In my prior post, I presented a "zooming" number line model that allowed students to estimate the location of a point along a number line and then repeatedly magnify that portion of the number line to obtain ever-finer estimates, accurate to tenths, hundredths, thousandths, and beyond.
In a sense I got ahead of myself because I … Continue Reading ››
One of the aspects I like best about Dynamic Geometry software like Web Sketchpad is its ability to illustrate concepts that cannot effectively be represented with static media. Take, for example, a number line that we draw on a white board. Showing the number … Continue Reading ››
With Web Sketchpad, it's easy to craft tools that are tailor made for the task at hand. I was reminded of this flexibility several weeks ago when creating an interactive model for the elementary curriculum Everyday Mathematics.
My goal was to design a lesson focusing on the triangle area formula, A … Continue Reading ››
In my prior posts ( When Factoring Gets Personal, Open the Safe, and Reasoning with Multiples to Find the Mystery Number), I’ve given examples of how learning about multiples and factors … Continue Reading ››
The origins of this week's Web Sketchpad model date back to the Connected Geometry curriculum from the mid 1990s. I was one of the co-authors of the curriculum, working at Education Development Center with a wonderful team of math educators (Al Cuoco, … Continue Reading ››
This Thursday, Scott Steketee and I will be presenting two sessions at the NCTM 2015 Annual Meting in Boston:
Functions as Dances: Experience Variation and Relative Rate of Change
Session 52 on Thursday, April 16, 2015: 8:00 AM-9:15 AM in 157 B/C (BCEC)
How better to explore rate of change than as independent and … Continue Reading ››
Simultaneous equations belong in elementary-school mathematics curricula. That's been my mantra for many years, and I want to examine it now in the context of an interactive Web Sketchpad activity.
When I say that elementary-age students should encounter simultaneous equations, I don't mean that they should be instructed in the standard algebraic procedure for solving pairs of equations … Continue Reading ››
Today's blog post features a sketch from Anna Nguyen, who's a 9th grade student. Anna observes, "Math is one of my favorite subjects. I'm not a genius or the smartest in my class, but I do enjoy dealing with letters and numbers, which is also why I like chemistry. I think GSP is the most … Continue Reading ››