Math Links for Week Ending Sept 20th, 2013

I really like Adam spencer. Maybe it's because he has a Phd in math but chooses to be a morning radio DJ. Or maybe because he is really good at taking complex ideas and making them understandable by most humans (usually in a humorous way). Here is his TED talk on prime numbers. Another great offering is his Book of Numbers where he looks at all the mathematical properties (and oddities) of the first 100 numbers.

Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_spencer_monster_prime_numbers.html

I am a big fan of having part of an assessment being done with technology. Having taught math for several years in a computer lab I would regularly have part of the test done on the computer. I like how Amy Gruen mixed the use of cards and iPads running Desmos to do just that. Specifically here when it comes to transformations but you could see that this could be adapted to just about any topic. 

Curriculum Tags: MBF3C, MCF3M, MCR3U, MCT4C, MAP4C, MHF4U

http://squarerootofnegativeoneteachmath.blogspot.com/2013/08/desmos-test-question.html

Real World math is a site that uses the power of Google Earth and Google Sketchup (both free apps) to bring math to the real world. With lessons that are as simple as estimation to as complex as intersection of planes in 3D (with volume, line graphs and more in between). One small caveat. As a teacher you have rights to the full lessons but you have to request a password first. So you fill out a small form and they email you one. Simple as that. Thanks to Paul Georges for this one
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.realworldmath.org/

I love this series who's limit is e. Shown very nicely here on Desmos. I especially like the fact that in the table of values you can see the series being built.

Curriculum Tags: MCR3U, MHF4U
https://www.desmos.com/calculator/g0wfrqghzz

Having good questioning skills is not something you are born with. It is an acquired skill. Fear not. Here is a blog post that will give you 26 ways you can switch up your questions. 

Curriculum Tags: All
http://mathforum.org/blogs/max/26-questions-you-can-ask-instead/

You can always count on Yummy Math for quality resources. Here are a few of their more recent ones. As always the handout is free but to get the editable version and solutions you need to be a member.

This one is about the amount of caffeine in various brands if coffee. 

Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MDM4U
http://www.yummymath.com/2013/how-much-caffeine/

This next one deals with a good topic for students. Does it pay to go to school. It may start out as if its a data management prompt (which it could be) but you can see how this can turn into something more when you deal with the wage values over the span of decades (and perhaps include interest calculations)
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MCF3M, MCR3U, MBF3C, MDM4U
http://www.yummymath.com/2013/does-it-pay-to-get-educated/

This last one combines slope and Pythagorean theorem when talking about slopes of mountain trails. Since it has slope, this could be used in grade 8 as an extension or be modified to focus mainly on Pythagorean Theorem.
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P, MFM2P,
http://www.yummymath.com/2013/steepness-and-fall-hiking/


I have some mixed feelings about this site but agree with it in principle. Nix the Trix is a site that tries to address the prevalence of using "tricks" to teach math concepts. Think "move the negative to the other side and change the sign". I know that I have been guilty of teaching these in the past but I think I am evolving. By teaching these tricks we gain time in the short term perhaps but students only make those gains in the short term as well. That is, if they don't have the conceptual reason a "trick" works then its just that, a trick, and not a mathematic concept. Just one more rule to memorize with no meaning. No wonder we have to re teach so much from year to year. That being said this site tries to address these ideas in the form of an evolving Google Doc. Take a look.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://nixthetricks.com/

I really love this first day activity. It uses the "What do you know/notice/wonder?" theme. First get them thinking about math in general, then your course, then at the end hit them with a few questions to show the skills they have. In the activity on this post he uses a picture of the ISS but on a similar activity he uses this picture of an underwater bridge. You can see the results of the activity here.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://mathteachermambo.blogspot.ca/2013/07/first-day-precalculus.html

Really quick one from Dan Meyer. Perfect as a Minds On when talking about transformations in grade 7 or 8. Of course there is no need to show students this video, just create your own and work the magic in your own classes.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=16933

I like this as a way to introduce trig functions in MCR3U and MCF3M. Follow the link to see the full idea of the lessons. But watch the video to get a sense of how to introduce the concept.
Curriculum Tags: MCR3U, MCF3M
http://rationalexpressions.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-first-three-days-of-trigonometry.html

Here is a great discussion starter about outliers
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://untilnextstop.blogspot.ca/2013/09/heres-graph-that-makes-statement.html

Math Links for Week Ending Sept. 13th, 2013

I am not sure how long this has been around but it seems to be a repository for all of the in house created sketches for GSP. Very inviting site and these sketches really exploit the power of Geometer's Sketchpad. There is stuff for all grade levels and even an indicator for those sketches that are iPad friendly.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.dynamicnumber.org/

Despite the title of this TEDx talk (Why Math Instruction is Unnecessary) I like how John Bennett takes us on his journey of discovery that much of the math that we teach is basically just a construct of our curriculum and not really necessary for everyday life. But the real focus of his message is that problem solving and critical thinking are.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyowJZxrtbg

Many have long said that mathematics was the way to a high paying job. Well now I guess we have the data to prove it. The US Census has always asked about income and level of schooling but in their most recent surveys they have also asked what people's majors were. The Planet Money people have a great podcast on the results (long and short versions below). And the survey says: Applied math (engineering, computer science etc) seems top the list. What's at the bottom? Psychology. A couple of things that resonated with me about this were a) that, in general, it didn't matter where you got your degree and b) it really had more to do with supply and demand. If you want the actual pdf of the full study click here.
Curriculum Tags: All
Long version http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/09/11/221417806/episode-485-whats-your-major
Short version http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/09/10/219372252/the-most-and-least-lucrative-college-majors-in-1-graph

