I haven't posted in over a week, which I think is the longest I've ever gone since I've started this blog without posting. I wish I could say it was due to Screen Free Week and my virtuous decision to eschew all things electronic, but it wasn't. It is because I've been so busy with the Cards, Coral & Kids campaign for my son's environmental awareness group, Healing Oceans Together (H2O).
The idea behind this project, which is to create a Pokemon-like card game that would teach people about coral reef life and ecosystems and actions they can take to help the corals survive, is explained here and here, so I won't go into that again in my blog. What I wanted to talk about here is some of the thinking behind the project.
You know, young teens are interesting creatures. They are old enough to realize some of the problems with the world, and most are hopeful and confident about being part of the solution. They tend to be really into Earth Day and recycling, Save the Planet, Stop Global Warming, Protect the Rain Forests, and the like.
And yet, on a daily basis, we are still telling them "Shut the Refridgerator Door!" "Turn Off the Lights when You Leave the Room!" "Don't Leave the Computer Running All Night!" or the frustrated but perhaps dangerous question of "Why Does it Take You 30 Minutes of Running Water to Take a Shower?"
Maybe it's different at your house. But for many of us, our children's grand rhetoric for saving the planet doesn't match up with their everyday life habits. Of course, that's really true for most of us adults as well...
In H2O, the students have been studying ocean science and math since September. We decided to hone in on coral conservation because coral reefs are really the marine equivalent of rain forests. Although coral reefs only make up about 0.1% of the oceans, they are home to approximately 25% of all marine life! Also, corals take a long time to grow, so our damage to reefs that may be hundreds or thousands of years old can not be replaced within many of our human generations.
But what to do that would make a difference? There are already tons of books and videos and ads and educational resources on this issue, but people continue doing what they've always done. As parents, we've trying nagging, threatening, bribing, begging, and everything short of bloodshed, and yet...we, too, are largely ineffectual. So we needed to come up with something else, something new.
And then we had a brainstorm. Instead of using guilt and threats and dire warnings of environmental catastrophes, what if we made saving the coral reefs fun? What if we made it....into a game?
In approaching it this way, we were influenced by the work of Jane McGonigal, whose work is summarized in a video I included in an earlier post. Her video on that page, a TED talk on how "Gaming Can Make a Better World," is a synopsis of her wonderful book, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. In short, she argues that time people spend on video games actually helps them develop positive characteristics (such as working hard, cooperation, and optomism), and explores how to structure games so that we can channel all the time people spend playing games into social activism games that will help solve Earth's real-world problems. It is a fascinating and inspiring book, and I recommend it highly.
So, in short, that is what we are trying to do with this game. First, the game will teach students (and adults as well) the real science behind food chains and interlocking ecosystems in the coral reefs. We think this is important because we think if people knew more about all these fascinating creatures, they would love them, and we take care of the things we love (for more of our philosophy on that, read the Family Educators Commons article that Maria Droujkova and I co-wrote on the Shareable website). But secondly, we will build into the games a way for them to earn (or lose) points based on their actions in real life. You insist that I drive you to the library? You lose 5 points. You walk or ride your bike there yourself? You gain 5 points. You stand there with the refridgerator open as you drink your water/milk/juice? You lose 3 points. You close the door and drink it at the table? Well, I don't know that we'll give you points for that, since that should be normal behavior, but at least you won't lose points. You keep your showers under 10 minutes? You get 2 points. You keep your showers under 5 minutes? You get 5 points.
You get the idea.
Anyway, we think this game has the potential to give kids incentives for to change those behaviors that we parents have been nagging them about for years, but to no avail. If we all make those small changes, maybe they won't completely solve the problem, but they will make things better. And making things better is something that can make us all feel good.
If you would like to be a part of helping to make this game happen, then please visit our Cards, Coral & Kids campaign. For a small donation, you could get a deck of the cards before they are released to the public, participate in our pilot trials and research project, or even give input into the cards themselves! Also, please spread the word about this idea to all your social media networks, email loops, and friends and family. Getting the funding we need to develop the game requires reaching lots of people, so anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated!
