Five warm-ups for grades 6–8. Each takes three to five minutes. Answers and teacher notes are in the collapsed box under each prompt.
ELA
Many English words are built from Greek and Latin word parts. Use these parts to work out what each word below means: tele- (far off), micro- (small), audio- (hearing or sound), -graph (something written or drawn), and -phone (sound). Then answer: what do the word parts in saxophone suggest about what it is? Finally, invent your own word using one of these parts, and write its definition.
- telephone
- telegraph
- microphone
- audiobook
Answer and teacher notes
1. telephone: sound from far off. 2. telegraph: writing sent from far off. 3. microphone: a device that picks up small sounds (literally “small sound”). 4. audiobook: a book you hear. Saxophone: the -phone ending points to a sound-making instrument, and the first part comes from its inventor’s name, Sax. Invented words: answers will vary. Sample: “telesnack: a snack delivered from far away.”
Word parts give a clue, not a full definition. A microphone doesn’t make sounds smaller, for example, so ask students to check their guess against how the word is used. Merriam-Webster lists “musical instrument” as a sense of -phone, with xylophone as its example. Common mistake: treating any word that contains these letters as a match. Graph and phone also stand alone as everyday words. Extension: find a word with both a word part from this list and one that isn’t on it, such as telescope. What might the second part mean?
Sources: Merriam-Webster: tele-; Merriam-Webster: micr- or micro-; Merriam-Webster: audio-; Merriam-Webster: -graph; Merriam-Webster: -phone
Math
Use percents to answer each question. (These prices are made up for practice.)
- A $60 jacket is 25% off. What is the sale price?
- Sales tax of 8% is added to the sale price. How much is the tax, and what is the total?
- A game ticket goes from $30 to $36. What is the percent increase?
- A $50 pair of shoes is 20% off, and a coupon takes 20% off that lower price. A friend says that’s the same as 40% off. Is your friend right? Show how you know.
Answer and teacher notes
1. 25% of $60 = $15, so the sale price is $60 − $15 = $45.
2. 8% of $45 = 0.08 × 45 = $3.60. Total: $45 + $3.60 = $48.60.
3. The increase is $6. 6 ÷ 30 = 0.2 = 20%.
4. No. After the first discount: 0.8 × $50 = $40. After the coupon: 0.8 × $40 = $32. At 40% off, the price would be 0.6 × $50 = $30. The friend’s method is off by $2.
Check on #2: 1.08 × 45 = 48.60. ✓ Check on #4: the total discount is $18 of $50, which is 36%, not 40%. ✓ Common mistake on #3: dividing by the new price (6 ÷ 36) rather than the starting price. Common mistake on #4: adding the percents, even though the second 20% applies to a smaller amount. Extension: why does the order of the two 20% discounts not change the final price? What if a tax is added afterward?
Science
Adolphe Sax was born on November 6, 1814, in Dinant, Belgium, and patented the saxophone in 1846. A saxophone has a single reed and a cone-shaped metal tube with about 24 openings controlled by padded keys. The sound you hear depends on the air vibrating in that tube. Higher frequency means higher pitch, and opening a hole shortens the part of the tube that sounds. (a) How many years ago was Sax born? How old was he, about, when the patent came through? (b) Which has the higher pitch, a note at 220 vibrations per second or one at 440? (c) A player opens more keys, one after another. Does the pitch go up or down? Why? (d) A baritone saxophone is much bigger than a soprano saxophone. Which plays lower notes? Explain using tube length. (e) Predict: you cut two straws to different lengths and blow across each one. Which sounds higher?
Answer and teacher notes
(a) 2026 − 1814 = 212 years. 1846 − 1814 = about 32 years old. (b) The 440 note. More vibrations per second means higher pitch. (c) Up. Each opened hole shortens the sounding length of the tube. (d) The baritone. Its longer tube gives a lower pitch. (e) The shorter straw sounds higher.
