A - Architecture
1) Visit the sites below and then briefly describe the architecture of
Japanese homes.
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/house/index.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2111.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_Japan (info on size of average home)
Metric conversion:
http://www.metric-conversions.org/area/square-meters-to-square-feet.htm
2) Now that you know the average size of a Japanese home draw a 2-D scale
model of the floor plan of a Japanese home. Label, dimensions, furniture, and
rooms. Also, include a how many feet each one grid unit represents.
3) What is the area of the home you designed?
Challenge: Compute the cost of purchasing Goza Tatami Mats for each of the
rooms except the bathroom(s) and kitchen.
See the bottom of the page,
http://www.jun-gifts.com/specialcollections/tatami/tatami.htm
*Include cost of shipping
*What is the area of a each rug?
*What area of the house will not be covered by Tatami mats given that you have
one mat per room except in the kitchen and bathroom?
B - Bullet Trains
1) Visit http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018.html. What maximum speed did the
bullet trains
travel at in 1964? What maximum speed do they reach today?
2) Convert the top speed of today's Japanese Bullet Trains to miles/hr
showing all work and using unit rates. 1 km = 0.62 miles
C - Currency
1) Visit the following site and check out the current exchange rate between
the Yen (JPY) and US
dollar (USD):
http://coinmill.com/chart/JPY_USD.html
2) If you found this awesome souvenier for 250 JPY, how much USD would that
cost you? SHOW ALL
WORK FOR FULL CREDIT
3) If you decide to bring $300 USD with you on your trip to Japan, how much
JPY will you have?
SHOW ALL WORK FOR FULL CREDIT
D -Dolls
Visit http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/manga/0703/index.html
1) Briefly describe the doll festival and why it is celebrated.
Visit: http://www.asianimportstore.com/japanesedolls.html
2) If you had purchased the doll found at this site,
http://vancouver.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-art-collectibles-Japanese-Doll-Geisha-Figurine-in-
Kimono-W0QQAdIdZ46458830
and wanted to enclose it is a glass case, what would be the smallest possible
volume of your case?
Challenge: Your sister bought a similar doll just like that one on Nakura.com
except the new doll's
length, width, and height are each 4 times larger. Without computing the
volume, how many times
larger would be the glass case needed to enclose your sister's doll?
E - Economy
Visit http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e644.html
1) What are some of Japan's major imports and exports?
Visit
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html#Econ
2) Create a circle graph of the labor force by occupation. (This information
can be found under
"economy labor force by occupation"
F - Food and Fractions
1. Visit the following site to learn about the diet of the Japanese. List 3
or 4 popular items.
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/cook/index.html
2. Visit the following site and triple this recipe. Show all work. EXPRESS
ALL ANSWERS IN US
customary system.
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/cook/dishes/dishes02.html
hint: this site will help you convert grams to ounces.
http://www.weightlossforall.com/grams-
ounces.htm
G - Geography
1) Visit the following site to learn about about the area of Japan:
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/ja.html
2) What is the total area? What does it include? What state does the area
of Japan compare?
H -History
Visit http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e641.html
1) Pick one period of Japanese history and briefly describe it.
2) Approximately how many years do
es Japanese history span?
CHALLENGE: Look at the history of the soroban at the sites below. Where did
it come from, how
long has it been used in Japan, and more importantly how does it work?
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/Arithmetic/Soroban.shtml
http://www.syuzan.net/english/history/history.html
http://www.uitti.net/stephen/soroban/index.shtml
I - Ikebana
Visit this site: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2098.html
1) Briefly describe Ikebana
Visit this site: http://www.ikebanahq.org/convention.html
http://www.hotelclub.net/hotel.reservations/New_Takanawa_Prince_Hotel_Tokyo.htm
2) Supose you stayed at the same hotel as the 9th world convention of Ikebana
on the same dates in
for this current year. How much would it cost you in USD?
3) Misima is very good at ikebana, making flower arrangements. One day, he
decided to decorate his
room, so he cut some fresh flowers in the garden. He had nine roses, eight
carnations, and seven
tulips. After finishing his project, he had four flowers left. How many
flowers did Misima use to make
the ikebana?
Challenge: Learn more about Ikeban at:
http://www.holymtn.com/garden/Ikebana2.htm
J - Japanese
Visit the following site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan
1) What is the life expectancy of the Japanese as of 2006?