Showing posts with label math. Show all posts
Showing posts with label math. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Curriculum Resource: Is Math Creative?
This post is in honor of my friend Maria Droujkova of Natural Math...
Do you have students who complain math is "boring," and who prefer something like art because it is "creative"? If so, this short video might open their eyes to a new possibility. In it, some leading mathematicians challenge the idea that math lacks the creative possibilities open to, say, Picasso or Shakespeare. In particular, one speaker discusses how the notion that 1 + 1 = to sometime different than 2 has radically transformed modern society...
This video was taken at a recent World Science Festival from a longer panel discussion entitled Mysteries of the Mathematical Universe. It touches on a number of fascinating topics, including why Euclid's proof of an infinite number of prime numbers should rock your world, the origin of numbers, and the puzzles that remain for modern mathematician to solve. You can watch the entire nearly 77 minute video below:
Do you have students who complain math is "boring," and who prefer something like art because it is "creative"? If so, this short video might open their eyes to a new possibility. In it, some leading mathematicians challenge the idea that math lacks the creative possibilities open to, say, Picasso or Shakespeare. In particular, one speaker discusses how the notion that 1 + 1 = to sometime different than 2 has radically transformed modern society...
This video was taken at a recent World Science Festival from a longer panel discussion entitled Mysteries of the Mathematical Universe. It touches on a number of fascinating topics, including why Euclid's proof of an infinite number of prime numbers should rock your world, the origin of numbers, and the puzzles that remain for modern mathematician to solve. You can watch the entire nearly 77 minute video below:
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Is The Hunger Games Turning Students Off of STEM Education?
Are students turning away from pursuing careers in science and math because of books like The Hunger Games? Popular author Neal Stephenson thinks so. Stephenson argues that current science fiction writers depict such a dark and depressing picture of the future--like children being forced to fight to the death for the amusement of the ruling elite and for the subjugation of the laboring masses--that students are not inspired to be part of making that future come to be. If science, engineering, and math is going to create a future society like Panen in The Hunger Games, or the Realm in Incarceron, or post-apocalyptic Chicago in Divergent (gosh, haven't I written up that review? I'll have to do that), or dozens of other popular YA books, movies, and TV shows, why would students want to participate in that?
To Stephenson's mind, it all contributes to our society overarching problem, which is an inability to, in his word, "get big things done." So he has created an effort entitled the Hierarchy Project to convince science fiction writers to create some more optomistic visions of the future that would inspire students back into the world of science and math as a potential solution provider rather than a conveyor belt to our dystopic future. To hear more about his views on this topic, read his article on Innovation Starvation.
Stephenson is not the first person to raise these concerns. Indeed, my first-ever blog post, Are Bella and Edward LITERALLY Warping Your Adolescent's Brain, was about a conference at Cambridge that was examining whether dark themes in current YA literature were physically changing adolescent brains. But I thought it was a good follow-on to my earlier post this week about Neil deGrasse Tyson's concern that we have forgotten how to dream. I do think that perhaps the biggest problem is STEM education is our students lack of desire to pursue it, and I do think that these dark, science-enabled dystopias could be a part of the problem.
It also brings to mind a story about Martin Luther King, Jr. that I described in another earlier post. Nichelle Nicols, who played the African American communications officer Uhuru in the original television series of Star Trek, told of Dr. King telling her that Star Trek was the most important TV show at that time because it gave people a vision of the future world he was trying to create in his speeches--a place where people of all races (and even different planets) worked together in peace and respect to take on big challenges.
That was the time I was raised in. Star Trek may seem to today's eyes to be cheesy and bombastic, but it was unfailing optomistic about human potential enhanced by technology. Our children are growing up in times where it seems to be preferable to be vampires and werewolfs and zombies and such to becoming a scientist (unless you want to go into murder investigation, since I guess the numerous CSI shows require quite a number of scientist to analyze all that crime evidence the detective amass).
