I actually first created this post last year but updated it this week. If you are looking for some interesting data sets to analyze with your classes, look no further than Five Thirty Eights set of data sets used for their articles. The data sets were around before but recently then just made it even easier to get the raw data with their new site https://data.fivethirtyeight.com/ Check out my original (updated) post on how to use the data in your data classes
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U, MAP4C http://found-data.blogspot.ca/2017/06/five-thirty-eights-pile-of-data.html
I updated a couple of GSP sketches to WebSketches this week on sine and cosine law. In both cases you start with a sketch to have students verify that each law works (with random triangles) then each has two pages of randomly generated triangles. One page where you solve for a side length and the other where you solve for an angle.
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D, MBF3C http://engaging-math.blogspot.ca/p/web-sketches.html
I sometimes don't think we give probability the treatment that it deserves. However, it is probably one of the few math skills that students need to be masterful with in order to navigate the world in a safe way. So with that I like this lesson that @MarkChubb3 lays out using this 3 player probability using dice rolling. Simple but it connects experimental and theoretical probability nicely.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MEL3E https://buildingmathematicians.wordpress.com/2018/02/08/from-experimental-to-theoretical-probability-sample-lesson/
Some more work from @mathletepearce on his @mathisvisual site on integer multiplication. I made a few suggestions and he expanded on them to make this video and the accompanying images. Check out the site.
Curriculum Tags: Gr8 http://mathisvisual.com/more-integer-multiplication/
I think it's important for us math teachers to know that the game has changed and I think this post from @ProfKeithDevlin really gives away a lot of the reasons. The title seems pretty innocuous: "How today’s pros solve math problems". What follows is the revelation that much of what we teach in school is useless due to the technologies we have at our finger tips:
"These days, that smartphone in your pocket has access to cost-free cloud resources that can execute any mathematical procedure you need. What’s more, it will do it with a dataset of any real-world size, with total accuracy to whatever degree you demand, and in the majority of cases in a fraction of a second.....To put it another way, all those algorithms, techniques, and procedures I spent years mastering, all the way through to earning my bachelors degree in mathematics, became obsolete within my lifetime..."
I always appreciate when teachers post their day by days. In this case it's @MrOrr_Geek posting about his semester teaching grade 11 workplace math. It's from a couple years ago and he blogged about the first part of the semester but the rest of the plan is available on a Google Sheet. Take a look
Curriculum Tags: MEL3E http://mrorr-isageek.com/mel3e-course-outline/
Before you get to fraction operations, you might want to prime the pumps with students and do this introductory activity from @JPSilver_fox.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
Some cool connections to Fibonacci with this art project. Thanks to @MrOrr_Geek for pointing out this one.
Curriculum Tags: All https://kottke.org/18/02/tree-mountain
If you like the idea of letting students notice and wonder then you will probably like this site from @jennifuhs4. I know I liked it as soon as I saw the tag line "Always Question the Man". What you will find is a bunch of scenarios where students are given an image and asked what they wonder and then a related image to have them question what they see. Most of them deal with the idea of being a smart consumer but there will be some data management and proportional reasoning in there as well.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P http://getmadmath.weebly.com/
You know I often dismiss Pentominoes but in this post @MrOrr_Geek has an awesome activity that starts out with kids solving "puzzles" and then works it's way to solving equations. He provides activities that start with hands on paper and pencil and then moves to an Explain Everything file and Desmos activity. Even if you don't have the technology, you could still do most of this with paper and pencil and some photocopies of some hundreds charts. I think when you are having your students solve equations, in the beginning, you want to give them a reason to want to solve the equations. This activity, I think, does a good job in getting them there.
Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P http://mrorr-isageek.com/pentomino-puzzles/
I really think @ddmeyer is just showing off. That is, he keeps posting these Desmos activities that have these features that only the Desmos staff can use. Well, here's the latest one. It's an #OpenMiddle task for solving equations. It's relatively simple and you could actually do it with paper and pencil but the self checking features would make this work relatively nicely by using this Desmos version. The basic premiss that students choose four numbers and then those numbers are used to generate an equation they have to solve. The challenge then becomes to generate an equation that has a solution that is closest to zero.
Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MFM2P https://student.desmos.com/?prepopulateCode=98sc
I was in a session this week about the Ontario Renewed Math Strategy and part of it was a presentation from Assistant Deputy Minister @CathyMontreuil. I loved that she paraphrased this quote from Seymour Papert about how students don't shy away from challenge but that we often are too boring for them in school so they are not interested in the challenge but that video game manufacturers have figured out the right formula. He is not with us anymore but for more on what he thinks abour technology, see his website
The EQAO marks for the province came out last week and the big news is the drop in scores for grade 6 students. Despite the fact that many of the media stories get the data wrong (they often say that 50% of students are failing - it's actually 50% of students that are reaching provincial standard - essentially a mark of 70%), there were some boards that did well. Here @MarkChubb3 breaks down how his board did it. It's a good read. Spoiler alert, it takes time.
