math

01
Mar
2015

March Math Madness

March is an awesome month. The snow starts to melt, the temperature outside rises, the number of daylight hours increases, and NCAA March Madness takes place.

Over the last few years I have been incorporating March Madness into my probability lessons, but I haven’t been entirely happy with the outcome. Once again, I have tweaked my lesson. As I still have a few weeks before the competition begins, I may tweak again. I will also update the file to include the teams in the charts before distributing to my students. Until then, here is what I can share, so far:

March Math Madness 2015

Have a great week.

 

Updated File:

March Math Madness 2015

 

 

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27
Jan
2015

Interesting Resources

This week I came across two interesting educational resources, the National Stem Centre in the UK and surprisingly, the National Security Agency (who knew?).

I was searching for solubility animations when I came across the National Stem Centre. According to their website, they house  “the UK’s largest collection of STEM and teaching resources”. The e-library is definitely the place to be on that website, where you can search their vast resources by topic, age range, type/format, publisher, or year. If interested, here is the resource I found for solubility (which is actually only a small part of this resource).

The second site was found as I was exploring creative ideas for teaching slope. One of the documents that came up in my search was a pdf from NSA website. I was surprised at the source, and so I went to their main site to see what other type of resources were available. Finding the education section was a bit tricky and wasn’t easily accessible from their main page, but I managed to find the right area. The section is titled “Concept Development Units”, and the right side bar allows you to choose elementary, middle school, or high school. Once on the correct school section, there are a variety of math topics with lesson and unit plans to explore. Here is the resource that I found which uses Geometer’s Sketchpad to help teach slope concepts. (Update – This section no longer appears to be part of the website)

Have a great week.

 

Posted by admin in General Science, Math, 0 comments
18
Jan
2015

Can It!

One of the assignments that my grade 8 students completed is called “Can It”. Our unit mixed both cylinder and angle concepts, and the assignment touched on both.

The premise of the assignment is as follows:

“You are the owner of a food processing company. You have a new product that you want to market, and a major grocery store has agreed to sell your product. You will need to design a can and a label for your product.”

The students are then led through a series of ten different steps to complete, beginning with product ideas, then walking them through the design of the can and label, and ending with pitching the product. It is assessed with an IB Communication rubric.

I have shared it here for anyone to access.

Can It!

Have a fabulous week.

Posted by admin in Math, 0 comments
02
Jan
2015

Begin the year with math.

I have three math websites to share before school begins again next week.

The first, Mr. P’s Math Page, is suggested based on the Puzzles & Games page.  Explore the other pages as you wish, but make sure to spend some time looking through the variety of puzzles and games that he has shared in this section. The other real treasure on this website is the Problem of the Month archive.

Next, visit the Number Loving Resources site. There are a multitude of games to be found here, searchable by strand, topic, or UK Key Stage Levels. When you are finished there, head over to the Number Loving Blog to find great teaching ideas.

Finally, Mr. Barton’s Maths has a slew of worthwhile resources. You can wander over to the Just for Fun or explore his blog, but I have spent the most time on the Teachers page. While there, be sure to look through the Teaching Resources and then wander over to the Tarsia Jigsaw Bundle.

Have a fabulous new year.

 

Posted by admin in Math, 0 comments
15
Dec
2013

Instead of Magic Squares…

I was looking for some integer challenges for some of my students, and I came across Dr. Mike’s Math Games for Kids. If the advertisements don’t bother you, then you can find some interesting worksheets for math. The one that peeked my interest was the Magic Hexagon worksheet generator. Magic Hexagons work in the same way as Magic Squares, with the obvious shape change. I liked that this worksheet generator can create Magic Hexagons with positive and negative integers.

Explore the rest of his site to learn about a variety of math games, or head to his worksheet page and you will find worksheet generators for other math puzzles and mazes, as well as for standard review.

Have a great week.

Posted by admin in Math, 0 comments
24
Nov
2013

Making Ends Meet

I have recently finished a budgeting activity with my grade 8 math class titled, “Making Ends Meet”. (The document is attached below.)

Each student was given a “job” with an entry level salary. The first step was for them to determine their after-tax monthly income. They then needed to determine how they were going to allocate their income to the following categories:

  • Food
  • Housing
  • Utilities
  • Transportation
  • Medical Expenses
  • Entertainment
  • Sports/Fitness
  • Clothing
  • Miscellaneous
  • Savings

Students came into class with a report that outlined the distribution of income in their budget. For the summative task they were then presented with a series of challenges and unexpected problems to consider. These were not shared with the students beforehand.

It was a time consuming task, but well worth the learning experience. My students now have a sense of the value of the dollar, the importance of getting a good job, and the reality that life is more costly then they realized.

Have a great week.

Posted by admin in Math, 0 comments
09
Feb
2013

App Review – Math Doodles and Symmetry Shuffle

There are two apps by Carstens Studios that I have loaded onto our school iPads.

The first app is called Math Doodles and it sells for $2.99. The user is given three challenges (a fourth is in development) that revolve around addition, logic, and algebraic thinking. In the first challenge, Sums Stacker, the user needs to manipulate values within three piles in order to reach a target sum. In the second challenge, Connect Sums, the user must select values that reach a target sum. In the third challenge, Unknown Square, the user must find the missing value in a 3-by-3 array of numbers. One of the things I love about this app (in addition to the awesome graphics) is the ability to play in a variety of number systems. The user can choose to play with values represented as dice, fingers, holes, ten frames, tally marks, binary system, Braille, number prefixes, polygons, US coins and dollars, a variety of fraction types, Roman numerals, numbers shown in  either Chinese, Arabic, Gurmukhi, Hindi, Hebrew, or Spanish, or a mixture of all of the above. There are different levels of difficulty, as well. All of these options allow the app to be used across a number of grade levels.