So I hope Stephenson and his Hierarchy Project help to encourage some writers to give our adolescent some less grim scenarios of their future. It may not be the biggest part of the solution to STEM education, but it sure couldn't hurt.
To Stephenson's mind, it all contributes to our society overarching problem, which is an inability to, in his word, "get big things done." So he has created an effort entitled the Hierarchy Project to convince science fiction writers to create some more optomistic visions of the future that would inspire students back into the world of science and math as a potential solution provider rather than a conveyor belt to our dystopic future. To hear more about his views on this topic, read his article on Innovation Starvation.
Stephenson is not the first person to raise these concerns. Indeed, my first-ever blog post, Are Bella and Edward LITERALLY Warping Your Adolescent's Brain, was about a conference at Cambridge that was examining whether dark themes in current YA literature were physically changing adolescent brains. But I thought it was a good follow-on to my earlier post this week about Neil deGrasse Tyson's concern that we have forgotten how to dream. I do think that perhaps the biggest problem is STEM education is our students lack of desire to pursue it, and I do think that these dark, science-enabled dystopias could be a part of the problem.
It also brings to mind a story about Martin Luther King, Jr. that I described in another earlier post. Nichelle Nicols, who played the African American communications officer Uhuru in the original television series of Star Trek, told of Dr. King telling her that Star Trek was the most important TV show at that time because it gave people a vision of the future world he was trying to create in his speeches--a place where people of all races (and even different planets) worked together in peace and respect to take on big challenges.
That was the time I was raised in. Star Trek may seem to today's eyes to be cheesy and bombastic, but it was unfailing optomistic about human potential enhanced by technology. Our children are growing up in times where it seems to be preferable to be vampires and werewolfs and zombies and such to becoming a scientist (unless you want to go into murder investigation, since I guess the numerous CSI shows require quite a number of scientist to analyze all that crime evidence the detective amass).
So I hope Stephenson and his Hierarchy Project help to encourage some writers to give our adolescent some less grim scenarios of their future. It may not be the biggest part of the solution to STEM education, but it sure couldn't hurt.
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Power of Dreams in Education
Why aren't US students going into careers in science, engineering, and math? That is a question we've been asking as a society ever since I was working professionally in Washington DC in education policy in the 1980s. There have been many proposed answers to that question, but mostly the blame as been laid on our education system. Our science and math education isn't rigorous enough, or it isn't concrete enough, or it isn't relevent enough, or it isn't hands-on enough, etc. etc. etc. So our latest response has been lots of government and private programs to improve education in what is now called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
While I know science and math are tough disciplines--tough to learn and tough to teach (she says, having just completed teaching a hands-on physics class on light and optics that required lugging multiple sets of things for hands-on experiments to an outside classroom for five weeks)--and that we could definitely improve our science and math education, to my mind, that isn't the biggest problem with our current "brain drain" in STEM careers. The data I read indicates that most of "the best and the brightest"are choosing to go into fields other than math and science. That is to say, even if we could wave our magic wands and make our STEM education programs perfect, that isn't going to change the situation if students refuse to go into those programs in the first place.
There are many aspects to why American students aren't studying STEM. But one of the big ones, according to astrophysicist and science writer/media specialist Neil deGrasse Tyson, is that we, as a nation, have stopped dreaming about a better future and the important role science, math, and engineering have in getting us there.
I could say more, but Tyson himself says it so much better in the short video below, entitled "Why We Stopped Dreaming:"
There is no way I can improve on that. Except that I would say that it is not just limited to STEM. I grew up in the Washington DC area, where almost everyone there was employed in what we used to consider "public service." When I was growing up, working in Congress or the White House, the multiple court systems, the many federal agencies, the military complex built around the Pentagon, the related research institutes, the multiple non-profit public interest groups on all sorts of issues--all of those were honorable professions, and even though people found it a financial sacrifice, in terms of making a lower income than they might have had in private industry, it was worth it because they believed they were making a difference or playing a role in making the world safer, smarter, healthier, and better.
