CoVID19 List of Activities for Secondary Students at Home

List of Activities for Secondary Students at Home

1. Desmos' "game-like" activities (MarbleSlides, Laser Challenge, Mini Golf, etc). 
   
2. Puzzles - 
1. Sudoko, 
2. KenKen, 
3. Logic Puzzles 
4. Kakuro
5. SET Daily Puzzle
3. Explore-Math and share what they learn
4. Create mathematical art (presentations and instructions provided)
5. Solve Balance Mobiles
6. Choose a category of Open Middle problems to solve
7. NRich Secondary Games 
8. Explore Daily Desmos - create graph art
9. Explore the archives of Math Munch 
10. Explore Imagineering in a Box - creating worlds, stories, characters!
11. Explore Fractals!
12. ACT Math Practice - why not challenge students with a question a day!
13. Explore Play With Your Math

#MTBoSBlaugust: Projects in Math Class

Why Projects in Math Class!?

… because they can help with ...

• student reasoning
• problem-solving
• communication
• making connections to real world situations
• in-depth understanding of concepts
• reaching students’ through their strengths

Over the past few years we did a few projects in Algebra. I chose to think of them as "mini" projects. I've organized notes on some of them here.

Linear Functions/Systems

These four projects are ones I did several years ago.  I don't have references for where I found the ideas.  If they are yours, please let me know!  I try to give credit where it is due.

Fairy Tale  (borrowed here!)

Purple Invaders

Creative Writing

Line Design (pre-Desmos)

Absolute Value Project

Students ask 25 people a question that has a numerical answer. The question should evoke responses above and below the actual answer. Then they create a graph of the responses, analyze their graph, and illustrate their poster. My students put their work in Google slides. I found this idea on H. Kohn's blog. I posted my students' work on my blog.

Quadratic Function Projects

Idea 1: Students had to find pictures of 3 "real-life" items that resemble parabolas. They were encouraged to take pictures in their homes or as they were going about. If they could not find parabolas in the world around them, they could find pictures on the Internet. In just a sentence or two, they were asked to explain the vertex and the x-intercepts. They received additional points for finding "happy" parabolas (concave up). Here is a blog post illustrating just a bit of their work.

Idea 2: Birthday Parabola ... Students use the date of their birthday for the parameters a, b, and c in the general quadratic formula. For example, if a student's birthday is February 12, 2002, his equation would be 2x^2 + 12x + 2. Students graph the parabola, label the key attributes, and decorate the page with their interests. This idea is adapted from The Secondary Classroom Can Be Fun blog.

Exponential Functions

I asked students to choose from four video stories and then create a 1 page “poster” about the problem.  Students include a table of values, a graph, and art to illustrate the problem.  Here is a link to the exponential "stories."

Explore Math

This idea came from Sam Shah who created an excellent website for his students and their explorations. I borrowed from his work, limiting the ideas to just four. You can read about the project here. Other resources for this project can be found here.

Rational Functions

We introduce rational functions with a spaghetti lab that illustrates a cantilever. Since students were not familiar with the term, I created a mini project. I asked students to find an interesting example of a cantilever. I created template Google slides. Students put their fascinating find on a slide with the link to the picture and a short blurb about the cantilever. You can see their slides here.

Data Project

I asked students to find data, analyze it, and present it to the class.  I gave them three scenarios from which to choose.  In each scenario students collected 10 years of data in four areas and making recommendations/decisions using that data for support.  The details of the project are on this blog post.

Desmos Art Project

In the beginning of the last marking period I assign a Desmos Art Project.  Students create art using the functions we have studied and any they want to research.  The project has an emphasis on transformations and domain and range.  The art cannot be centered on the axis.  That forces students to use transformations.  And their graphs have to be limited to make art - which emphasizes understanding domain and range.  Here are some posts I've written on this project ... project description  examples of their art

What projects do you do in class?  Leave a link to your blog about projects in the comments, please?

Outside our comfort zone #MTBoS30 - 3

Students have been working on group projects this week.  They are working with real data and trying to make sense of it.  Trying to use it to make predictions, to make decisions.

Sometimes real data just doesn't fit the models we have learned.

So they ask tentatively, "What do we do?"

I ask, "What do you think the data is telling you?  Is there some reason why the data is skewed that way?  What might have happened during that time period?"

Students look puzzled, but they agree that they could research that.  Then they ask, "But what regression equation should we use?"

I reply, "For this project, you'll have to make a decision about what type of line makes the most sense.  Just be able to explain how you made your decision."

We are working outside our comfort zone and it is OK.

The present their projects on Thursday/Friday.  I can't wait to see the final products!