I am way behind on the I Speak Math blog posts but this one about how now there are more #mathchat had a Twitter chat about the math topic of the day. Now there are these more specific chats that go on. From middle school math all the way to calculus and statistics. Take a look here for your favourite topic.
specific "chats" about math on Twitter now. For a while every Monday and Friday (I think)
Curriculum Tags: All
http://ispeakmath.org/2013/09/02/weekly-math-subject-chats-are-live-now/

Another great TED talk about visualizing data. Chris Jordan is an artist who creates social commentary art that is often more than it seems (when you look closely at it). For example an image of the Titanic made of 67000 images of mushroom clouds (equal to the number of metric tons of uranium/plutonium being stored temporarily around the US). Check out his website (http://www.chrisjordan.com/) to be able to zoom into his works (there are a lot of them). Here is a perfect way to mix social justice and data management.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_jordan_pictures_some_shocking_stats.html

"Would you rather...." is a blog that specializes in posing questions that asks the reader to make a choice of two similar situations and use math to justify that choice. There are a lot of different math topics that could be used here but it seems many fit into the Number Sense strand (I could be wrong here as I just skimmed the site). None the less these are great starting points for math conversations.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MFM1P, MPM1D
http://wyrmath.wordpress.com/

These math "mysteries" are all really attainable for many students to understand (ie they can easily mechanically verify them) but they are some of the most famous unproven theorems. A neat way for students to see how proving something definitely can be very difficult. Included are the Goldbach Conjecture, Perfect Numbers and Mersenne Primes (plus people have suggested others)
Curriclum Tags: All
http://plus.maths.org/content/maths-minute-number-mysteries



I like this App to visualize Factoring from NCTM's Illuminations. Too bad it doesn't work on an iPad but its a nice visualization
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=64

Here is a great way to introduce FOIL in secondary and in elementary I like the suggestion made by @emergentmath "Here's your lesson plan tomorrow: Stop the video after 1:30 and ask "why does this work?""
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM2P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYrgjMubh-c

I don't think you will ever need to describe how a Venn diagram works if you just show this example. There are more on the main site (http://stephenwildish.co.uk/) though not all dealing with data.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://stephenwildish.co.uk/images/holy.jpg

Redbull sponsored a contest to take the image of extreme thrill seekers in action. Some cool pix but this one fits quite well with modelling quadratics. Just import this into GSP or Geogebra and model the strobed snow boarder with a quadratic. Note that it may look kind of flattened out but that has to do with the fact that the snow boarder is rotating in flight. But it's the centre of mass that follows a parabolic arc.
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D, MFM2P, MBF3C, MCF3M, MCR3U
http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2013/09/red-bull/#slideid-39351

Math Links for Week Ending Mar 1, 2013

Here it is, the moment everyone has been waiting for. Yep, the next largest prime has been found and here is a visualization of its digits. Ain't it pretty?
http://io9.com/5985749/the-worlds-largest-known-prime-number-in-rgb
Curriculum Tags: All

I love this self data stuff. Dan Meyer, I think, got his idea for collecting data about himself from Nicholas Felton. Nick collects data about his life. Very detailed info like how many coffees he drinks every year. But then he creates this annual report with detail graphs and data about the previous year. The reason I bring this up is because I think this would be kind of a neat project to do with a class. Have them collect data about themselves for a week and then create graphs of it.
http://feltron.com/
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U

One of my favourite blogs for differentiated instruction ideas in math is I Speak Math. I have been behind in her posts for a bit so this is a summary of some of the good ideas over the last few months
Zero! Card game - nice simple game that uses regular playing cards to add integers
Word Problem Equations - Even though she feels this needs work, its still a nice way to differentiate working with word problems. Read the comments for ideas on how to tweak it.
Monster Equations - a nice little tweak on solving simple equations. Perfect for introduction to equations
Homework Binder- some interesting ideas on how to get kids to do their homework and how to get them to complete it after the fact.
Math Workstations - A nice way to take worksheets and make them into math stations
Homework Choice - here is a nice way to get kids a bit more interested in homework and creating problems
Curriculum Tags: All

Here is a really good article about how people are bad at assessing risk. For example, he talks about the idea that a low probability event that gets repeated a lot actually has a relatively high chance of occurring. He uses the example of the possibility of slipping in the shower as something that has a low probability (say 1 in 1000) but the fact that you take thousands of showers in your lifetime almost makes it an eventuality.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/science/jared-diamonds-guide-to-reducing-lifes-risks.html?hpw&_r=0
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U

Thinking Blocks is a website that has many applets that would be useful for elementary math teachers. Kind of similar to the Ministry of Ontario's (http://epractice.ca/). It deals with things like multiplication, addition, fractions etc
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/index.html
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8

Here is a nice video of the geometric area property of Pythagorean Theorem. It was created by Macedonian students and apparently the song sung by the students is also about Pythagoras. Thanks to Carla Aquino for this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RqNqe60s2A
Curriculum Tags: Gr8G, MFM1P, MPM1D, MFM2P, MPM2D

An another one about Pythagorean Theorem. This time from The Simpons. Here Homer makes the same mistake that the Scarecrow makes in The Wizard of Oz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO1Vhc88QkM
Curriculum Tags: Gr8G, MFM1P, MPM1D, MFM2P, MPM2D