Now, after decades of people bashing "the government," our best and brightest don't want to work there either. Looking at the nastiness and frustration among our top politicians--the US Congress and White House--it is no wonder that our students don't want a career in politics. Education is another field where most of the public policy discussion is very negative, constantly highlighting all the perceived failures and rarely lauding the good work done day after day by millions of teachers across our country.
So what is left? Becoming an athlete, rock or rap star, an actor/actress or, even better/easier, becoming a celebrity through so-called "reality" TV?
This is a tough, tough problem, and I don't know how we are going to solve it as a society. But I know one thing. As teachers and as parents, we need to support our students in dreaming again. And I think it is particularly important in this middle school age--when they are old enough to understand and deal with some of the real substantive problems of our culture, but haven't yet experience so much frustration and inability to make a difference that they become cynical and indifferent. In our case, it is why we are so heavily invested in a effort called Healing Oceans Together, where the students wrote the following mission statement for their group:
While I know science and math are tough disciplines--tough to learn and tough to teach (she says, having just completed teaching a hands-on physics class on light and optics that required lugging multiple sets of things for hands-on experiments to an outside classroom for five weeks)--and that we could definitely improve our science and math education, to my mind, that isn't the biggest problem with our current "brain drain" in STEM careers. The data I read indicates that most of "the best and the brightest"are choosing to go into fields other than math and science. That is to say, even if we could wave our magic wands and make our STEM education programs perfect, that isn't going to change the situation if students refuse to go into those programs in the first place.
There are many aspects to why American students aren't studying STEM. But one of the big ones, according to astrophysicist and science writer/media specialist Neil deGrasse Tyson, is that we, as a nation, have stopped dreaming about a better future and the important role science, math, and engineering have in getting us there.
I could say more, but Tyson himself says it so much better in the short video below, entitled "Why We Stopped Dreaming:"
There is no way I can improve on that. Except that I would say that it is not just limited to STEM. I grew up in the Washington DC area, where almost everyone there was employed in what we used to consider "public service." When I was growing up, working in Congress or the White House, the multiple court systems, the many federal agencies, the military complex built around the Pentagon, the related research institutes, the multiple non-profit public interest groups on all sorts of issues--all of those were honorable professions, and even though people found it a financial sacrifice, in terms of making a lower income than they might have had in private industry, it was worth it because they believed they were making a difference or playing a role in making the world safer, smarter, healthier, and better.
Now, after decades of people bashing "the government," our best and brightest don't want to work there either. Looking at the nastiness and frustration among our top politicians--the US Congress and White House--it is no wonder that our students don't want a career in politics. Education is another field where most of the public policy discussion is very negative, constantly highlighting all the perceived failures and rarely lauding the good work done day after day by millions of teachers across our country.
So what is left? Becoming an athlete, rock or rap star, an actor/actress or, even better/easier, becoming a celebrity through so-called "reality" TV?
This is a tough, tough problem, and I don't know how we are going to solve it as a society. But I know one thing. As teachers and as parents, we need to support our students in dreaming again. And I think it is particularly important in this middle school age--when they are old enough to understand and deal with some of the real substantive problems of our culture, but haven't yet experience so much frustration and inability to make a difference that they become cynical and indifferent. In our case, it is why we are so heavily invested in a effort called Healing Oceans Together, where the students wrote the following mission statement for their group:
Healing Oceans Together (H2O) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preservation of the seas, raising public awareness about the oceans, and supporting the community through environmental education. Our organization is largely student-driven and is exceedingly resourceful. We are homeschoolers saving the world one step at a time, because we believe that everybody, working together, can make a difference.I have to end with quoting (yet AGAIN, for those who know me) from one of my favorite books of 2011, Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt. In this passage from the book, which is set in the 1960s, the junior high science teacher, Mr. Ferris, is talking to a group of incoming students.
