Friday, December 30, 2016

Math Links for Week Ending Dec. 30th, 2016

Recently @mathletepearce posted a blog about conceptually looking at multiplication. This week he looks at fractions. And although he says "This post is by no means the “fractions rulebook”" this post gives a good overview of representing fractions all the way to dividing with fractions. He's got a lot of visuals on the way. Check it out.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://tapintoteenminds.com/progression-of-fractions/


Do you need to give real examples of how the way you ask questions on a survey can become biased by using Leading Questions then listen to this More or Less episode on how a poorly conducted survey in India likely gave unreliable results. The clip from the Yes Prime Minister that shows how by using leading questions you can get opposite results for the same question.
Curriculum Tags: MBF3C, MDM4U
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04jz6sr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ZZJXw4MTA

With all the talk of how many celebrity deaths there were this year, speculation is that it was a bad year. It was bad for celebrities, for sure, but it wasn't the worse. Here's all the data.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/30/entertainment/worst-year-celebrity-deaths-trnd/

People have often written about manipulatives in the secondary classroom and so I wasn't surprised when @HTheijsmeijer posted hers. The thing that caught my eye was the statement "I did well in math through high school because I like rules". IE no manipulatives were needed. I would go further to say that many of us who became math teachers learned despite the teaching methods that were used because we liked math, were teacher pleasers etc etc. So with many of the new initiatives it is sometimes hard to convince teachers that anything new is needed (the old "if it worked for me....." idea). So posts where teachers are honest with how they feel on their journey always give me hope that we can progress.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://byodasap.blogspot.ca/2016/12/manipulatives-in-secondary-math.html

Though this is fairly old it is none the less informative on how we think about probability and randomness. It is part series from Scientific American and gives some insight as to why we are so bad at understanding probability. The first article talks about cognitive bias and it goes from there. Thanks to @Esping_Math for this one.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-our-brains-do-not-intuitively-grasp-probabilities/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-randomness-rules-our-world/

If you haven't read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime", you should. It's story told from the perspective of a boy with autism and it has mathematics infused throughout. From the chapters numbered with only primes to the appendix with mathematical proofs in it. Now it is a play and @Standupmaths has seen it and gone behind the scenes to show all the math that goes into making the show.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hsZm1BD_j8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shQnyNlgmkc



In keeping with many of my recent posts, here is another one of those "friendly" algebraic problems. Though it might not be appropriate for our math classes (due the the beer and the fact that we don't teach integration in Ontario anymore) but it is still pretty friendly. Thanks to @Robin_Grondin for this one.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/robin_grondin/status/813846676775571456
Definitely some sobering thoughts during the holidays
Curriculum Tags: MCV4U
https://www.facebook.com/pornscience/photos/a.145146232329411.1073741828.139938556183512/695710823939613/?type=3&theater

OK so now the memes are coming out about "friendly" algebra. Now even Drake is in on it. Thanks to @Esping_math for this one
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.facebook.com/mathslovers/photos/a.216147991759481.57080.207201309320816/1451190178255250/?type=3&theater


And even when people try to correct Internet math, they get it wrong (as the comments confirm, it should have a constant). Thanks to @Esping_Math for this one too.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.facebook.com/PiMathAddicts/photos/a.318224865041690.1073741828.318220011708842/563649603832547/?type=3&theater



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Friday, December 23, 2016

Math Links for Week Ending Dec. 23rd, 2016

I love Christmas time. That means all kinds of geometric packaging. And candy companies, I think, are the best. Of course Toblerone's normal packaging is a triangular prism but in past years they have branched out for Christmas (here and here) but this year, maybe it's Lindore with their parallelepiped.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/davidpetro314/status/812322333444730880

Everything you wanted to know about multiplication. From the standard model to multiplication of binomials @mathletepearce will take you on a journey giving you a lot of visuals along the way.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://tapintoteenminds.com/progression-of-multiplication/


