Math Links for Week Ending Aug. 1st, 2014

Well this is the third year in a row that I missed Twitter Math Camp. If you don't know what it is then click here. But by all accounts it was awesome. You can see the Tweets with the hashtag #tmc14 here. Unfortunately for me it is even further away next year as it is in California.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.twittermathcamp.com/

And speaking of TMC, @MaryBourassa gave me this great suggestion. Desmos has a new activity and as the kids say "it's Sick". The premiss is simple. you are creating parking spaces by painting lines. You have a given number of spots to create in a given amount of space keeping in mind that the actual line dividers for the spaces take up space as well. It may sound kinda lame but it is really well structured. It starts with estimation then moves to something more exact and then finally moves to generating an expression to represent the solution in the general case. It's all done in very dynamic nature that starts very visual and simple and works towards algebraic and more complex. The other part that I like is at the end of each section they ask a question and expect a written response. This is done in a neat way where they show some recent responses (not necessarily all correct) so the student has somewhere to start.

This would be a great way to show students the power of equations, variables and modelling in a way that takes them from real to abstract. This is part of a series of activities that Desmos has developed here where you can create a class online to do them with your own students. Anyway, give this parking activity a shot at the following link (click on the Walk through Central Park link)
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MFM1P, MPM1D
https://teacher.desmos.com/centralpark#

Asking students questions that will invoke thinking is sometimes tough. So it's always good when someone else does the heavy lifting for you. Here is a blog post that has all kinds of questions on topics like series, sequence, probability, statistics, functions, quadratics, polynomials, rationals, exponentials, logs and modelling. There is probably something here for just about ever math course. I think this also came out of the TMC14. Take a look
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MPM2D, MFM2P, MCR3U, MCF3M, MBF3C, MAP4C, MDM4U, MCT4C, MHF4U
http://function-of-time.blogspot.ca/2014/07/essential-questions-for-algebra-2.html

I have seen versions of this in various places but it is worth mentioning it when ever it shows up. Graphing using humans on a grid you put on the floor is a nice kinaesthetic activity. Here is an outline of how to do it.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
http://wncpactivemath.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/human-coordinate-geometry/

I first heard about row games a few years ago from the F(t) blog. I have some that I have helped produce that I will be posting soon but here are some more that have already been created. I like these for two reasons. One, students work in pairs to complete a series of problems and two, they don't work on the same problems but instead work on their own column of problems but the answers for each question in each row match so that students can self check if they have the answer correct. That is, if they get the same answer as their partner in the same row then that means they both must have got it right. If they aren't the same answer then that means that one or both of them is wrong and they both have to work to see why.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MPM2D, MFM2P
https://app.box.com/rowgames/1/35624412/1292989622/1

I like how @thescamdog has summarized all of these assessment strategies. Pick the ones you like and go to town.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hjvn00kq2nxrgwv/60%20Formative%20Assessment%20Strategies.docx

Here is a great video from Numberphile on log tables. I like it because it gives a nice little primer on how calculations used to be done using the log tables. This would be good when teaching logarithms as it gives a nice application (though out dated) of the power of logs.
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRzH4xB0GdM

This is the extension to the above video
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzV50goW_WM

I have said more than once that I love stuff about randomness. And if you ever teach anything about probability then you should too. Here are a couple of related videos, the first from Vsauce talks about what random is.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rIy0xY99a0

The second video is from Varitasium and is about what is not random. Some things here you might find surprising.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMb00lz-IfE

Not sure if everyone needs this but here is a nice visualization that shows how many pairs of underwear you should pack on a trip.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MDM4U
https://medium.com/@sofauxboho/pack-like-a-nerd-2157aa39738f

A nice park that encourages math by incorporating mathematical concepts in the design
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/hyper_linda/status/491561082130276352/photo/1