Visit: http://www.okicent.org/
2) What is the percent of increase of life expectancy of an average Okinawan
compared to an average
Japanese citizen? How do you find the percent of increase?
(Difference/original)
Round percent of increase to the nearest thousandth and write in scientific
notation.
Visit:
http://health.netscape.com/story/2006/09/16/japans-centenarians-at-record-high-
of-28395/
3) What percent of the total population are centenarians? Hint: Visit the
1st site under "j" to get
the total pop.
Challenge: Explore how many centenarian live in the US. Visit the following
site for help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centenarian Were you surprised?
K - Kendo
Visit: http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/meet/kendo/index.html
1) Briefly describe what Kendo is.
2) What equipment must your wear to practice Kendo?
3) If the Kendo club costs a one time membership fee of $25 and a monthly fee
of $10. Write an
algebraic equation to represent the total cost (T).
4) If you belong to the club for 10 months, how much will you pay?
5) If you have $375 in your baking account, how many months could you belong?
L - Language
Visit: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e621.html AND
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/
lesson1/lesson1_04.html
1) Briefly describe the written Japanese language
Visit: http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/lesson2/lesson2_01.html
2) How would you introduce yourself?
3) If the average Japanese student spends 5 hour a school week everyday
learning to write Japanese
calligraphy, how many hours do they spend learning calligraphy if the school
year is 240 days.
4) If schools in the US went from 180 days to 240 days, what would the
percent of increase be?
SHOW ALL WORK
CHALLENGE: Compare the number of school days students spend in school with
other countries.
Create bar graph using Appleworks spreadsheet.
LOOK UNDER SCHOOL POLICY:
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:DFfDvF2XvvIJ:www.lisproject.org/publications/fampol/
fampol97.xls+length+of+school+year+in+Australia&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us
M - Manga
Visit http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2070.html
1) Breifly describe what manga and anime is.
Visit http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/cool/06-11/cool061101.html
2) Briefly describe the story line of Brave Story
3) If during the month of March 2007 about 45,000 Japanese saw this anime
movie, how much
money would they have earned for UNICEF? Express your answer in USD and JPY
Challenge: http://charityreports.give.org/Public/Report.aspx?CharityID=1982
What percent is raised by trick or treat fund raising?
N - Names
Visit http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/language/lesson2/lesson2_01.html and
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2271.html
1) How would you introduce yourself in Japanese?
2) What is the meaning of most Japanese first names?
3) Briefly describe a couple of the titles.
Visit http://www.babynamenetwork.com/origin.cfm?origin=Japanese
4) What does Etsu mean?
5) Given that a Japanese couple wants four children what is the probability
they will have 4 girls?
Explain your answer for full credit. (hint: look at all the possible
combinations of 4 children that
they could have)
Challenge: Given this couple has 4 children, what is the probability this
couple will have 3 boys and
1 girl OR 3 girls and a boy?
O - Okinawa
Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa
a) What is the capitol of Okinawa?
http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1247.html
b) What happened in Okinawa towards the end of WW II?
c) What is Okinawa's climate like?
visit: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2117.html
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0001713.html
d) If you visited Okinawa and the weather was bad, what might you encounter?
e) About what percent of the Typhoons pass over Okinawa in a given year?
f) The average Typhoon moves at what rate? Given this rate how many miles
could a Typhoon cover
in 6 hours?
http://www.senri-i.or.jp/amcon/typhoon.html
g) What would be the area in square miles covered by a "very large" typhoon
with wind speed over
15 meters per second?
Challenge: Find the range of area in square miles of a "large" typhoon with
wind speed over 15
meters per second.
P - Politics
Visit: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2136.html
a) What does the Diet include?
b) How do you become a member of the Diet?
Visit: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2137.html
c) For how many years have Japanese women been allowed to vote?
Visit: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2135.html
d) Who is Akihito?
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3017.html
e) If you randomky pick a day to visit the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, what is
the probability you will
get to enter the inner palace grounds and see the members of the Imperial Family?
Q - Quail
Visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Quail
a) Where is this species found?
b) What part of Japan does the Japanese Quail live in the winter?
c) How large are Japanese Quails?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=centimeters+to+inches+conversion&btnG=Google
+Search
d) Convert the length into inches. Round your answer to the nearest hundredth.
e) Find a picture of a Japanese Quail and paste it into your document.
