Cartesian Coordinate Plane

The Algebra 1 class is completing their work on the Graphs and Linear Equations unit. They have been graphing linear equations on a rectangular coordinate plane, also referred to as the Cartesian coordinate plane. The word “Cartesian” is named after the French mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650). He invented the method of visualizing numbers as points on a graph and equations as geometric figures. Descartes succeeded in merging the fields of algebra and geometry to create Coordinate Geometry.

~Michelle Greenbaum
Math Instructor

Taking a Cue from Cal Ripken, Jr.

When I was a little boy, I lived and breathed Orioles baseball. I followed every game I could on the television and radio, I checked the MLB box scores and statistics in the newspaper every day, and I worshipped Brady Anderson, Robby Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, B.J. Surhoff, and Mike Bordick (even though he couldn’t hit). But there was no one—no one—more heroic to me than Cal Ripken, Jr.

Cal was an All-Star virtually every season he played, a two-time Gold Glove winner and is one of the few MLB players to exceed 3,000 career hits. Still, he is probably most famous for breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record—Cal started and played in 2,632 consecutive games for the Orioles. He was an insane work horse who did not quit, and for this he earned the nickname Iron Man.

One day, my father told me something about Cal that surprised me—that although he was easily the strongest fielder on the Orioles, he was known for being the first to arrive to fielding practice and the last to leave. Although Cal was the best, he practiced the most. (Incidentally, my father could have been making all this up. Do fathers make up life lessons? Perhaps this is a topic for another post. Suffice it to say that I believed him at the time and still do.)
The idea of godlike Cal Ripken repeatedly drilling a basic baseball movement has shaped the way I view learning. A lot of people—high schoolers, college students, and adults—see learning as a race. It’s not. Masterful knowledge of a subject requires deep, unshakable fundamentals. We acquire those fundamentals only through long, patient experience.

The past two years at Cardin have really driven this point home for me. In them, I’ve become a tremendously stronger mathematician, and I happen to have done this all while teaching subject matter I already knew cold. Rereading, relearning, and expressing mathematical ideas in front of a class for three hours a day has expanded and strengthened my fundamentals immeasurably. This has been true of every class I’ve taught, even areas I considered completely elementary. I’ve been taking ground ball after ground ball for two years, and suddenly I’m a much better shortstop.

Deep mastery of any field is terribly expensive and can only be bought with time. So find something you love and approach it with patience and thoroughness. Read, reread, then come back later and reread some more. If it’s an option, spend a semester in college to revisit the material you learned in your high school AP class—you will be surprised by how much new insight you get out of a new professor, a different book and a fresh look at the subject. Work slowly through your exercises instead of rushing through them like they’re chores. Learn patiently and thoroughly.

Long, patient learning does not offer immediate satisfaction, but it pays off huge over time. So come to practice early, take a million and one ground balls, and leave late. Learn to love taking little steps forward instead of carelessly racing ahead. One day, you’ll wake up surprised at how far you’ve come.

~Todd Bryant
Math Instructor

In Times of Crisis

Following the accident that involved Nathan Krasnopoler, an ’09 alum, I’ve been thinking a lot about how precious life is. I’ve been so worried about him and hoping for healing and recovery but also concerned about the unexpected events that life throws at us. I’ve been feeling vulnerable, worrying about the idea that such a devastating event could happen to one of my kids, putting myself in Nathan’s parents’ shoes. My heart goes out to them and they are constantly on my mind. The fact that they are handling this tragedy with such bravery and strength is comforting to me. They are masterfully towing the line between being hopeful and realistic.

I’ve also felt comforted by the outpouring of support from the Cardin community, including students, faculty, and all of our families. It’s crises like these that illuminate the care, compassion, and kindness that we share and for me, that helps ease my mind, if even for just the smallest way.

~Jackie Villet
School Counselor

Eggs… Essential for any scientist tool kit

Our Honors Physics class is currently embroiled in an ‘egg drop’ project where they are tasked with building a contraption built of soda straws that can save an egg from a great fall. This project is just one of many amazing opportunities for study using eggs. Here are a few to try at home.

1. Getting a hard boiled egg into a bottle (a wonderful demonstration of vacuum, atmospheric pressure, temperature as it relates to pressure, and kinetic theory of gasses):
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-an-Egg-Into-a-Bottle

2. Dissolving the shell of a raw egg (a wonderful exploration of acid base reactions):

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/eggs/activity-naked.html

3. Examining the interior structures and characteristics of a raw egg (use a flashlight, light table, or window after dissolving the egg above):

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/182/The-structural-components-of-an-egg

Hope you enjoy your egg explorations!