May Blogging, Data Fun #MTBoS30 - 1

A blogging challenge in MAY???  Really?  It seems like a way to ensure failure.  BUT here I am ... intrigued, wondering if I can keep up ... and determined to finish strong.

My students are working on a project.  We just wrapped up exponential and logarithmic functions.  Our next lesson involved review ... analyzing data to identify linear, quadratic, and exponential patterns; finding regression equations; and using data to make decisions.

One set of data in our textbook caught my eye.  The textbook set up a scenario - newly elected major, needing to set goals for the city, invited advisors to share data.  They shared 10 years of data in four categories, population growth, crime rate, unemployment rates, and property tax rates.  Students and I discussed the data, it's shape, what regression model might work best, and how a mayor might use the data to set goals.

Then I took that idea and proposed that students find data, analyze it, and present it to the class.  I gave them three scenarios from which to choose.  In each scenario students are collecting 10 years of data in four areas and making recommendations/decisions using that data for support.

1. Question: How can data be used to prepare campaign goals for a city mayor race?  Your team is being groomed as future leaders in local government. In preparation, you have been challenged to select the city of your choice and to create a set of campaign goals for that city.
2. Question: What preparation do I need to make now to pay for my college education?  Your team is preparing a presentation for ninth grade students to help them prepare for college. One area of preparation is researching the cost of the better colleges in the United States.
3. Question:  Will women’s performance times ever surpass men’s?  If so, when and in what event? Your team is preparing a presentation for the school board about funding for physical education and sports education.  You are developing a recommendation based on your study of Olympic data.

Here is a link to instructions/rubric I gave to students.

Friday energy was high, conversations flowing, students collaborating on data and presentation tools. They will have one more class day to wrap up their work ... and then they will share their presentations. I look forward to seeing how they interpreted the data they found.

In watching them work on Friday I wished I had built in more open-ended project work.

Smile File entry!

This morning I opened my school email ... from a student ... 

First I have to say, THANK YOU for introducing me to this!

I absolutely love playing around with changing variables.

So much so that I've already made something.

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/ryeooepvbk

I introduced the first of a couple of culminating projects yesterday.  This one is creative art on Desmos using the functions we have studied.  It's a good fit because we emphasize domain, range, and transformations all year.  So as they create art, I require a particular window ... a frame for their art ... that forces transformations.  And of course, to create art, students have to limit the domain of each equation to get the shape they want.  Some students, like the young man in the email, really like the creative process and the responsiveness of Desmos!

#70Days Projects in Math Class

Today I wrapped up my plans and handouts for the presentations I am doing on Monday.  I am a bit nervous since it has been a while since I presented to teachers ... and because I am relatively new to this district.

One of my goals is to share #MTBoS and all the fun found in blogs and Twitter.  The focus of the morning presentation is on projects.  The focus of the afternoon session is on warm-up routines.

The presentation on projects has been the most difficult to pull together.  I don't have a great list of projects to share!  Last year I did two projects that I thought worth telling about.  One was on "exploring math" ... based on Fawn Nguyen and Sam Shah's posts.  I describe the project we did here.  The second was graphing art with Desmos.  Asking students to graph a picture and label the functions is pretty standard in Algebra classes.  Using Desmos just made the project amazing and reinforced very well the concept of domain and range.

So to help the participants think through projects in math class next week, I decided to do two things.  First participants will complete four short mini-projects that could be adapted for any middle or high school math class. Then I curated projects from the Internet for us to discuss - how we might adapt one or more of them to meet our goals for students.

The four mini-projects that we will do are ...

1. Your life in numbers ... to introduce ourselves, workshop participants will make a mini-poster about themselves emphasizing the numbers that shape their lives. The purpose of this project is obvious - we get to introduce ourselves and of course, we could use this in our classes as well.
2. Round Robin Suspense Story Writing ... in groups of 3 or 4, workshop participants will write a story using this sentence starter, “Last Monday was an average day, it wasn’t odd or weird - till numbers all around our town completely disappeared!” Each person will write for 1 minute, then pass the paper. After about 5 to 8 minutes we'll stop and share our stories. I'll read Missing Math, a Number Mystery by Leedy. We'll talk about how you could use a story like this one or The Math Curse by Scieszka and Smith as a "first week activity."
3. Participants will respond to this prompt ... If the world were a village made up of only 100 people, how many of those people do you think… speak English, are 9 years of age of younger, have enough food, go to school, have electricity, have safe water. I'll share the book, If the World were a Village by Smith and Armstrong. Obviously our discussion could be about percentages in middle school math, but I'm wondering if there might be other statistical projects that could arise.
4. The last mini-project we will do is a circuit (a loop or a scavenger hunt) in which participants work math problems to find the missing words in quotations by Descartes.  Here are the links to the puzzle and the circuit.  This mini-project illustrates how one might mesh routine skills with a project.  Students could research something in math and create a puzzle to challenge their classmates.