The second app is called Symmetry Shuffle and it sells for $1.99. The user must either rotate (turn), reflect (flip) or translate (slide) the image so that all targets have been matched. The user can select from 12 possible images to “shuffle”, and can also change the size of the “shuffle” grid. Its features are not as diverse as on the first app, but I still find it a great addition to our math apps on the iPads.

Both apps allow the user to track the number of moves they have used so that they can attempt to solve the puzzle in the fewest possible moves, which is another great feature for differentiation.

Have fun playing.

 

Posted by admin in Math, Using Tech, 0 comments
22
May
2012

Playing with Probability

I had to plan for the last 6 teaching days with my grade 8 math classes, and after that we are into exam review and end-of-year trips. We had not yet covered probability, so I thought that I could design some mini-activities to carry out over these six days.

Here is my plan for the six days:

Day 1:
-Introduce terminology (probability, theoretical probability, experimental probability)
-Each student is given an activity to carry out with either dice or spinners (see attachment below)
-Discussion of theoretical and experimental probability as related to the dice and spinner activities

Spinner and Dice Activities

Days 2/3:
-Introduce game assignment (see attachment below)
-Allow time for students to decide if they are working alone or in small groups
-Planning time for students to organize the activity

Game Assignment

Days 4/5/6:
-Students lead activities for class
-Class discussions of how each activity went and how other factors might have come into play. Classmates suggest ideas for improvement.

We just finished the first day of activities in one of the classes, and already students are learning how to modify their activities based on how the first ones went.

We will play some more tomorrow.

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23
Apr
2012

Pythagorean Theorem…Take 2.

This week I begin Pythagorean Theorem with my grade 8 students. I intend to use many of the same applets as last year (see Fun with Applets), with a few new additions.

Illuminations Proof without Words – This is similar to Puzzle 1 from the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. The difference here is that this applet runs for you and asks you to figure out the proof from what you see. In the NLVM applet, you manipulate the pieces yourself. I still prefer the NLVM applet, but this is a nice alternative.

IES Applet – This is similar to their applet that I shared last year. In this applet, one of the squares gets transferred whole, while the other one is broken into pieces. The whole square and the pieces must fit into square “c”. (Update – this link appears to be broken)

Learning Math – This site from learner.org has some features that I like. In Part A, students are led through some inquiries and then the theorem is explained. Part B then leads students through a few different proofs. Part C and the Homework section have some interesting questions to solve. (Update – site disabled)

Wolfram Math World – This site has some of the proofs already mentioned on other applets and sites, they are all just put together in the same place.

I plan on showing my students a few of the proofs, and then providing them with the websites so that they can explore. They will need to choose one that makes sense to them, and then find a way to display it with reference to a real-world problem of their choosing. In the past, students have used foam board or bristle board and made pieces that they could move around and fit with Velcro. Other students created their own digital demonstrations of one of the proofs. Some simply created diagrams. Again, I will leave it up to them to choose a method they can work with.

I can’t wait for the fun to begin.
Have a great week.

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15
Apr
2012

Playing with Platonic Solids

This week I am starting to explore platonic solids with my grade 8 students. The key question that I want them to answer is “Why are there only five platonic solids?” (For a brief explanation, see the MathsIsFun website.  For a more detailed explanation, read this entry from The University of Utah.)

I want this to be a true exploration activity, and as such, I will give my students limited information. I will not volunteer this information, but I will give it only after they determine the right questions to ask.

First, the students will be given nets of the platonic solids so that they can build them and use them in their exploration. I will be giving them the copy from the learner.org interactives.

They will also get scissors and a handout with the regular polygons. They may cut out the polygons and use them as manipulatives. There are eight copies of each polygon, from three-sided to eight-sided figures.

Regular Polygons Handout

I have also created a Notebook file for the Smartboard. This will be open for the students to come and explore with, as well. It is not fancy. On one side of the page are the platonic solids for the students to see. On the other side of the page are the regular polygons, set up as infinite clones. In the middle of the page is a play area. Students can thus pull out copies of the polygons, turn them around, and see how they fit together. (The polygons were created from the tools in the program, and the platonic solid images were taken from Wikipedia. If you click on each image on the second page of the file, you will be taken to the home site for that image. )

Platonic Solids Notebook File (Unfortunately, this is what the Notebook file looks like as a PDF. WordPress will not allow me to upload the Notebook file. Help anyone?)

Should students get frustrated, I will begin to lead them through the following thought process:

  • Consider the regular polygons. Starting with the triangle, what is the measure of each interior angle? Continue for the rest of the polygons.
  • What do you notice about the sum of the interior angles of the polygons, as you go from three-sided figures up to eight-sided figures?
  • Which of these polygons are able to tessellate? Why are they able to tessellate?
  • Which of these would be able to be constructed into a polyhedron? Why wouldn’t all of the regular polygons be able to be constructed into a polyhedron?

They can then go play on the Learner.org website.

The final task will be for them to submit an explanation as to why there are only five platonic solids. I will accept written work or digital work – students can choose which method suits them best.

Have a great week.

Posted by admin in Math, 0 comments