Friday, July 27, 2018

Math Links for Week Ending Jul. 27th, 2018

I thought this was a fun experiment. Ride your bike 140 km, measure the length of your ruler's shadow, call your friend (back where you started) to measure their shadow, use some trig and viola, you've just not only shown the earth is spherical but estimated its circumference. That's what @KurtisBaute did. Great for conversations about the power of math (specifically trig).
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D, MFM2P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaPa4esJJx4


Need some resources to help teach stats? Then the Stats Medic has your back. Full sets of
curriculum on statistical concepts and more are all available for download on this site. Thanks to  @bobloch for posting this one.
Curriculum Tags: MBF3C, MAP4C, MDM4U
http://thestatsmedic.com/

A pile of videos from Twitter Math Camp last week. First the three Keynotes from @DingleTeach, @JReulbach, and the trio of @GWaddellnvhs, @mathhombre & @Gelada



One thing that is unique (I think) to TMC is that each day there are sets of "My Favourites" presentations. These are 5-10 min presentations from participants on a topic that is usually short and sweet and sometimes may have nothing to do with math but good pedagogy. For example @Nomad_penguin did a great talk on the work she does helping students revise there math work. To me it looked like the editing/revision process that one would see in an english class. You can get her DropBox folder of resources in this area here and watch her My Favourite (below)

The rest of the My Favourites can be found here (including the one I did on the back story behind my viral video) but one of them was from @stoodle on how the #MTBoS community supported him through a tough time. The story of that time was part of a different event and will eventually be aired on the Story Collider but you can watch it here. And if you have ever felt like things were not going your way as a teacher, you might be able to resonate with this.


Another dynamic @Desmos tessellation from @sumdumthum
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/SumDumThum/status/1020858759478833152

This set of @Desmos eyes from @Gelada is cool but would be cooler with a some of them blinking
Curriculum Tags:All
https://twitter.com/Gelada/status/1021871471373824000

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Math Links for Week Ending Jul. 20th, 2018

I've had a busy week or so (and it's not done yet). At Twitter Math Camp (#tmc18 - more on this next week probably) currently and prior to that was at the Desmos Fellowship (#desmosfellows). And out of both came some new features in Desmos. The first has been around for a while and is still technically in beta but has been quietly released to the the general public. That's the ability to included Geometry constructions in Activity Builder. But the new feature just added is something called Snapshot which allows you to take screenshots of various student screens and then arrange them in up to groups of 4 in a slideshow type format for discussion. It's pretty slick. To turn these on, when you are at Teacher.Desmos.com, click on your icon and choose Desmos Labs. So try this stuff out and break stuff, then make awesome things.
Curriculum Tags" All

I presented a morning session (three 2 hour sessions) with @MFAnnie on using Desmos Geometry here at TMC18. We covered basic construction, building activities and appropriate use of dynamic geometry with kids. You can check out our links here.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hsqud7jBd7iXs02RHg5muPAsT7yqUYlR24sscKngxno/edit?usp=sharing

One of the coolest things, I think, was this short My Favourites presentation from @mathgeek76 and @MadisonSandig4. It was a demo of a Desmos activity for estimation that I had mentioned before but had been tweaked to make it even better. SERIOUSLY, try this out using THIS LINK and particularly pay attention to what happens when you click the button on slide 5. So good for talking to students about the power of information when making estimates. Below is the editable activity for you to try out.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/5b50d8f46756715f79e1e12e

If you are looking for a free cool tool to use to help your students practice their skills, then look no further than @MrDeltaMath's  http://www.deltamath.com site. He has literally 1000s of questions on many topics at many levels from beginning algebra to calculus (and beyond). Most of the questions (as far as I can tell) are either interactive and/or dynamic and you can create classes and assignments for students to participate in. He is constantly improving the site but even now there is far too much to put in this little blurb. One ProTip for my fellow Canadians, when you register, just put any 5 digits in for the zip code.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.deltamath.com/teacher

For I will highlight some more sessions and things from TMC18 next week but for now you can look at all the resources that are being posted on the Wiki.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://twittermathcamp.pbworks.com/w/page/66474056/TMathC%20FrontPage


