Scootle Presentation

[slideshare id=7825710&doc=scootlepresentation-110503205715-phpapp01]

"When are we going to need this?"

I was at a professional development day and one participant (who looked as though they had been teaching Mathematics for many years) kept asking "When are the students going to use this?". It reminded me of how often students have asked this question over the years.

In my first year of teaching, I wanted to be able to answer the question, everytime it was asked. Unfortunately when a student asks "Why do we need to know 2x + 3x?" It can be quite difficult to answer. It is like asking, why do we need to know that 1 + 1 = 2?

I have come to believe that we do not need to answer the question everytime it is asked. Sometimes, the answer will be "We need it for more difficult Mathematics later on, which has many applications to the real world". But sometimes, I now give the response below.

You probably won't remember this specific bit of Mathematics in 3 or 4 years time. What we're trying to do here is trying to get you to think mathematically. That is, working towards the "Working Mathematically" Outcomes in the NSW Syllabus.

Now, moreso than ever, we need our young people to be problem solvers when they leave school. The problems that they will need to solve will be different, but thinking logically and mathematically can be of great assistance.

Of course, I often still like to answer the question by giving a real life application - but it doesn't always satisfy students curiosity.

Tabletise your computer with an iPhone (SplashTop)

I love the idea of the WACOM tablets, but at the moment I have a Toshiba Tablet PC. Just like a regular laptop, except you can touch the screen and write on it with a pen. To supplement this functionality, I have recently installed SplashTop on my iPhone. It lets me view and control my PC Laptop from my iPhone! It would therefore also let me view Flash on my iPhone. Thanks for the twitter tip from @markliddell.

Implications for Teaching

With greater freedom, you can now control you laptop, connected to a projector, from anywhere in the room. You don't have to be stuck to your laptop – or stuck to the 'interactive' whiteboard. Will technology like this do away with the 'Interactive Whiteboard'?

This week on Twitter

New NAPLAN website		@aamtinc http://www.nap.edu.au/
Curve Fitting using Geogebra		@MrHonner has students taking photos, then fit curves in Geogebra http://fb.me/JtYe7oa4 and http://goo.gl/suQed and http://goo.gl/suQed. It would be interesting to curve fit @dandersod's Irish Arch I've actually found Autograph easier to curve-fit.
QR Codes – Maths Worksheet		@rmbyrne share a post http://goo.gl/fb/Y5num
Free things for teachers from Microsoft		@rmbyrne shared a post from coolcatteacher http://goo.gl/JzmbH. But they are all listed on Microsoft's webpage here. SkyDrive – 25GB of free cloud storage. Microsoft Math Addin for Word and OneNote They don't note the Math Worksheet Generator that I like.
Cloud Storage		@rmbyrne shared a post advertising SugarSync that gives you 5GB of online storage for free. An alternative to the 2GB available from Dropbox.

NAPLAN 2010: Numeracy Year 7 Solutions

With NAPLAN 2011 just around the corner, many students will like to have a look at the 2010 NAPLAN papers, so that they know what to expect.

[slideshare id=7556712&doc=2010year7naplannon-calculatorsolutions-110407232058-phpapp01&type=d]

[slideshare id=7556713&doc=2010year7naplancalculatorsolutions-110407232101-phpapp02&type=d]

Australian Curriculum Presentation

[slideshare id=7454054&doc=australiancurriculumpresentation31march2011-110330174857-phpapp02]

Download PowerPoint

 

Using Google Earth in Mathematics Teaching

Google earth has many wonderful applications in the Mathematics Classroom. Here are some of the better applications. Please feel free to continue the list in the comments section below. I would like to credit Douglas Butler (www.tsm-resources.com) with some of the ideas below. www.googlecompass.com is also an excellent website for taking straight and angular measurements.

 

Bearings

Runway numbers are chosen based on the magnetic heading of the runway. In areas where the compass indication are unreliable the true north heading is, denoted by a T prefix. Example: Sydney Airport NS Runway is on a bearing of

 

Plane Geometry

The Pentagon (US) – Is it a regular pentagon?	"Exmouth Cape Tourist Village" – (look slightly to the north)

 

2D Measurement – To easily find the perimeter and area, you can use a Google Earth Add-on called GEPath. This can be used to check calculations.

Find the perimeter and area of your school. How big is your school oval? Most likely, it will be close to 1 Ha.

Have students create a field diagram (by taking measurements) to work out the area of the school, or their home.	Find the area of the sector below, by taking appropriate measurements. (This is at the Athletic Centre at Sydney Olympic Park).

 

3D Measurement

Find the Great Pyramid at Giza – by taking appropriate measurements, what is the surface area and volume? (Its height is approximately 139 m). You can also show 3D Buildings to get a good look.

 

Parabolas

To the east of Lydd Airport, KENT, United Kingdom. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_mirror for information on these fantastic structures!

 

Real World Math.org

More Resources can be found at www.realworldmath.org. I particularly like their complex area problem at http://realworldmath.org/Real_World_Math/Complex_Area_Problems.html. There are worksheets and KMZ (Google Earth Files) to download for many concepts.