It seems like multiplication is the topic at hand. Now from @mburnsmath. I really love the story she tells about he student who knows 6x8 from memory but can't figure out 6x9 because he "hasn't learned it yet". She then goes on to explain a version of multiplication Bingo that goes way beyond just memorizing the multiplication table. I have been doing a lot with teachers who are looking for ways to close the gaps with their intermediate students. This is a great way to do it.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://marilynburnsmathblog.com/wordpress/multiplication-bingo/


I like this story about how researchers were using Twitter to predict outbreaks of the Norovirus. Essentially they searched terms like "sick", "vomit" etc and then correlated that with actual medical records and found that they could use these Twitter searches to predict when the next outbreak came with about an 80% accuracy rate. They controlled for things like location and if people were just talking about having a hangover. It would be a nice thing to bring up when talking about how correlation could be used to make predictions. There are several stories about stats here but this one starts at about 5:50
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P, MDM4U, MAP4C
http://bbc.in/2fBo3US

Do you know what a big number is? Can you understand the difference between a billion and a trillion? If we want our students to be numerate then we should make sure we are. That's what I thought of when I saw the beginning of @MarkChubb3's post. He asked teachers to place 1 billion on this number line. I am pretty sure that most people would get this wrong but math teachers? Yup. Take a look at some other ways you can deal with big numbers in his post.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://buildingmathematicians.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/how-big-is-big/


All the talk three years ago was about the results of the 2012 PISA test. The 2015 test was written last year and the results are in. Although this article was written with the US in mind, here in Canada we are still doing pretty good. Thanks to @KMarkPet for this one.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/12/18/what-can-we-learn-from-countries-that-effectively-teach-math/

A very cool connection to the value of e and connection to it's definition via limits
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U, MCV4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgBGibfLD-U

and even more about e here
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U, MCV4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuA2EAgAegE



We can find the math in anything. How about the parabolic nature of the song The 12 Days of Christmas.
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D, MFM2P, MCR3U, MCF3M, MBF3C
https://twitter.com/DataIsBeautiful/status/810572151464095744
I have a t-shirt that is my "ugly Christmas" shirt that uses logarithms to create a Christmas message. But as it turns out not everyone who makes t-shirts doesn't know their math. Check out my shirt and this "math fail" version (bottom). I will leave out the link to where to buy this monstrosity.
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U




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Friday, December 16, 2016

Math Links for Week Ending Dec. 16th, 2016

With the release of Rogue One this week, it's time for @fivethirtyeight to collect some data about the Star Wars movies. So why not take a look at all of the graphs and have your students do some inferencing about them.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/star-wars-killed-a-universe-to-save-the-galaxy/

It might be too late for this year but here is a great idea from @TVDSB and @MrSurti. The Twelve Days of Christmath. Check out all the posts here and see the full twelve days at the link below.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzA5BlTIFeOSekI4V292NTliNzg/view


I'm always impressed with the simplicity of @dpscher. In this case it is on representing fractions with this interactive websketch.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
http://www.sineofthetimes.org/make-your-own-fractions/

All the math needed to win Monopoly
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubQXz5RBBtU

Some videos from @mathemaniac about the connection of areas and hexagons
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/mathemaniac/status/808487492617764864


Who wouldn't want one of these waffle irons? But in the mean time, why not ask for students to create two truth's and a lie dealing with percents.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/MrOrr_geek/status/808307453838422016
You can probably do some proportional reasoning based on this image. One topic that came up based on the tweet was the precision/accuracy of the litre readout.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/MatthewOldridge/status/808006662003032066

Another one posted by @mathemaniac. This one shows us the geometry of parallel parking. Rotations, parallel lines and more.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/mathemaniac/status/801963245137338368
A couple of weeks ago I highlighted one of these questions and now I see them everywhere
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P,
https://twitter.com/DCDSBMath/status/808671219843297280


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Friday, December 9, 2016

Math Links for Week Ending Dec. 9th, 2016

I create this introduction to histograms last week. It has a couple of card sorts (some physical and some Desmos) with some other activities. Get all the downloads below
Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U
http://engaging-math.blogspot.ca/2016/12/introducing-histograms.html

I love some of the little and simple activities that Desmos is building using Activity Builder as their backbone. Here are a few that they have released recently.