How fast can you clap? Watch the first act video that @mathletepearce modified from @nathankraft1 original (he blacked out the clap count at first). Have some contests in your own class and talk about proportional reasoning at the same time.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MAT1L, MAT2L, MPM1D, MFM1P, MFM2P https://tapintoteenminds.com/3act-math/fast-clapper/
I always like these images from @JessicaHagy on her Indexed blog. I always think they can be used to help students understand the nature of plotting points on graphs by asking them where people with certain characteristics will be on the graph or why the shape of the graphs fit the descriptions. Here's a couple that you could use either when talking about linear relationships or quadratic ones.
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P, MFM2P http://thisisindexed.com/2016/09/something-worthy-attention/ http://thisisindexed.com/2016/09/deadlines-make-hungry/
I never fail to point out when teachers create and share their stuff, especially when it is clear that it has taken a bit of time or take some skill. For many, creating Explain Everything files can be a chore but when you have people like @MrOrr_Geek, those who might not have the time to create these have a friend in him. In this case, its some resources on some review materials for percent for grade 11 MEL students. There are a couple of files (both dealing with percent). One is a nice re introduction to the notion of percents called Percent Pile Up and the other is a practice file called Random Winner. Of course even though he used it for grade 11 as a review, it would be appropriate all the way down to grade 7.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MAT1L, MAT2L, MEL3E, MEL4E http://mrorr-isageek.com/percent-pile-up-mel3e-day-5/ http://mrorr-isageek.com/random-winner-game-mel3e-day-6/
One of the nice things about this list that @MathyCathy is sharing of Desmos activities is that it kind of does a better job of the current Desmos search engine. Her list of some of her favourite activities including this nice integer card sort is great. Add the fact that there is a nice rubric for students creating Explain Everything recordings and you've got a nice set of resources here.
Curriculum Tags: All http://www.mathycathy.com/blog/2016/09/classroom-twitter-hodge-podge/
There is a lot of talk in the educational community about Math Talks. A lot of time we hear about this stuff for elementary but this post from @dsladkey does a great job in telling us how to apply this concept to secondary school. So look at this post for ideas for 10 days of Number Talks for Secondary.
Curriculum Tags: All http://teachhighschoolmath.blogspot.ca/2016/08/10-days-of-number-talks-for-high.html
I was reminded of this earlier this week but it never gets old. The classic "Verizon Math Fail"
Well it's that time of year. Yes, yes, the start of a new school year but what I am referring to is when the Provincial EQAO results go public and then it happens: The public goes a little nutty with "we need to get back to basics" posts and articles. This is as if we don't teach "basics" anymore or that somehow that teaching the "basics" is all that is needed to be done to fix all of our math problems. I'm not gonna post all the articles I saw but I think I liked this one the best. It seemed to give some nice examples of why we try to do the things we do.
Curriculum Tags: All https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/09/03/no-teaching-math-the-old-fashioned-way-wont-work-wells.html
The first of a couple "first day/week" posts. The thing that caught my eye right away was the title on this post from @DaveLanovas: "Can't we just take notes?". Sure he talks about all the neat stuff that he did this week (be sure to check that out) but the sentiment that students feel the game has always been: Teacher tells us stuff, we copy it down and then repeat it back runs up against all we know about engaging students in a rich curriculum where they experience struggle as part of the design. We still have a long way to go.
Curriculum Tags: All http://sine-of-the-times.blogspot.ca/2016/09/can-we-just-take-notes.html
We are lucky that so many teachers are willing to share their stories. And I especially like when a teacher tries to give the full story. Here @MrOrr_Geek starts off with a "First Day" post talking about all his classes but focussing on his MEL3E class. He then proceeds to do a post a day the rest of the week with all of his Essential Math antics. In this time of the "Renewed Math Strategy" here in Ontario, the focus in secondary math is supposed to be grade 9 applied. But who are we kidding, for so many schools and school boards that has been the focus in years. So it is great to see someone focussing on a course that often is given to teachers as an afterthought. This is a course that needs some tender lovin' care. If you are interesed in the overview/day by day check this link out. One thing I like about this post is that he basically does the same activities with his MHF4U class and his MEL3E class.
Curriculum Tags: MEL3E, MHF4U http://mrorr-isageek.com/it-begins-mel3e-day-1/ http://mrorr-isageek.com/mel3e-day-2/ http://mrorr-isageek.com/mel3e-day-3/ http://mrorr-isageek.com/mel3e-day-4/
Of course people had opinions about the calls for "back to the basics". I liked this one from @msbjacobs.
I totally forgot to post this a couple of weeks ago when the news broke but after a several year hiatus, the Canadian Census was back and we had a 98..4% response rate, the highest ever. Way to go Canada. This is surely a great thing to add to any discussion of the census and surveys.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U, MAP4C
This is old but I was reminded of it earlier this week. If you are looking for something to connect quadratics to gravity then you might ask "Can you survive a jump from a building?". The original post was about the analysis of the fall using a neat and free piece of video analysis software called Tracker (you can read my blog post about Tracker here). It's pretty involved but really shows how you can analyze the real world with the right app.
