Kids Play & Science

I found this great TED Talk that I would like to share with everyone!

What do science and play have in common?

Beau Lotto & Amy O'Toole: Science is for everyone, kids included!

The answer, according to neuroscientist Beau Lotto, is” that play helps us navigate uncertain environments, and that the discovery, cooperation, and motivation that inspire play also inspire science”.

I believe this is a very interesting and unique view of Science.

Science Fair Anyone?

I remember DREADING science fair when I was younger.  All the kids had to do a project, I could never think of a topic I liked, I didn't really understand what to do, and my dad got WAY too involved for it to be enjoyable (I think everyone knew I was being helped when I came to school with a project on Electromagnetism ha ha).  Doing an OAC independent study in Chemistry brought that anxiety back.  Biology was more enjoyable though...

So what about the other sciences??  Isn't Math a science too?  Why do Math students only get to write Math contests to compete for prestigious spots to be the engineering elite (for example)?

Check out the Canadian Mathematical Society's Math Projects for Science Fairs

A message from the society's president (late 90's) has this message:

This message is the prologue to several pages with the topics such as Numbers, Scheduling, Games, etc.  You may want to mention this in your math classes next time Science Fair rolls around.  It could get an award just for being unique!

Why is it always x?

During one of our assignments, I came across a short TED talk by Terry Moore called "Why is 'x' the unknown?" During this 4 minute video, he explains how x actually originated in the Arabic word for "the unknown thing" that couldn't be directly translating into any European language, since there was no equivalent character to represent it. To solve this problem, they use the Greek letter chi ( χ ), and I'm sure you can guess the rest from there. I have often heard students ask why we always seem to use x, and I remember wondering that myself when I was in high school. Usually, teachers would answer something like, who knows? or they just really liked that letter. Well, now you can tell your students the real answer!

On that note,

From Patterns to Algebra

Back in April I was lucky enough to attend a professional development session on algebra skills through the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. The workshop surrounded Dr. Ruth Beatty's book From Patterns to Algebra (a sampler can be found here) which seeks to use patterning development and different algebra tools to help bridge the math gaps between grades 8 and 9. Her emphasis is on approaching the development of an algebra skill set through specific pattern problem solving and manipulative use.

The book itself gives great examples of activities, lessons and creative tools that can be used to serve this purpose. A lot of what she emphasized was the way we get students to start thinking about algebra in terms of its organic structure. Why do we set up our algebra questions in this way, what makes this method work and will it always work? Beatty's book sets up activities and lessons that will get students thinking about algebra in a new light and one that will hopefully foster a better understanding of underlining meanings of algebra and less of the rote learning associate with it.

The nice thing about the activities in this book were how simple they were to tailor to the classroom. Many of the activities, in a similar vein to Van de Walle, were relatively short and could be developed and edited easily to fit the needs of your students. They also provided a lot of nice guiding prompts to help students get into a good discussion and to make sure that you were asking the right questions, at certain points, to really have students think about what it is they are doing when we ask them to engage with algebra. Beatty as well is a strong supporter of the use of proper manipulatives and gave great instructions on how to work with algebra tiles in a different way to help frame how an actual equation would look in physical terms.

The information in From Patterns to Algebra is definitely useful in developing a more intuitive and reflective algebra classroom and is worth getting you hands on!

Math Teachers Beyond the Classroom

Although high school was a while ago, I vividly remember my math teachers, not only because of their teaching styles and skills, but rather their commitment to students outside of the classroom.  On every school team I was a part of in school, every year, every semester at least 1 math teacher was present on the coaching staff.  Furthermore, every math teacher I had was a coach on some sports team at my high school.  It was a math teacher, who when I was in grade 9, offered to drive me home every night after practice so I could play rugby for the school team.  It was this commitment to me that showed me how to go that extra mile for my students.  This may also by why I enjoy being in the math classroom.  I do not know where I would be today if not for the actions of this particular math teacher.  Rugby has been the stepping stone for my entire educational and even professional career.  It is a game I still play and coach to this day.  My math teacher/coaches would always bring the classroom to the field and the field to the classroom.  They would ask us math questions between plays to see if we were still thinking clearly and relate math to sports in the class to make it easier for us “jocks” to understand.  I remember going to away games and coaches tutoring players in their seats, as well as going to Europe and 3 of my rugby coaches having a tutoring session with over half the team in various math courses so we wouldn't fall behind in our studies. I don’t know what it was about the math teachers at my school to want to be involved with sports.  Maybe it is the crossover between sports and mathematics, maybe they are avid sports fans, maybe it is something else altogether. I still keep in contact with most of them to this day, and every one of them continues to coach numerous sports.

Do any of you have any similar experiences regarding your math teachers?

Pretty good website

I found this website as I was researching some questions for one of our assignments and I just thought I would pass it along to the group. I found that it could be very helpful for both teachers and students as it has a lessons section and a worksheet section. The lessons portion is mainly quick several point lesson but it could be used by students who just need to some reminding when it comes to concepts. Also, like any math website, the worksheet can be manipulated to fit your classroom needs or as practice for students who need a little bit extra help. Hope this helps...

http://www.purplemath.com/

Math Jokes or Thoughts of the Day

I know many teacher's who put up little riddles, brainteasers or thoughts of the day to engage their students when they walk into the classroom.  Here's a great site that could give us a lot of material to do this in a math classroom. 

http://www.math.utah.edu/~cherk/mathjokes.html

This is my favourite one:

Top ten excuses for not doing homework:

• I accidentally divided by zero and my paper burst into flames.
• Isaac Newton's birthday.
• I could only get arbitrarily close to my textbook. I couldn't actually reach it.
• I have the proof, but there isn't room to write it in this margin.
• I was watching the World Series and got tied up trying to prove that it converged.
• I have a solar powered calculator and it was cloudy.
• I locked the paper in my trunk but a four-dimensional dog got in and ate it.
• I couldn't figure out whether i am the square of negative one or i is the square root of negative one.
• I took time out to snack on a doughnut and a cup of coffee.
• I spent the rest of the night trying to figure which one to dunk.
• I could have sworn I put the homework inside a Klein bottle, but this morning I couldn't find it.
Warning! It is against the rule to use these excuses in my classes! A. Ch.