Monday, November 30, 2009

Template for unit plan assignment

Here it is! MAED314A unit plan template

Wednesday is our term end math party!





Please bring snacks and (non-alcoholic) drinks to share! Math movies, math toys, math songs and musical instruments to accompany them -- all are most welcome.

How to get to the Dec. 12 SNAP math fair at the Aquarium



The Saturday December 12 SNAP math fair will be held at the Vancouver Aquarium http://www.vanaqua.org/ from 9AM -noon. Please email Chris Stroud cstroud@wpga.ca by Dec. 4 to request tickets.

Here is the google map to the site: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=845+Avison+Way,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.887315,114.257812&ie=UTF8&z=16&g=845+Avison+Way,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&iwloc=addr

How to get to the Dec. 3 Space Centre math fair


The SNAP math fair on Thursday December 3 from 11AM to 1 PM is at the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre (formerly known as the Planetarium).http://www.hrmacmillanspacecentre.com/

The Space Centre is at 1100 Chestnut Street at Kits Point. Here is a link to the google map, which also has transit information available:http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1100+chestnut+street+vancouver+bc&sll=49.276174,-123.146169&sspn=0.008596,0.018561&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1100+Chestnut+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia&z=16

Friday, November 27, 2009

TI-83 graphing calculator guide by Cary Chien (BCAMT)



I want to share this useful document with you -- a teachers' guide to the TI-83 graphing calculator, written by Cary Chien, who worked for years as a math teacher at David Thompson Secondary in Vancouver, and other BCAMT collaborators. It's got lots of interesting info and lesson ideas.
TI-83 guide

You can download a virtual TI-83 "emulator" at this site:
TI-83 emulator download

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Circle geometry worksheets using Geometer's Sketchpad



Hi everyone. Here are four guided activity worksheets I wrote as part of a unit on circle geometry (which used to be in the Principles of Math 11 curriculum and has now migrated to a lower grade...)
Lesson 1 Chords
Lesson 2 angles
Lesson 3 tangents

Lesson 4 Cyclic Quadrilaterals

Feel free to use these in your own classes or to share them with colleagues.


I found it best to have kids work in pairs or threes at each computer, so it was actually beneficial to have only 8 to 15 computers available! (That was a good thing when I taught in a minischool that did not have a proper computer lab...) Kids learned a lot more by collaborating on these activities than by working through them individually.

I alternated these 'experiential' lessons on Sketchbook with more traditional lessons involving traditional deductive proofs of the same theorems. My interest was in exploring the idea of proof with my students. I would ask them: which was more convincing to you? Which was more certain, or more logical? Which was more memorable?

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Proulx & Pimm article for Dr. Nathalie Sinclair's talk, Nov. 20

Here is the article you should read to prepare for Dr. Nathalie Sinclair's talk in our class tomorrow. Apologies for the late posting!
Algebraic formulas, geometric awareness and Cavalieri's Principle

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Powerpoint on assessment

We worked with this powerpoint Nov. 16 & 18 in class:
assessment powerpoint
testing

Brainstorming on why we do assessment Nov. 18

Here are the notes from the whiteboard from today's discussion of assessment.
Assessment brainstorm Nov. 18

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Brainstorming on unit planning

Here is the summary of everyone's thoughts on unit planning from the whiteboard on Monday's class (Nov. 16). Unit plan brainstorming from Nov. 16 class

Monday, November 16, 2009

Math history in the math classroom: resources from Dr. Irene Percival


Irene Percival has offered us a number of great resources for planning lessons and units that connect with the history of mathematics.

Links between IRPs and math history, Gr. 8-12
Links between IRPs and math history, Gr, K-7
A Chinese visual proof of the Pythagorean Theorem
A Babylonian 9 times table

Please use these when you work on your unit plan for class!

Instructions sheet for Assignment 3

Here's a copy of the Assignment 3 (Math projects) handout.
MAED314 math projects assignment

Powerpoint from Nov. 13 class on Thinking Mathematically

Here is the powerpoint we saw in class on Friday -- on Mason, Burton and Stacey's book, Thinking Mathematically. Thinking Mathematically powerpoint