Prealgebra Photo Scavenger Hunt!

Math Phrases + ColorNote Phone App + Email + Printer

= Scavenger Hunt = Active Learning!

The math phrases sliced and ready to be picked!

I walked into my Prealgebra class the other day and asked, "How about doing something different today?!" There was a collective moan. "You get to leave the claaaaassroooooom!" Then there was a collective cheer.

Earlier that morning, I brainstormed about the math concepts that my Prealgebra students should know (or they were welcome to Google any unknown terms). I then entered the math phrases into my phone's ColorNote app using the Checklist function. Using the "share" feature of the app, I emailed the list to my school email account, enlarged the font, then within minutes I was cutting them into strips. I asked my students to group themselves into 3-4 per group as long as at least one person had a phone that could take and send pictures. Students chose five strips per group, left to find their math concepts somewhere on campus "in the real world" and take a picture of them. What a fun way to support active and collaborative learning! I then added one other free technological feature: I shared my Google number with the class so they could text me their pictures if they could. Within 10 minutes, I was receiving pictures. Awesome!

"Sphere" toys at our college bookstore

3 "rectangle" windows of our bookstore

Example of "percent increase" at Student Services

I later found out from our department chair that this activity covered most if not all of the five benchmarks of effective educational practice in community colleges based on CCSSE findings. The five benchmarks are:

• Active and Collaborative Learning
• Student Effort
• Academic Challenge
• Student-Faculty Interaction
• Support for Learners

Quick, fun, educational, different. I hope you'll try it if you're a teacher! 

Free Math Practice out of New York!

I'm not sure if I shared this yet, but here are a couple links to some free math help. There are some Prealgebra items and a bunch of Algebra items. Apparently (and New Yorkers, please tell me if I'm wrong), but there is a state test that students must take. The Oswego City School District of New York provides these free lessons and practice problems.

Click here for link to Prealgebra/Basic Math material

Click here for link to Algebra material (Algebra II/Intermediate Algebra/College Algebra/Trigonometry)

Click here for the main page for Regents Exam Practice (all subjects)

Hope this helps! Thanks, Oswego!

Upcyled Juice Lids Teach Integer Operations

Juice lids help teach signed numbers operations!

Click to enlarge: Red (dark) lids = negative, silver lids = positive

I've used the "chip method" to teach adding signed integers (the whole numbers and "negative whole" numbers) and to teach prime factorization, but I've never used them to teach multiplying and dividing integers. Until today. Thanks to my beautiful ride to school today, this method popped in my head on the drive. I hope my Elementary Algebra students found this helpful!

Note: These are the metal lids from the top of frozen juice concentrate.  

Click here for tips on another  good lid source!

The example above shows that every pair of reds (negatives) when multiplied will equal a silver (positive). In the numerator:

(-3)(-2) = (red)(red) = silver

and in the denominator:

(-1)(-3) = (red)(red)  = silver

Then

silver/silver = silver (positive)

For those students (like me) who need manipulatives, who are better when they can touch something that can be so abstract, I think the magnet lids are the way to go! Again, this is why I collect all sorts of lids and caps... imagine the possibilities in ANY math classroom or home.

How to Study: Foldables Idea!

THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES! 

Foldables from The Inspired Classroom

The blog The Inspired Classroom  has some wonderful teaching and learning ideas. The above picture is a nice technique for learning the scientific method, but OH! Think of the possibilities here one could do with math! Someone could make a foldable using basic math terms (factor, multiple, prime,... ) or algebra terms (like terms, coefficient, constant, variable, ...). My students are welcome to give this a try for some extra credit points. Creating study materials is part of learning!

By Request: Dividing Whole Numbers

I decided to not reinvent the wheel and just provide links to the famous Kahn Academy website. I use a trick for double and triple digit divisor division that cuts down on the work, but I will post that with my Smartpen ASAP. For now, I hope these help. This guy is good!

Before reviewing division, here are links to review multiplication facts -- very important to make life easier to divide. Since after all, division is the opposite of multiplying.

If you know the blue, you know the purple! And what are the diagonal numbers called??

Multiplication Facts Links

Multiplication table with tips -- only need to memorize HALF of the table!

