Math Project: Box Office Totals As a teenager, I loved monitoring the weekend's box office results. This kind of data is exciting, oozing with built in conflict. It sets up questions that require math to answer.
Constructing Meaningful Math Projects Here are four key attributes I look for when developing math projects: juicy data, interesting conflict, an expert's lens, and a final product.
Strategy Game: Sprouts With Sprouts, students draw a small set of dots and then connect those dots with lines. The first person who can’t make a connection loses.
Math Project: Shrinking Airline Seats What kind of math project could you build based on the shrinking dimensions of seats on the Boeing 777?
A Math Question That Moves Around on Bloom’s I was aiming for engagement rather than higher-level thinking.
Mathematical Curiosities Sometimes you encounter that math student who is simply interested in numbers. Here are some famous (and not so famous) sets of numbers that have curious properties.
Math Game: Heaps Heaps is a lovely math-y strategy game that requires no more than paper and pencil to play.
The Collatz Conjecture A "conjecture" is an idea that is believed to be true, but has not yet been proven. They are authentic unanswered questions for students to explore. The Collatz Conjecture uses two simple rules to get from any number to 1. It seems to work for all numbers...
High Level Thinking in Math When differentiating for my most brilliant mathematicians, there are two traps I fell into: Just making it harder. (Use more numbers or more steps.) Turning it into an art project. (Design a bedroom!) On Bloom’s Taxonomy, my math tasks always maxed out at Apply or would leap away to a fluffy creative task. I think […]
An Inductive Exploration of Linear Graphs Let's play with linear graphing! First, don't set this up as a direct instruction lesson. That wouldn't be playing. Instead, capitalize on your students' ability to think inductively and recognize patterns. Set up a situation where they can construct their own meaning.
