#MTBoSBlaugust Resources you can use! #1

Fun resources around the web ...

Have you checked out the University of Colorado PhET simulations?  I used Projectile Motion last year!  It "fires" a cannon, traces a parabolic graph, and you try to hit a target.  It's totally interactive and has teacher suggestions as well.  There are several simulations ... Wave on a String, Vector Addition, and more!  There are elementary/middle school appropriate simulations with balance beam, area finder, and fractions!  Trig Tour Simulation which is a great illustration of the relationship between the unit circle and the sin, cos, or tan graphs.  BTW ... totally free!




Looking for a visual display to help emphasize the smallness, largeness of numbers ... through powers of 10? Check out this series of pictures ... from the universe to molecules in leaf cells!

Speaking of visualizing numbers ... check out the MegaPenney Project.  Each page has a number of pennies, size of the pile, weight, and area.







When I taught middle school, I used an activity that involved folding a circle a number of times to explore various concepts in our geometry unit.  My activity was on a handout - it was ancient - not sure where I learned the activity and it looked something like this.  But I found updated versions online this week!  Check out this slide by slide version  or this handout version.

Last but not least, a favorite site is NRICH Enriching Mathematics!  If you are looking for a way to Check out this page for sure!
challenge students, there are weekly problems, stumpers, and more!  Today I found a page on developing students mathematical thinking ... including habits of mind.

What resources have you found online that help illustrate key math concepts?