Multiplication timed online quiz


Dividing with Kahn Academy Links

Dividing with single digit divisor

Dividing with double digit divisor

More dividing with whole numbers

How to make a foldable for studying! Link below.

Bonus! Here's a study tip that looks a bit more fun to make and use than flash cards. Maybe think of how YOU can make one of these to create a multiplication or division study foldable!

Short Awesome Video: Equivalent Fractions

Cute video teaching equivalent fractions

 Check out this short video summarizing the concept of equivalent fractions. Thanks, Miss T Allen!

Fall 12 Math 030 Word-Photos



10 and 8 are CONSTANTS

 Week 1:  Commutative, variable, constant

Note to R. Schantz's students: For now, if you have a photo that YOU took to go with a word of the week, please email it to me (to my school email) along with the VOCAB WORD IN CAPS and a brief desciption of how that word relates to your photo. In the subject of the email, type class (020? 030?), day/time, and vocabulary word (in caps).

For example, for the photo posted here:

Subject: MTH 030, MW 9:30am, CONSTANT

Help us try to find MATH IN THE REAL WORLD. It's out there! :-)

I will do my best to share the photo with the class. I will try pinning it to Pinterest. I may ask for help from you (if you know how to pin).

I'm looking forward to seeing your "math" photos!

 *******************************************
This JUST in! Thank you, A.N, A.E., R.H., M.G. and N.D. for your math word-photos. I'm still looking for photos for the word VERTICAL!

Oscar's toy is HORIZONTAL! (How cute is this?!)

The 1st base and 3rd base running lines meet at a right angle; the lines are PERPENDICULAR.

 

This picture is from a gym floor: the paint is PERPENDICULAR to the PARALLEL lines.

The sky's horizon at the mall. Same as a HORIZONTAL line in math.

My shoes are arranged in PARALLEL rows in my closet!

*******************************************
This JUST in! Thank you, A.E., for your word-photo!  

11:11 represents a CONSTANT in the number because of the same font, size, and color.

I hope to now get photos for the other 2 words of the week: commutative, variable (those can be fun!)

 ***************************************************************************
This JUST in! Thank you, A.N., for your word-photos! Both are COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY examples!

 No matter whether you use yellow or blue
first, you still get green.

Whether I put in my left contact or right contact first,
the end result is still the same. I can see.

Fractions & Mixed Numbers from The Pirate Teacher

Pinterest is not only an awesome source for humor, cooking, DIY tutorials, but also for math! I just discovered a blog via Pinterest called The Pirate Teacher. There's a cute way to remember the rules of mixed number conversions. The picture below is just a tip of the iceberg!

Upcycled Felt Geometry Shapes!

Repurposed 2nd-hand sweaters felted into geometry shapes

"Teach your children well..." These shapes were made for a dear friend's little girl. I hope she's enjoying them as much as I enjoyed making them! For more information, visit Crop Rotation by clicking here.

By the way, I've had a busy but fun summer, trying to cross off things on my summer to-do list. Please check back often as the next semester approaches. More math help to come.

Free Simplifying Radicals Help!

As my College Algebra class prepares for the Complex Number section that will lead to being able to solve just about any quadratic equation, here's a link to a worksheet on simplifying radicals. We will do a few of the first problems together in class. Answers are given, too!

Free Radical Practice from Kuta Software

Tip: It may help to review prime factorization. See the Pencast on this on the right side of this webpage for a tutorial. You can even make up your own numbers like 220, 175, 330 then check your factors at www.WolframAlpha.com. I went to WolframAlpha and entered "Factor(220)". Click here to see what it did for me! I also show how to have WolframAlpha simplify the square root of 220 here.

There's also a Radicals pencast to the right of this webpage.

Free Math Problems with Feedback!

A reminder here about a wonderful free website supplied by Pearson Education. InteractMath.com contains thousands of math problems that provide immediate feedback and assistance. This is the free scaled-down version of MyMathLab.com. I am working on some tutorials on how to use InteractMath.com. It's very user-friendly, though. You can start by going to www.InteractMath.com, click on Enter, then choose from a ton of math books and get started!