This first one is on solving equations. In general, solving equations is not a very engaging activity but here they have given students a challenge. Create an equation that has a solution closest to zero. And because of some of the Desmos only features it is pretty interactive.
Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MFM2P
http://blog.desmos.com/post/153054331927/friday-fave-for-november-11

The next one is on solving systems of linear equations. It starts really harmlessly by asking if there are any numbers that have a difference of 8 and a sum of one. Again, by using some of their tools you get interaction and then when they start entering their choices you get graphical representations to lead directly to the intersection of two lines.
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D, MFM2P
http://blog.desmos.com/post/153361804434/friday-fave-for-november-18


Finally a card sort and questions that help distinguish between linear and non linear relations. It is not that long (like the others) but incorporates challenges that help solidify concepts for students.
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MPM2P
http://blog.desmos.com/post/153959275262/friday-fave-for-december-2



And I guess this is a bonus one from @ddmeyer. I love the video series that this one on graphical intersection is based on this cool football footage. They have made it into a nice Desmos activity of course.
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P, MFM2P
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/2016/the-problem-with-multiple-representations/


Do you want to know what neuroscience says about how to make fractions stick? Then read on. Thanks to @mathletepearce for this on.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/11/21/what-neuroscience-can-tell-us-about-making-fractions-stick/

Nice animation from @MrOrr_Geek on maximizing area when constraining perimeter.
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/MrOrr_geek/status/806935261556838402

I love this one from @Errs5. I like it because you can do it and not know anything about the area of a circle.
Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/Errs5/status/805565775796965376

Something nice and simple on multiplying decimals from @Danluevanos after a request from @robertkaplinsky.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/danluevanos/status/806859692387418112
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Friday, December 2, 2016

Math Links for Week Ending Dec. 2nd, 2016

I love it when Ontario Math Teachers get out there and spread the word. Even better if it is a TEDx talk. In this talk @MatthewOldridge starts by talking about the Pythagorean shortcut and continues to talk about the other ways math can be all about wonder. Awesome.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heAH2PMj0yA

I have been on Twitter for 7 years now and one of the things but it has never really been a place where I have had deep discussions about math. Something about the stream of posts or 140 character limit maybe. But now, thanks to @dlants, there is a place to have longer deep discussions. Do it on the Math Teachers Discourse site. Check it out and join the conversation. Thanks to @ddmeyer for this one.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.mathteachers-discourse.com/ 

I think this has been available for a while but on Wolfram Alpha, there is a whole section on practicing math problems. The free version just lets you solve many math problems (from addition to calculus) but if you pay, you can generate worksheets and get full solutions. Thanks to @MaryBourassa and @viemath for pointing this out.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.wolframalpha.com/problem-generator/

Last week I posted a question on Twitter about solving equations in a more friendly way and it got a lot of traction. One of the comments from @MrsHessClass pointed out that @MashUpMath posed these types of questions regularly. Check them out at the link below
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MFM2P
http://mashupmath.com/weekly-math-challenges/

Hey there is a new Prime number. Thanks to @Esping_Math for this one
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/why-kids-should-use-their-fingers-in-math-class/478053/

He has already done a comedy routine about spreadsheets. So why not a comedy routine about equations (complex ones at that).
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcr9-93wXng

I just saw the movie Dr. Strange and there are some trippy scenes. So if you want to show your kids some demonstrations of translations, rotations, dilatations, reflections and stretches.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNdM7b1Lm04

A great question to have some fun with area, geometry and fractions from @AllenMath
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/AllenMath/status/803265354906685440
I have never been a fan of these over sized Christmas lights but @MrOrr_Geek has found that you can inspire some talk of proportions with them.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/MrOrr_geek/status/802603714678845440
Here is a nice image that can get kids about talking about graphing on a cartesian plane in the context of dog breeds.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/best-in-show-whats-the-top-data-dog



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