Britannica’s wind instrument article says that adding to the sounding length lowers pitch, and that lifting fingers one by one shortens it. Common mistake: thinking that a louder note is a higher note. Volume and pitch are separate properties of a sound. Link to today’s ELA prompt, which covers the -phone ending. If time allows, try the straw test with paper straws. Extension: an octave is a doubling of frequency. What frequency is one octave above 440? (880)
Sources: Britannica: Adolphe Sax (birth, patent); Britannica: Saxophone (reed, tube, keys, sizes); Britannica: Wind Instrument (sounding length and pitch); Britannica: Sound (frequency and pitch)
Social Studies
On November 6, 1869, Rutgers and Princeton met in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for what is known as the first college football game. Rutgers won 6–4. Each team had 25 players, and about 100 people watched. Players could kick the ball or bat it with their hands, but they could not hold or trip an opponent. The field was 360 feet by 225 feet. Princeton won the rematch, so both teams ended the season at 1–1. (a) How many years ago was this game? How many players were on the field at once? (b) Find the area of the field in square feet. (c) List two ways this game differs from football today. (d) Rutgers says the game looked more like soccer, while History.com says it looked more like rugby. How could two fair sources describe the same game differently? (e) If you could change one rule to make the game more fun to watch, what would it be? Give one reason.
Answer and teacher notes
(a) 2026 − 1869 = 157 years. 25 + 25 = 50 players. (b) 360 × 225 = 81,000 square feet. (c) Answers will vary: 50 players at once, no holding or tripping, and each score counted as a “game.” (d) Answers will vary: each writer compared it with a different sport, and the game shared features of both. (e) Answers will vary.
Good source practice: Rutgers says the first team to six “games” won, while the Rutgers athletics archive and History.com describe a contest of 10 combined. Both fit a 6–4 final, so ask students why that detail is hard to settle. Rutgers says Princeton won the rematch 8–0. Students may be surprised that the ball was not carried in this game, since the sources list only kicking and batting. Extension: why might a college want to be remembered for a game like this one?
Sources: Rutgers: In the First Collegiate Football Game (score, rules, field, rematch, soccer comparison); Scarlet Knights: The First Game (place, players, rules, crowd); History.com: First College Football Game (rugby comparison, records)
Current Events
Tooth enamel has no living cells, so the body can’t rebuild it once it has worn away. A November 5 report describes a protein gel from University of Nottingham researchers that may help. The gel contains no fluoride. It attracts the calcium and phosphate minerals found in saliva and helps organize them into new crystals in an orderly pattern. In tests designed to mimic brushing, chewing, and acidic foods, the team reported that the new enamel behaved like healthy enamel. The report says lab results don’t yet show how well it will work in patients over long periods. (a) Why can a scraped knee heal when worn enamel can’t? (b) What does the gel use that your mouth already provides? (c) Why did the team test it against brushing, chewing, and acidic foods? (d) What more would you want to know before calling this a cure for cavities? (e) Even if this gel reaches dentists’ offices, why would brushing still matter?
Answer and teacher notes
(a) Skin has living cells that can rebuild it. Enamel has no living cells to do that work. (b) The calcium and phosphate minerals in saliva. (c) Answers will vary: real teeth face these conditions every day, so a coating has to survive them. (d) Answers will vary: whether it works in real patients, how long it lasts, and whether it is safe. (e) Answers will vary: a repair doesn’t remove the things that cause tooth damage in the first place.
Stress the difference between a lab result and a treatment. The report says more development and clinical testing are needed, and the company involved hopes to have a first product out next year. That is a hope, not a promise. Common mistake: thinking that saliva can do none of this work. It can replace some minerals at the earliest stages of damage, but it can’t rebuild large amounts of lost enamel. The report’s headline asks “Goodbye, Cavities?” Ask students why it ends with a question mark. Extension: write a one-sentence headline that says only what the tests support.
Source: ScienceDaily: Goodbye, Cavities? Scientists Create Gel That Could Regrow Tooth Enamel (enamel, gel, tests, cautions, timeline)
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