Math Links for Week Ending Jan 2nd, 2015

Any time there are resources about assessment then I'm happy. This isn't specifically a resource about assessment but there are bits at the end that relate. It's a talk from Dan Meyer about making math more like video games. My favourite part is talking about the craziness of just adding math problems to an existing game and thinking that kids will dig it. But the main points are below and expanded upon in the talk. Take a look.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2014/video-games-making-math-more-like-things-students-like/

Why not continue with Dan Meyer. This one where he points out a great real world opportunity to connect to systems of equations. This time dealing with the controversial movie The Interview and purchase and rental sales.
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D, MFM2P
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2014/the-new-york-times-doesnt-know-any-math-teachers/

Many of you may have played War as a kid (with cards, that is). Here is a version that could be used as a review for trig and logs in Advanced Functions. Already made, ready to go.
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U
http://intersectpai.blogspot.ca/2014/12/war-what-is-it-good-for.html







Growth mindset is the big idea in education lately and here is a teacher resource that will help students along with realizing how a growth mindset can be beneficial to them. It uses a combination of online and paper & pencil forms. Take a look
Curriculum Tags: All
http://whenmathhappens.com/2014/12/09/growth-mindset-reports/





A couple from Mike's Math Page. And if you are not familiar with it then the short version is Mike working out math problems with his kids (and they do some pretty high end stuff). This first one is a neat problem that asks what is the area of the shaded area which you could probably hammer out using Pythagorean theorem but he does some neat things with some 3D printed pieces to find a more elegant solution. Take a look
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P
http://mikesmathpage.wordpress.com/2014/12/28/a-cool-geometry-problem-shared-by-tina-cardone/

I like using geoboards when talking about similarity. So it is no surprise to me that I like this little activity.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, MPM2P, MFM2D
http://untilnextstop.blogspot.ca/2014/12/a-fun-lesson-on-similarity.html

Here is a good video that could be used when talking about vectors if you want to relate to the whole swimming upstream/downstream situation. Plus it's a good time to remind you of the site 101 Questions. Go the link below to ask your own question and see what questions others have asked about this same video.
Curriculum Tags: MCV4U
http://www.101qs.com/582-escalator

A second one from Mike's Math Page originates with this video but his treatment could dealing with the sum of squares could be used when talking about series calculations. Of course if you just use this video then you can talk about the proof of why a pyramid's volume is one third of that of the prism of the same base and height.
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P, MCR3U
http://mikesmathpage.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/adding-up-perfect-squares-with-snap-cubes/

Matt Parker makes part of his living as a standup mathematician and can be seen in some of the Numberphile videos. He has just published a new book: Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension. Here he does a talk with some of his favourite bits from the book. I like the part about the adding machine made of dominoes or how check sums and bar code scanners relate to Sodoku puzzles. And he starts by having the audience cubing two digit numbers and correctly guessing the cube root based on their result (a pretty simple trick if you want to impress your students)
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_1irrPVt4M

Outlier humour. Awesome
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U, MAP4C
http://36.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md8t1kpBtz1rr362xo1_500.png