and proud to have our work validated by the U.S. Department of Education,” said Matthew Worwood, Digital Curriculum Specialist for EDUCATION CONNECTION’s Center for 21st Century Skills. “This program will allow us to take our model to the next level and reach an entirely new generation of students who will use our curriculum and blending learning methodology,” Worwood said.

The i3 grant will provide funding over five years to support the development and delivery of innovative STEM learning opportunities to middle and high school students from Bethel, Brookfield, Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, North Canaan, Region 1, Sharon, East Haven, Manchester, New Britain, New Haven and Waterbury, Conn., as well as North Adams, Mass. The Academy is designed to serve as a model STEM curriculum.

The i3 grant is a collaboration among EDUCATION CONNECTION, the State Department of Education, Connecticut College of Technology, Southern Connecticut State University, Connecticut Pre-Engineering Program, CT Office for Workforce Competitiveness, Education Development Center and several private industry partners.

Press Release Contact Information:

Janet Sebastiano, Marketing and Communications Coordinator
355 Goshen Road, P.O. Box 909
Litchfield, CT 06759-0909
Phone: (860) 567-0863 x194
Fax: (860) 567-3381
Email: sebastianoj@educationconnection.org
Website: www.educationconnection.org

Program Information
Website: skills21.org

Frank LaBanca, Ed.D. Director of the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, at 860.567.0863 x142 or labanca@educationconnection.org

Jane Donn, Managing Director of the Center for 21st Century Skills, at 860.567.0863 x138 or donn@educationconnection.org

###

EDUCATION CONNECTION does not discriminate in any of its programs, activities, or employment practices on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, religion, age, disability, veteran, marital or familial status. To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA Director, Office of Civil Rights, Washington, DC 20250-­‐9410.

So you think you want to be a doctor, physical therapist, or veterinarian?

The Regional Internship Program, coordinated by Education Connections in Litchfield, offers area high school juniors and seniors a chance to try out a career in health care.

With the cost of college steadily climbing and many health care careers now requiring six or more years of education, checking out the field to see if you’ll actually like it is a plus.

“The purpose of the program is to help students make better, more informed career choices,” said Karen Moore, program coordinator at Education Connections.

Students chosen for the program work three hours a week for nine weeks with a professional in the field.

“We try to match students as closely as possible with the medical field — human or animal — they’re interested in,” Moore said.

Students have been placed in a variety of specialties, including physical therapy, nursing, nutrition, dental, pediatrics, oncology, psychiatry, radiology. They may work in a doctor’s office, therapy center or Danbury, Waterbury or New Milford Hospitals.

“The students get to shadow the professional,” said Moore, “and really see what they do.”

For many students, said Peg Ragaini, school to career counselor at Newtown High School, their idea of what it’s like to work in a hospital is based either on their own experience as a patient or what they see on TV.

Students actually get to help with some tasks and do tangentially related jobs like office work. Nicole Mendelson, a senior at Pomperaug High School in Southbury, has participated in the program for two years. Last year she worked in Danbury Hospital and this year she was paired up with Dr. Rajadevi Satchi of Child Care Associates in Danbury.

“I want to be a nurse practitioner in either pediatrics or family practice,” Mendelson said.

She said the experience she’s gained through the program has been invaluable.

“I’ve seen two live births,” she said, “and the opportunity to interact with patients has helped me see what I’ve learned in the classroom applied to real life.”

Anatomy and physiology make much more sense when you’re applying it to a real body, Mendelson said.

“Most students who participate in the program find it makes their courses in school much more relevant,” said Ragaini. “Working in a professional setting also helps students learn about the responsibilities of a real job,” she said. “Dress code, time sheets, having a professional demeanor are all part of the on-the-job training.”

Before participating in the internship program, Mendelson’s only other job experience was helping out at a concession stand.

“This work is very different from the concession stand,” she said. “You have to have a professional attitude and learn to collaborate with other staff members and patients in a respectful way,” she said.

All students attend a mandatory orientation session led by Jane DeAngelo, staff education specialist at Danbury Hospital.

“The students learn about safety issues, communication, HIPPA Privacy regulations,” she said. “Everything they see on the job, stays on the job,” she emphasizes.

The students are at the perfect point for us to pull them into the field of health care, DeAngelo said. “The doctors, nurses, managers are excited to cultivate this interest in the students.”

Dr. Satchi said she enjoys sharing her knowledge with the students and stimulating their interest in pediatrics.

“I want them to know that it’s a long haul with medicine,” she said. “It’s a commitment and requires sacrifice so it’s good if they see what the career they’re thinking of actually entails.”

In addition to the field experience, interns attend monthly meetings and presentations on various facets of employment in health care, such as diversity and patient communication. There are written assignments and the students receive an evaluation on their performance, Moore said.

“The meetings are great,” said Ragaini “because they bring together kids from other high schools with similar interests.”

Did participating in the program confirm for Mendelson her decision to pursue a career in health care? Absolutely, she said.

“It really inspired me,” she said and she can’t wait to start her college studies in the fall.

For some students, being an intern makes them realize health care is not for them.

“We had one girl,” Moore recalls, “who wanted to be a vet and found out while working in an animal hospital that she’s allergic to dog hair!”

Given the time and money she would have spent pursuing an education in veterinary medicine, Moore said, “we still consider that a success!”