"Within a year, possibly by next fall," he was saying, "something that has never before been done, will be done. NASA will be sending men to the moon. Think of that. Men who were once in classrooms like this one will leave their footprints on the lunar surface." He paused. I leaned in close against the wall so I could hear him. "That is why you are sitting here tonight, and why you will be coming here in the months ahead. You come to dream dream. You come to build fantastic castles into the air. And you come to learn how to build the foundations that make those castles real. When the men who will command that mission were boys your age, no one knew that they would walk on another world someday. No one knew. But in a few months, that's what will happen. So, twenty years from now, what will people say of you? 'No one knew then that this kid from Washington Irving Junior High School would grow up to do".....what? What castle will you build?"With all our focus in education on test scores and STEM initiatives and funding priorities, we are forgetting to encourage our students to dream big dreams. And what kind of a life are preparing them for without dreams? As Langston Hughes said in his poem, Dreams:
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Curriculum Resource: Folding Circles for Pi Day
Today is Pi Day (March 14, or 3.14). Of course, we celebrated with our traditional Pizza Pi(e)s. But because Google informed me it was also the 101st birthday of Akira Yoshizawa, who is considered the grandfather of origami (see below):
I went searching for origami and circles, and chanced upon this wonderful website, WholeMovement.com. The author, Bradford Hansen-Smith, inspired in part by Buckminster Fuller, has compiled tons of information about all the mathematical and other concepts one can learn by folding circles. It doesn't take fancy equipment--he starts with paper plates and bobby pins--but it can take you deep into mathematical and geometric concepts.
So a great way to observe Pi Day (besides eating pie, pizza or otherwise) is to check out his website.
I went searching for origami and circles, and chanced upon this wonderful website, WholeMovement.com. The author, Bradford Hansen-Smith, inspired in part by Buckminster Fuller, has compiled tons of information about all the mathematical and other concepts one can learn by folding circles. It doesn't take fancy equipment--he starts with paper plates and bobby pins--but it can take you deep into mathematical and geometric concepts.
So a great way to observe Pi Day (besides eating pie, pizza or otherwise) is to check out his website.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Yenka: 3-D Simulation Software to Create Interactive Models in Science, Math, and Technology
I've been teaching physics this semester, and in my search for resources, I stumbled upon this incredible resource. Yenka is some very powerful 3-D simulation software that allows you to model all sorts of topics related to science, technology, math, and computer programming. For example, in the area of physics I'm teaching (light and optics), Yenka has some pre-built virtual labs that allow you or a student to manipulate concave or convex lenses to see how the light rays travel through them and how near or far from the lens you must be for the picture to be clear and focused. They also have models for the colours of light (it was developed by a Scottish firm, so the spellings are British rather than American), for fiber optics, for light refraction, microscopes and telescopes, and several others. But they also have lots of other ones relating to electricity, sound, forces, and other physical concept, plus another whole load of models for chemistry.
Then there is math, which has over 200 models about numbers, geometry, measurements, and statistics. In the technology section...well, I can't even understand what their description of things you can do mean, but apparently you can "Design and test analogue and digital electronic circuits, convert them to PCB layouts, and program PIC or PICAXE microcontrollers." Whatever, it sounds like powerful stuff. Finally, in computing, they have what is supposed to be a simple programming technique for manipulating 3-D animated character using flowcharts (although more sophisticated program require an upgrade to some other software they have).
And the REALLY good news is that all this powerful software is FREE--BUT, only for using at home. For teachers to use the software at school, they must buy a personal or an institution license. However, for teachers who want to play with it at home to try out some ideas, or for parents who want to supplement what their children are learning at school, it is fantastic. Plus, it does say specifically that the free license is available to homeschoolers. Yippee!
So it really is a wonderful resource for creating all sorts of different simulations and interactive virtual exercises in lots of areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education. To download your FREE at-home license to try it out, visit the Yenka website.
