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Tools for exploring, creating, and doing mathematics
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With the help of Pat Murphy's OAC Computer Science students at Holy Cross
School in Kingston, Ontario, I have been developing a suite of java
applets that are designed to let middle school students explore appealing
mathematical situations not normally included in school curricula using
the same tools and concepts they are required to learn at school
(including fractions, ratios, decimal numbers, etc.). My Alive Maths site also has
learning applets that
are somewhat more aligned to traditional middle school curricula and that also include teacher notes as well as Canadian curriculum correlations.
Please Drop me a note. |
| Applet | Grade | Description |
| Raindrops by Amber Beyak | 5-8 | With this applet, students can investigate the "law of large numbers" in probability situations, and use their fraction knowledge to predict the number of raindrops that will fall into different size buckets. Does the number of raindrops caught depend on where the bucket is placed on a grid? |
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The Number Worlds By Aislyn Trendell & Tyson John |
4-12 | With this applet, students can investigate various properties of numbers including patterns of even, odd, square and prime numbers, as well as multiples and factors. There are also different "worlds" of integers to choose from, which can lead to questions such as: What numbers are prime in the Odd world? |
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Colour combinations By Rory Tulk and Jason Cheung |
5-9 |
The combinations problem
has been published in a mathematical journal and has been a contest problem too. This applet
provides a colour version of the problem and makes it much easier--and enjoyable--to explore!
There are many patterns to be found, and some
surprising relationships. But you can also modify it to create a whole new problem.
Source: Math Central |
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The Locker Problem By Joe O'Reilly | 5-9 | This is a great pre-algebra problem that can also draw students' attention to properties of numbers such as even/odd, square, and perfect. Teachers can refer to Suzanne Alejandre's page for more details on classroom implementation. This applet also allows students to make up their own version of the Locker problem. One grade 8 student, for example, wondered what would happen if, instead of opening lcokers starting with the 1st, then the 2nd, then the 3rd, etc. we started by opening according to Fibonacci numbers (1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 8th, etc.) |
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Decimal Designs By David VanDyke | 5-9 | With this applet, students can made designs on a grid using sequences of numbers. One particularly interesting set of sequences to investigate are the decimal expansions of fractions. Students can try to find symmetric designs, or to create common shapes using these different sequences. They might also be challenged to figure out what sequence can give rise to a certain kind of design. This applet provides an environment in which students can explore decimals and fractions and make connections with cartesian graphing. |
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The Balancing Act By Sarah Skinner and Mariska Kempe | 5-9 | This applet allows students to play with the concept of force and mass, and provides them with a great introduction to algebra as they attempt to formulate rules for balancing a teeter-totter and for figuring out "Mystery masses". Guiding questions are provided on the applet page. |
| Dernier mise à jour: le 30 decembre, 2004 |