Obviously these are all "lightweight" projects.  So in between those activities we will be building a case for doing projects and how doing projects help us to get at the math process standards (similar to CCSS mathematical practices).

Then, I'll share a dozen or so projects I found online.  The projects will be on 3 different pieces of paper - one, two, three!  So I'm going to ask table groups to read through just one page, discuss, determine possibilities, and share out.

The last minutes will be open for discussion.

I look forward to meeting folks in our district!

What projects do you use in your classroom?  Would you share with us?

Creative Art Project Introduced!

Yes, some students were ho-hum ... but others ...

... explored all the trig functions to see what shapes they would make
... imported a picture into Demos to see if he could outline it with equations
... discussed the virtues of a single drawing versus a scene
... asked if abstract drawings were acceptable
... tried a few basic functions and how to limit the domain and range

I wish now I hadn't given students 3 whole weeks to complete the project ... I can't wait to see their art!

So what is expected and why?

Our algebra 2 curriculum is structured around a series of parent functions.  We introduce the concept of functions at the beginning of the year.  And then we start marching through seven of them!  With linear functions we explore systems of equations.  Then we look at absolute value functions and how they are related to linear functions.  We end our first semester with an intensive study of quadratic functions ... first examining the graph, transformations, and using graphs to solve problems.  And then we solve quadratics and problem solve some more.

In our second semester we jump into radical equations first since they are inverses of quadratics ... and then we take a detour to study rational exponents.  Next up are exponential functions and logarithms.  And last we learn about rational functions.  That's where we are now.  We are finishing our first unit on rationals which is the graphing unit.  Then we will simplify, solve, and apply rational functions to word problems.

So this creative art project is planned with the purpose of reviewing these seven functions, their transformations, domain, and range.  Students must use at least five of the seven studied to create art.  Their artwork must have at least 12 equations total but as we discussed today, most will have many, many  more.

In the past I would have students create this work on paper.  BUT oh my, DESMOS to the rescue!  How much nicer to have the art online, equations clearly identified, easy to see what students did! Now the focus is on transformations, limiting domain and range ... not on their ability to graph the functions by hand.  The thinking process is different ... better from my perspective!

Here is a link to the handout I gave students.  I can't wait to share their work with you all!  Check back after April 28!

Working on Instructions for Project in Desmos

I'm working on instructions and a rubric for students' project in Desmos.  The purpose of the project is to review the seven parent functions we have studied and to give students an opportunity to demonstrate creativity with those functions.  A key skill will be limiting domain and range.

I don't have the rubric yet ... it needs to be simple.
Here are the instructions for the project.  I would love your feedback!

Micro-Project: Cantilevers!

This semester one of my goals is to give students opportunities to work on mini-projects - mostly one-page explorations of math outside of the typical curriculum.  I wrote about the one we did in February here.  (I wanted to share some of these but I didn't ask students to leave their last names off of the projects ... learning that if I want to post their work, I have to specify first names only).

Today I gave students a "micro" project ... smaller, shorter than even a mini project!


We start Rational Functions on Friday.  We are going to start our unit with a math lab to collect and analyze data.  The lab on Friday uses spaghetti to make a cantilever.  We'll measure the deflection as we increase the number of pieces of spaghetti.

I suspected that students might not know what a cantilever is.  So I asked them to find an interesting example of a cantilever.  I created template slides in Google Presentation.  Each student puts their fascinating find on a slide with the link to the picture and a short blurb about the cantilever.

After a short test today, students had time to begin their work.  Already nearly half of my students have created their slide.  Here are examples (I haven't proofed these) ...





A couple of the students as leaving today "made fun" of how easy this homework is.  I'm OK with that.  Now when we work with our spaghetti on Friday we will have some visual ideas of cantilevers and the variables involved in making them work!

Our next project ... using our seven parent functions to create a work of art in Desmos!

file folder mini projects

I haven't done any projects this year ... many reasons why ... but it's time now to offer my students an opportunity to show me what they know in some other way than our usual tests.

My students need choices!  I'm hoping they will get excited about these four mini-projects!  Students need to choose only one.  One project is a review of graphing; a second project combines problem solving with graphing; a third combines art design with graphing; and the fourth invites students to write creatively.

Students will complete their work (maximum 2 pages) and affix their work inside file folders.  (I might choose to use 12 x 18 construction paper instead of file folders).

If you are interested in seeing the projects, post a comment.  I'll email them.  I created two of them; one I found online and made a few revisions.  The fourth one I borrowed from Amy.