Then there is math, which has over 200 models about numbers, geometry, measurements, and statistics. In the technology section...well, I can't even understand what their description of things you can do mean, but apparently you can "Design and test analogue and digital electronic circuits, convert them to PCB layouts, and program PIC or PICAXE microcontrollers." Whatever, it sounds like powerful stuff. Finally, in computing, they have what is supposed to be a simple programming technique for manipulating 3-D animated character using flowcharts (although more sophisticated program require an upgrade to some other software they have).
And the REALLY good news is that all this powerful software is FREE--BUT, only for using at home. For teachers to use the software at school, they must buy a personal or an institution license. However, for teachers who want to play with it at home to try out some ideas, or for parents who want to supplement what their children are learning at school, it is fantastic. Plus, it does say specifically that the free license is available to homeschoolers. Yippee!
So it really is a wonderful resource for creating all sorts of different simulations and interactive virtual exercises in lots of areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education. To download your FREE at-home license to try it out, visit the Yenka website.
Friday, November 25, 2011
One Teacher's Thanksgiving Gift to His Students
Those of us who teach classes know how hard it is to keep the students' attention right before a holiday. Here is how one teacher battled that issue this Thanksgiving. Matthew Weathers, who teaches math and computer science at Biola University, used a mixture of virtual and digital reality to inject a bit of fun and talk about Thanksgiving in one of his math classes this month.
You can watch his mixed digital/physical self below:
You can watch his mixed digital/physical self below:
Monday, November 21, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Math and Videogames
I've found what looks like an incredible resource. It is an online, multi-media, interactive, self-paced course on math concepts used in video games. It was developed by WNET, the public broadcasting network in New York City, for 7th-10th graders, although advanced younger middle schoolers could probably use it as well.
The lesson demonstrates how algebraic concepts, such as linear relationships, rate of change and slope, algebraic and numeric expressions and equations, and graphing transformations, underlie the design and playing of many video game challenges. Of course, it is interactive, so students are called upon to solve such problem to demonstrate some typical video game techniques.
You can access the entire lesson for FREE at the Teacher's Domain website (although students will have to create an account if they want the lesson to record their input for various challenges). You can also download a Teacher's Guide about how to support math learning through this lesson at the same location.
The lesson demonstrates how algebraic concepts, such as linear relationships, rate of change and slope, algebraic and numeric expressions and equations, and graphing transformations, underlie the design and playing of many video game challenges. Of course, it is interactive, so students are called upon to solve such problem to demonstrate some typical video game techniques.
You can access the entire lesson for FREE at the Teacher's Domain website (although students will have to create an account if they want the lesson to record their input for various challenges). You can also download a Teacher's Guide about how to support math learning through this lesson at the same location.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Explaining the Electoral College
I recently received the FREE 2012 Electoral College map that C-SPAN is giving to US teachers (for more information, read this post), and it is a durable and valuable resource. Now I need some materials to help me explain this unusual voting technique to my middle schooler.
Enter C.G.P. Grey, who has created two videos that are perfect for my son, at least. They are short and to the point, and use math examples to make the system concrete. Best of all, they insert some humor, which always works to keep my son interested.
The first one explains the Electoral College System:
But I like the second one even better. It demonstrates the problems with this system, and dismisses some of the myths that are offered as explanations about why we have to keep this antiquated technique of electing our modern President:
I learned some stuff, and I'm already pretty well versed on the subject (or so I thought).
I definitely recommend keeping these in your arsenal of tools when you are covering the 2012 Presidential election with your middle schoolers.
Enter C.G.P. Grey, who has created two videos that are perfect for my son, at least. They are short and to the point, and use math examples to make the system concrete. Best of all, they insert some humor, which always works to keep my son interested.
The first one explains the Electoral College System:
But I like the second one even better. It demonstrates the problems with this system, and dismisses some of the myths that are offered as explanations about why we have to keep this antiquated technique of electing our modern President:
I learned some stuff, and I'm already pretty well versed on the subject (or so I thought).