~Cardin Science Department

The Home Stretch

As the weather heats up (at least for today) and February turns to March, we look to the last third of the school year. Next week is interim week, “A Capital Week,” which for many students is the “beginning of the end.” Interim week, a signature program of the Cardin School, takes our students and faculty out of the traditional classroom to learn together for a week of intensive, experiential programs around a specific theme. This year we are exploring our nation’s capital, which is practically in our own backyards. The entire school population will travel to DC to tour governmental facilities, meet with government officials, visit museums and monuments and attend a luncheon at the Israeli embassy. I am sure you will read more about interim week both here and in our school eNewsletter.

Interim week also serves as a renewal week, recharging students and faculty to enthusiastically complete the year. When we return to the classrooms on March 14, we move at lightning speed to the end of the school year. Within what seems like a blink of an eye, we celebrate Purim, Pesach and Shavuot; we remember the Holocaust, reflect on the transition to Medinat Israel, and remember those Israeli soldiers who fell to keep Israel, and those American soldiers who fell to keep us, free. We produce Our Town, acknowledge our athletes at the sports banquet, and celebrate our entire student body at the Awards Ceremony. The junior class travels to look at colleges. The seniors are the busiest, preparing for AP Exams and finals, the prom, their senior Israel experience and graduation.

Come and join us as we complete the final third of the 2011-2012 school year!

~Barbie Prince
Head of School

Literary Reflections

As winter — though it hardly seems apropos to call it that — descends and we enter another spring, I want to take this opportunity to share 2 of my favorite spring poems. Poetry, like the weather, can change our moods, for the better or worse. When we experience a poem, we, like the changing weather, adapt ourselves to it. The first poem was one of Wordsworth’s earlier poems. It blends the light, playful air of spring with the freedom of thought. Read it below, and let me know what images stick out for you

Lines Written in Early Spring William Wordsworth (1798)

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
n that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower, The periwinkle trailed its wreaths; And ’tis my faith that every flower Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

In the second poem that I am going to share, is by Robert Herrick. What strikes me about this poem is the strong images of brooks, blossoms, birds, etc… Each one conjures up a sense of the freedom in spring, of the joyous youth and innocence brought about by the season. What mood does this poem leave you with?

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Hesperides (1648)

I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers:
Of April, May, of June, and July flowers.
I sing of Maypoles, Hock-carts, wassails, wakes, Of bridegrooms, brides, and of their bridal cakes.

I hope you enjoy these poems as much as I did; they offer us a glimpse into our upcoming season: spring. May you have a warm winter and a light, playful spring.

~Joel Neft
English Instructor

Class of 2007 Cardin Alumni Get Ready to Move On

As a parent of two Cardin graduates from the Class of 2007, I am frequently asked how the girls are doing. Four years ago, daughters Chelsea and Johanna were looking forward to high school graduation and exuberant about college acceptances. Now they are only three months away from college commencement and exuberant about their future.


Last week Chelsea received an acceptance to the Social, Decision, and Organizational Science doctoral program in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland. She will spend the next five years working in the Mind Perception and Morality Lab of Dr. Kurt Gray. Chelsea’s interest in moral judgments and their real world implication may well have been sparked by the integrated curriculum she experienced at Cardin. Who knows how many other students in Mr. Cantor’s AP Psychology course will go on to obtain their PhD? For an idea of what Chelsea will be researching, check out a presentation by Dr. Gray delivered a few months ago at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgnR3iIjO_c .

Johanna also received an honor last week. The President of Franklin & Marshall College requested that Johanna introduce David Ferriero, a guest speaker invited to address the full campus community. Mr. Ferriero was appointed by President Obama to serve as the Archivist of the United States responsible for overseeing all branches of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the 13 Presidential Libraries. Johanna worked as an intern with the Legislative Center of the NARA last summer, a wonderful experience which motivated her to apply to Masters programs in Public History – a specialized field of history linking archival and library sciences with outreach to the public. When he thanked Johanna for her introduction, Mr. Ferriero commented that NARA would be delighted to welcome Johanna back to work at the Archives. Next month Cardin students will stop at the National Archives as part of their Interim Week activities. Perhaps one of them will be the next Cardin student to be inspired by the power of seeing primary source documents.

As the first Cardin graduates complete their college studies this spring, we are equally proud of them. They made their mark on campuses across the county and will now enter various fields of scholarly work and professions, well equipped to become leaders of tomorrow.

~Jan Schein
CFO, Financial Literacy Instructor