Are you a fan of Noticing and Wondering? Then you might like one of these custom designed T-shirts from @MFAnnie. Cheap and cool
Curriculum Tags:All
https://twitter.com/MFAnnie/status/1020169540448251905


Not at TMC18 but just a basic activity from @trianglemancsd for introducing the idea of critical points. Just three slides but I think quite powerful. Make a copy and modify it for any function
Curriculum Tags: MCV4U
https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder/custom/5b4a2de6906a434690e6a1cb


Here's a great hashtag, #MathPhoto18 to follow about math related images that was mentioned in @mathhombre,  @gwaddellnvhs & @Gelada' Keynote. For the rest of their resources go here
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23MathPhoto18&src=tyah
There were some great ideas for Geometry in @Jomalleyiv 's TMC18 session. Here's a sneak peak at a really simple activity where you give a pair of students images like these and one has to describe it to the other to draw. Great for honing in on vocabulary.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/davidpetro314/status/1020021131972145152

A neat visualizations via @SimonGerman600
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U

And one from @MashupMath
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
https://twitter.com/mashupmath/status/1019582475314581504

Friday, July 13, 2018

Math Links for Week Ending Jul. 13th, 2018

As I am getting ready to hang out at the Desmos HQ for the Desmos Fellowship weekend, it seems fitting that this collaboration from other Desmos Fellows was released. If you are at all interested in honing your Computational Layer skills then these examples are just the thing for you. This newly created Desmos Computational Layer forum is the place for all kinds of code examples. It's the summer, so dive in and get coding.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://cl.desmos.com/c/examples


I have noticed these same issues with conversion as @TheErickLee points out.  Check out this post to get some insight into how to use these in class.
Curriculum Tags: MPM2P, MBF3C, MAP4C
https://pbbmath.weebly.com/blog/pool-conversions

If you haven't seen the benefits of students on whiteboards in your classes, I have certainly mentioned them here a lot. Here @mathletepearce gives you a lot of the research and tips that have been floating around.

Curriculum Tags: All
https://tapintoteenminds.com/whiteboards/

And clearly they are on the same wavelength because his partner in crime @MrOrr_Geek has got some advice about the benefits of whiteboards in his classes too.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://mrorr-isageek.com/whiteboards/


Who couldn't use this image as a prompt for some great math discussion
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/mathycathy/status/1015724514880221184

What a great visualization from @MonaChilabi on the positions of penalty goal shots from World Cup and European Championships
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
https://twitter.com/MonaChalabi/status/1017131729922846720



Friday, July 6, 2018

Math Links for Week Ending July 6th, 2018

I have been doing a lot with Desmos Geometry lately, including things with tessellations and that appears to be what their latest blog post is about. There are some fun examples within so try not to play for too long
Curriculum Tags: Gr7
http://blog.desmos.com/post/175384214302/friday-fave-for-june-29

Do you need some help with Desmos, well @marybourassa presented at the Exeter Academy recently had has all kinds of tips and tricks available on her latest blog post.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://marybourassa.blogspot.com/2018/06/desmos-at-exeter-2018.html




Some fun with transformations (and Obama)
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/LukeSelfwalker/status/1013956335044612096


"Maria Agnesi, the Greatest Female Mathematician You've Never Heard of"
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/maria-agnesi-the-greatest-female-mathematician-youve-never-heard-of/

From @MrOrr_Geek, some advice on the paradigm that often, in a classroom, you are hurrying up ro killing time. His solution ? Have you heard of Desmos? Specifically Activity Builder.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://mrorr-isageek.com/hurry/

Of course the world cup is going on and @standupmaths has you covered with the number of possible outcomes for any team. Some tree diagrams, powers, and combinatorics can be found here.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MDM4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btcVNMA7hYI

Who doesn't like a physical example of a square root?
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/rinahyland/status/1013946117099282433

A poem from @mathgarden on what success in mathematics could be
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/Mathgarden/status/1014566561770700800

This Fibonacci based kinetic sculpture is coo. Thanks to @bardprincess for pointing this one out. Check the link out for more info.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/07/kinetic-sculpture-based-on-the-fibonacci-sequence/

A reminder that the real world doesn't often match up to our math classes.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/ddmeyer/status/1015296170803859456