I definitely recommend keeping these in your arsenal of tools when you are covering the 2012 Presidential election with your middle schoolers.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Population Growth and Climate Change
I found another good resource related to the population growth topic I raised last week when our global population supposedly reached 7 billion people. The website Population Action International has a lot of great information and resources on it, including an interactive chart where you can see where your birthday falls on the curve to reach 7 billion--and beyond!
But the most eye-opening section to me was a serious of maps that show the connection between population growth and climate change. In short, it seems that the countries where population growth is the largest are also, in general, the countries who will be most hurt by global climate change, at least in terms of things like reduced agricultural productivity and water availability. It makes sense when I saw the maps, but I hadn't thought of that before. Check out this guided tour of the maps, and then you can also make your own maps or research a specific country.
These maps make it even more evident why we need to try to reduce rampant population growth before the full effects of global warming really hit us. We may or may not be around to have to deal with all this, but our middle schoolers should be, so this is the kind of information about their future world they should know.
But the most eye-opening section to me was a serious of maps that show the connection between population growth and climate change. In short, it seems that the countries where population growth is the largest are also, in general, the countries who will be most hurt by global climate change, at least in terms of things like reduced agricultural productivity and water availability. It makes sense when I saw the maps, but I hadn't thought of that before. Check out this guided tour of the maps, and then you can also make your own maps or research a specific country.
These maps make it even more evident why we need to try to reduce rampant population growth before the full effects of global warming really hit us. We may or may not be around to have to deal with all this, but our middle schoolers should be, so this is the kind of information about their future world they should know.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Explaining the Significance of a World Population of 7 Billion
While we in America were preoccupied with trick or treating, UN estimates said that we reached a new milestone: an estimated world population of 7 billion people. But what does that mean? I'm not sure that I can visualize 7,000,000,000 people, let alone my middle schooler being able to do so.
But below is a great video that can help. This video is a TED presentation by Hans Rosling, a Swedish doctor and researcher and one of the world's experts on global health issues. In this 10 minute video, Rosling does a great job presenting a visual representation of global population growth, explains where and why populations are booming, and what we can do to slow the increase.
But below is a great video that can help. This video is a TED presentation by Hans Rosling, a Swedish doctor and researcher and one of the world's experts on global health issues. In this 10 minute video, Rosling does a great job presenting a visual representation of global population growth, explains where and why populations are booming, and what we can do to slow the increase.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Art, Science, Math, Art
We were having a discussion during our homeschool coop this week about our belief that one of the great benefits of homeschooling is our ability to study things in an interdisciplinary way. Whereas in schools, usually what you are studying in English has no connection with what you are doing in History or Science, we can spend our time in Language Arts reading literature of the era that we are doing in History, plus we can supplement with Art History/Art projects and Music History and sometimes History of Science, etc.
When I stumbled upon the Fong Qi Wei's website for Exploded Flowers, it immediately made me think of this multidisciplinary approach to life. Qi Wei is a photographer, apparently living in Singapore. In the Exploded Flowers series, he carefully takes apart a flower and photographs it with all its stems, petals, pistons, and other components spread apart. Here are some examples of his work:
So, so lovely and interesting! And so we go from art to nature, and then from nature to art. This makes me really want to go get some flowers and try re-creating some of our favorite paintings in petal form. And thus these pictures extend into Art History, and even Social Studies, as we consider the difference between Asian art and Western art....
When I stumbled upon the Fong Qi Wei's website for Exploded Flowers, it immediately made me think of this multidisciplinary approach to life. Qi Wei is a photographer, apparently living in Singapore. In the Exploded Flowers series, he carefully takes apart a flower and photographs it with all its stems, petals, pistons, and other components spread apart. Here are some examples of his work:
 |
| Copyright © 2011 Fong Qi Wei |
 |
| Copyright © 2011 Fong Qi Wei |
 |
| Copyright © 2011 Fong Qi Wei |
 |
| Copyright © 2011 Fong Qi Wei |
 |
| Copyright © 2011 Fong Qi Wei |
For all of these beautiful photos, or to buy a print or card of one, visit his website here.
