Teachers Joanne C. da Luz and Justin Warren came up with a fun twist on Lab Gear multiplication. They work at the Life Learning Academy, a San Francisco Unified charter school on Treasure Island. They describe their project in a PDF entitled "Algebra and Art". The idea is to combine the idea of the area… Continue reading Algebra and Art
Author: hpicciotto
Book Recommendations
A correspondent asked for book recommendations -- where do I get ideas? Actually, I get most of my ideas at conferences, in The Mathematics Teacher, and sometimes on the Web -- not so much from books any more. And of course, most importantly, I get ideas when trying to think differently about something I teach.Still,… Continue reading Book Recommendations
Web 2.0?
As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working on launching a math teachers' network, with the theme "Escape from the Textbook!". People have suggested these options for sharing files and ideas: edWeb, Google Docs, Google Groups, Google Wave, LinkedIn, Ning, ProjectSpace, WikiSpaces. My Web site is also available -- should that be helpful… Continue reading Web 2.0?
Geometry of the Conic Sections, cont’d
New pages:Geometry of the Conic Sections (emphasis on the ellipse): 2D | 3DExtension of a geometry activity with interesting connections to the conics: Soccer AnglesUpdated page (not counting pages where I just added links):Geometry of the ParabolaNew worksheets for students (PDFs):A Geometric Construction Unit (Teachers' Guide)Geometry of the EllipseConics Graph Paper: Two Foci | Focus-DirectrixI… Continue reading Geometry of the Conic Sections, cont’d
Geometry of the Conic Sections
I posted a fair amount of material about the Geometry of the Conic Sections -- basically my December 5 Asilomar talk, supporting pages and documents, and more or less closely related material.Check it out, and follow the links, as there are quite a few new things to look at! Including Web pages, PDFs, images, and… Continue reading Geometry of the Conic Sections
Computers in math education
Last summer, as part of the Center for Innovative Teaching Tech Symposium, I gave a talk on the use of computers in math education. The audience was school leaders (administrators who focus on educational leadership), not math teachers, so I had to take a couple of steps back, and think about the question in terms… Continue reading Computers in math education
Asilomar talk
I'll be speaking about "the geometry of conic sections" at an upcoming conference*. Perhaps I'll see some of you there?I added the info to my Talks page, but have not yet uploaded all the corresponding materials. The site so far only includes the geometry of the parabola. I'll be adding bits about the ellipse and… Continue reading Asilomar talk
Ordering Lab Gear
I've been receiving more e-mail from teachers who have trouble finding a way to order Lab Gear... It is actually not surprising: I just tried Google, and it really didn't work to get me to the Creative Publications page.I'm sorry this is not more straightforward. Creative Publications is a shadow of its former self, and… Continue reading Ordering Lab Gear
Worksheet Tweaks
Because of feedback from participants in my "No Limits!" workshop last summer, I tweaked some worksheets:- Graphing Square Roots- Quadratic Forms- A Different Approach to the Quadratic Formula(The latter two can be found on the Parabolas and Quadratics page.)--Henri
More Small Changes
I added the "function diagram dance" activity to the Function Diagrams main page. I also added to that same page a list of the function diagram lessons in Algebra: Themes, Tools, Concepts (ATTC). Those sometimes duplicate, sometimes complement the other function diagram material on the Web site.I added an "index of selected topics and tools"… Continue reading More Small Changes
Henri's Math Education Blog 