Math in Middle School

The math program at PKS is designed to create a mathematical mindset in all our students, helping them become mathematicians, engineers, demographers, and philosophers. In addition to real-world math problems integrated with our Units of Exploration (UoE), Presidio Knolls has adopted the Connected Math Project curriculum. We combine this curriculum with two mathematical “deep dives” each year.

Sixth Grade Deep Dives

• Fractals - Students will examine the careers of mathematicians who were “late bloomers” (like Michael Faraday and Emma Noether) and view the Errol Morris’s film on Benoit Mandelbrot’s explanation of the fractal.

• Cryptography - In this deep dive, students will explore the untold story of the women who cracked the Enigma Code and helped defeat the Nazis.

Seventh Grade Deep Dives

• “Euclidean” geometry - We will study the various ways ancient cultures derived geometric principles.

• The Golden Ratio - This deep dive will look at the role math has to play in relation to art history.
  

Eighth Grade Deep Dives

• Pure and Applied Mathematics - We will take a step back and learn to appreciate the beauty in pure mathematics.

• When Mathematicians Write - This trans-disciplinary literature unit on mathematicians as writers features works such as Symbolic Logic by Lewis Carroll and Flatland by Edwin Abbott.