R - Religion
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e629.html
a) What are the major religions in Japan?
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2056.html
b) Breifly describe the Shinto religion.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/ja.html
c) How many people practice Shintoism and Buddhism?
d) How many people practice Christianity?
Challenge: You interviewed several Japanese students and found that eighteen
members said they practice Buddhism, 17 practice Shintoism, and 10 practice
other religions.
However, of these, 9 practice Buddhism and Shintoism, 4 practice Buddhism and
other religions, 2
practice Shintoism and other religions, and 2 practice all three. How many
Japanese students were
interviewed? (1st state your interpretation, set up a Venn Diagram, and then
solve)
S - Schools
Visit: http://www.supermath.com/abcnews.htm
a) What problem did Tsuchiya solve in a few minutes? What was his answer?
b) Tsuchiya, who started working with the abacus in kindergarten, practiced
how many hours per
day?
c) If he practices every day until he is in 7th grade, how many hours of
practice will he have?
T - Take a break
http://www.pedagonet.com/brain/brainers.html
solve 3 = C, solve 4 = B, solve 5 = A (show all work for full points)
V - Visiting Cards
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2227.html
a) Briefly describe visiting card or business card guidelines.
http://www.japanese-business-cards.com/samples.htm
http://www.google.com/language_tools - this site will translate your name
to Japanese
b) Design your own business card
http://www.japanese-business-cards.com/pricing.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=euros+to+USD&btnG=Google+Search
c) Convert the price of 250 cards to USD.
d) During your visit to a local Japanese school you collected 11 visiting
cards, Joey collected 15
visiting cards, Lizzy collected 31 visiting cards, Sarah collect 48 visiting
cards, Laura collected 22
visiting cards, Amanda collected 63 and Ben collected 55. Now, create box and
whisker of the data
listed in this problem.
e) Approximately what percent is in each part of your box and whisker?
W - Wii
Visit:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3093&Itemid=2
a) What was the maximum price tag set for each Wii in Japan? What does this
equal to in US dollars?
b) Due to the shortage of Wii�s (because of their popularity) many go on
E-bay for around $350.
What is the percent increase you pay if you buy one off Ebay?
c) How many Wii�s did Nintendo plan to sell by March of 2007? If this occured,
how much money do
they plan to make, in Yen?
Visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates
d) Using your answer from question c), how long would it take Nintendo to make
as much money as
Bill Gate�s Net Worth? (in months and in years)
X - Xtreme Fun
http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/9706/roller.coasters/movies/white.cyclone.41.mov
a) Give the movie time to work. Would you want to ride on this
rollercoaster, White Cyclone, located
inNagashima Spaland in the Mie Prefecture, Japan
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/treehuggerstyle.php
b) Would you ride on this type of rollercoaster? Why or why not? Does it
look fun to you?
http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/records/steel_records.shtml
c) Japan holds several records for their steel rollercoasters. List a few of
them.
d) Given the speed on the Steel Dragon, how long will it take the
rollercoaster to make its longest
drop?
e) Given the speed of the Steel Dragon, how long will the ride last?
Challenge: Design your own Xtreme Rollercoaster. Include the height, length,
degree of drops,
speed, and also research this topic further at
http://www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster/
Y - Yes to Sushi
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2038.html
a) Breifly descirbe some of the different types of sushi.
b) Have you eaten sushi before? Would you like to eat sushi again?
http://www.sushilinks.com/sushi-recipes/rice.html
c) About what percent of a sushi meal is composed of rice?
http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/volume.php
d) About how many tablespoons is 60mL of rice vinegar?
http://www.asiarice.org/sections/gallery/gallery3.html
e) Why has the rice photo gallery been created?
http://www.asiarice.org/sections/learnrice/ricefacts.html
f) How much more rice does the average Myanmar consume compared to the
average American?
Express your answer in percent form.
Challenge: How much less rice does the average American consume compared to
the average
Myanmar? Express your answer in percent form.
Challenge: How many km will a farmer have to walk to prepare 3.5ha?
Z - Zzzz Investigation Time
1) Pick one of the topics listed in the letters with the exception of T and U.
2) Get your topic approved with your math teacher.
3) Investigate your topic and write at least a 500 word article including the
math related to this topic
as outlined in your project.
