Tag Archives: Use Appropriate Tools Strategically

Conic Sections, Educational Technology, Math Software

Tweaking the Expanding Circle Construction

Leave a comment
In last month's blog post, I described a parabola construction technique dating back to the work of Persian polymath  Ibn Sina  (c. 970 – 1037). After I published the post, my colleague Scott noted that my construction could be more robust to allow for parabolas that are downward facing as well as upward facing. … Continue Reading ››
Educational Technology, Geometry, Math Software

Catching Up with New Web Sketchpad Functionality

Leave a comment
This past January, we introduced the Web Sketchpad Tool Library and  Viewer. The Tool Library is a collection of over 60 mathematical tools for customizing a Web Sketchpad model, making it possible for teachers to decide which tools students have available to them on an activity-by-activity basis. The Viewer is a site … Continue Reading ››
Educational Technology, Elementary Mathematics, Math Software

Dividing and Subdividing

Leave a comment
Given a strip of paper, how might you divide it into fourths without using a ruler?  Undoubtedly, you'd fold the strip in half and then in half again to locate the quarter marks. Now suppose that your goal is to divide a strip into sixths. You might start by folding the strip into thirds and … Continue Reading ››
Educational Technology, Geometry

A Double Spiral from David Henderson

8 Comments
David Henderson, the author of Experiencing Geometry, died this past December. I wrote about David in a prior post, and in particular, his approach of asking us  to grapple with a small number of  rich problems, allowing us  to find our own, often non-traditional, ways of … Continue Reading ››
Educational Technology, Math Software

What’s New with Web Sketchpad in 2019

Leave a comment
For the past five years, Scott and I have featured interactive Web Sketchpad models in nearly all our Sine of the Times blog posts.  As much fun as it's been to build "websketches" to share with you, we've really wanted to put the creative power of Web Sketchpad into your hands. And now, finally, that's … Continue Reading ››
Educational Technology, Elementary Mathematics, Math Software

Multiplication Is Not Repeated Addition

4 Comments
On the NCTM discussion site myNCTM, there's currently an extended discussion about "Division and multiplication of fractions." As the discussion has continued, I've grown concerned with what I see as a fundamental problem with the way we often introduce multiplication as repeated addition: "Multiplying 4 by 5 means we're combining five groups of four items. … Continue Reading ››
Educational Technology, Geometry

A Dynamic Approach to Finding Pirate Treasure

1 Comment
In his 1947 book, One, Two, Three...Infinity, physicist George Gamow poses a pirate treasure problem that has since become a classic. Below is my reworded statement of the puzzle.
Among a pirate's belongings you find the following note: The island where I buried my treasure contains a single palm tree. Find the tree. From the palm tree, … Continue Reading ››
Educational Technology, Geometry, Math Software

The Scaled Maps Problem

Leave a comment
Below are two maps of the United Sates, with the smaller map a 50 percent scaled copy of the original. The edges of the two maps are parallel. Imagine that the maps are printed out, with one resting on top of the other. Believe it or not, you can stick a pin straight through both maps … Continue Reading ››
Common Core, Educational Technology, Math Software, Professional Development, Real-World Math

Binomial Multiplication and Concreteness Fading

1 Comment
I was delighted that Daniel recently posted our Binomial Multiplication sketches in Web Sketchpad format. I thought about those sketches when I noticed a fairly new myNCTM thread on "When and How do we phase out the body in math education?" This thread raises a very important question for us as … Continue Reading ››