Curriculum Tags: MCR3U, MBF3C, MCF3M https://www.wired.com/2010/12/can-you-survive-a-jump-from-a-building/
Last year Mary at the Making Math Meaningful blog gave us a day by day glimpse of how she spiralled through the curriculum in her grade 10 applied class. This year she starts of giving her starter for her entire semester of classes. All 5 days for each of the 18 weeks. Check out the download on her site. Thanks Mary
Curriculum Tags: MFM2P http://marybourassa.blogspot.ca/2015/01/warm-ups.html
Andrew Stadel has maintained the Estimation 180 site to entertain a great discussion on what is essentially the idea of being numerate. Now he expands to a Twitter feed: @Estimation180. So a tweet a day to satisfy his daily estimation fix. Thanks to Mary Bourrassa for this one.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MAT1L, MPM1D, MFM1P, MAT2L, MPM2D, MFM2P, MEL3E, MEL4E http://mr-stadel.blogspot.ca/2015/01/estimation180-tweets.html
I really like these visualizations of the effectiveness of various medications. They really connect the idea of how visualizations can make a concept much more clear. For example, many people will tell you that someone who is at risk of a heart attack should take aspirin. But the data shows that if two thousand people did this, only one would avoid having a heart attack. Take a look for the dynamic versions on the site below.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/upshot/can-this-treatment-help-me-theres-a-statistic-for-that.html
In measurement, precision and accuracy are often use synonymously but they are different. It is probably worth talking about this when doing anything to do with measurement. One of the more interesting bits is how some electronic conversion devices deal with ounces and grams.
Curriculum Tags: All http://astrolabesandstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/precision-accuracy-medieval-astronomy.html
It turns out that we have been giving math problems with contrived contexts since at least the 12th century:
The Liber mahameleth, which has just been translated into English, was one of the largest books on mathematics written in the Middle Ages.
And some of the problems might look familiar:
A messenger is sent to a town and advances daily by twenty miles. In how many days will another messenger, sent five days later and advancing daily by thirty miles, overtake him?
A good way to bring your students back to dark ages :-)
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MPM2D, MFM2P
I have added a couple more Geometer's Sketchpad files to my Engaging Math blog. The first is a practice file for doing the Pythagorean Theorem. This will randomly generate right triangles with either the hypotenuse or a leg missing (you decide). You can then check the solution and try another. Although PT is in the grade 8 curriculum, this file is probably not appropriate for it since in grade 8 the focus is mainly about the geometric representation.
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P, MPM2D, MFM2P http://engaging-math.blogspot.ca/2015/01/geometers-sketchpad-practice.html
The second one is for practicing determining the midpoint of a line segment. The first page lets you create your own problem then check the answer and the second will generate a random set of points for you to find the midpoint. Both of these files are intended for students to use directly and work really well on the free Sketchpad Explorer app on the iPad
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D http://engaging-math.blogspot.ca/2015/01/geometers-sketchpad-practice-midpoint.html
Visualizing data is always a good thing for humans. Here is a video that ties to visualize the different ways we can look at 200 calories by showing how much of different types of food equal that. It think it might have been based on this graphic that has been circulating around the web for some time.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMGUmcveQeg
I am a sucker for these videos as I think they give a real world application for vector addition. Plus the fact that this is just at one airport. That is some crazy cross winds. Thanks to Mark Esping for this one.
Curriculum Tags: MCV4U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P9OAng32F0
On a recent Mythbusters they did a whole show on Raiders of the Lost Arc. On one of the segments, they were simulating the part of the movie where Indie jumps over the chasm and they used quadratic modelling pretty explicitly to determine the distance. Too bad this is only an image of what was on my TV screen but hopefully you get the idea
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D, MFM2P, MBF3C, MCF3M, MCR3U https://twitter.com/davidpetro314/status/559891388532527104/photo/1
This is a cool exercise in proportional reasoning. In this infographic they take the size of the country and change it based on the population of the people in that country. It's also good for data management discussions about the validity or comparison of big numbers. Boooo, Canada almost disappears. Make sure you look at the original image in large format to get the whole picture
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MDM4U http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/01/28/381971608/india-grows-russia-shrinks-mapping-countries-by-population
I actually first created this post last year but updated it this week. If you are looking for some interesting data sets to analyze with your classes, look no further than Five Thirty Eights set of data sets used for their articles. The data sets were around before but recently then just made it even easier to get the raw data with their new site https://data.fivethirtyeight.com/ Check out my original (updated) post on how to use the data in your data classes
I updated a couple of GSP sketches to WebSketches this week on sine and cosine law. In both cases you start with a sketch to have students verify that each law works (with random triangles) then each has two pages of randomly generated triangles. One page where you solve for a side length and the other where you solve for an angle.
I sometimes don't think we give probability the treatment that it deserves. However, it is probably one of the few math skills that students need to be masterful with in order to navigate the world in a safe way. So with that I like this lesson that @MarkChubb3 lays out using this 3 player probability using dice rolling. Simple but it connects experimental and theoretical probability nicely.
I contend that when you are learning the multiplication tables, 7x8 is one of the hardest ones to learn. @JamesTanton uses that example to talk about understanding vs rote mathematics.
