Other students are taking the average measurements of one of Sea World's marine celebrities and converting them from centimeters to inches in life-size drawings. Their miscalculations could lead to misshapen penguin bellies or whales with too-long tales. Still other students are busy gathering information from different sources for a written report about one of the sea creatures. Everywhere they look, the young students can see math and science coming alive. A number line stretches across two sides of the room so they can visualize negative and positive numbers.
Geometric mobiles made by students hang over their heads.
Out in the hallway by the door hangs a large poster listing the Long Beach Unified School District's math and science standards for sixth grade. And on a table underneath the poster is an album of photos from Family Curriculum Night showing parents hard at work solving problems their children encounter in class. No student in Sandi Machit's class is tediously working only with a textbook, alone and bored. Most obviously, her students have fun learning. Most importantly, they learn a lot.