I love these, because they are obviously beautiful art. But they also help us learn about science, particularly what exactly goes into a flower. I think it could help us explain to our students the components of the flowers and what pieces perform what functions in the whole plant reproduction process.
However, it also lead to me to math, and the patterns of the petals and other parts. I've written a number of posts about Fibonacci numbers, and my son and I have spent quite a bit of time looking for those Fibonacci sequences in nature. But in real life, it is often hard to tell exactly how many petals there are in a flower, or segments in a pine cone, and such (believe me, we've tried). So actually taking it apart and counting that way--that might be one way to solve the problem. I have to admit, though, that I counted many of the petals in the photographs, and I didn't find too many examples of Fibonacci numbers. But there were lots of interesting patterns to consider, once it was separated enough that you can definitely count different items.
But it doesn't just stop there. Eventually, it occurred to Qi Wei that all those individual petals were similar to individual brush strokes in a painting. So he created several of what he calls "floral paintings" out of petals. For example, consider this one, which was inspired by a woodcut print called The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of the most famous pieces of Japanese art:
 |
| Veronicas, Hyacinths, Pom Poms, 2011, All Rights Reserved Qi Wei |
I think that is incredible. But I have to admit that my favorite of this series, which mostly reflects Asian art, is one inspired by a Western artist, Van Gogh:
 |
| Van Gogh Sunflower Remix, All Rights Reserved Qi Wei |
So, so lovely and interesting! And so we go from art to nature, and then from nature to art. This makes me really want to go get some flowers and try re-creating some of our favorite paintings in petal form. And thus these pictures extend into Art History, and even Social Studies, as we consider the difference between Asian art and Western art....
That how I think life really is--one topic and/or subject flows into another, which suggests another. I'm just really glad that we can run with that in homeschooling in a way that traditional educational classes can't. But even if your children attend a traditional school, this could be a fantastic project to do with them at home!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Greg Tang Math Puzzles
Yesterday, Maria Droujkova of Natural Math had a web seminar with Greg Tang, the author of math poetry/puzzle books such as The Grapes of Math, Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem Solving, and other similar books. His books are really geared towards elementary students, mostly the 6-10 year old crowd, I believe. So while my son had enjoyed reading his books when he was younger, I hadn't really thought about Greg Tang for several years now.
But I tuned into the webinar, and discovered that Tang now has a website with some resources that I think are appropriate for middle schoolers. It appears that lately Tang has spent less time writing and more time programming some of the games and puzzles into interactive exercises on his website (which is apparently about to be taken over by Scholastic, which is also the publisher of his books).
The games on there, so far, at least, still focus on mastering basic mathematical computational skills. However, I know my son can still use some work on recalling those math facts quickly and accurately. But they are fun games, even though they based on simple mathematics. Some of them are kind of like Sudoku, where you have to figure out the right selections of numbers, but you have to add, subtract, multiply, or divide to choose the right one. I found them kind of fun and interesting to do as an adult, but my son enjoyed doing them as well.
Our favorite was a game called Kakooma, in which you are given a series of hexagons with six numbers in them, and you have to figure out which number can be created by adding, subtracting, or multiplying two of the other numbers in the hexagon. So it doesn't require a math savant, but you are racing against the clock and other players, a bunch of whom have figured out all seven problems in a set in less than 10 SECONDS! Unbelievable!
Anyway, if you buy a subscription, all the games have a bunch of different levels to make the game harder or easier, but there is a free version of each game that has been challenging enough for us so far.
So if your family likes math puzzles, or if you are just looking for a fun way to practice some basic computational skills, check out GregTangMath.com.
If you are interesting in finding out more about how Greg Tang develops the math books, games, and other materials he creates, you can access a recording of the entire webinar at:
http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/GregTangMath .
But I tuned into the webinar, and discovered that Tang now has a website with some resources that I think are appropriate for middle schoolers. It appears that lately Tang has spent less time writing and more time programming some of the games and puzzles into interactive exercises on his website (which is apparently about to be taken over by Scholastic, which is also the publisher of his books).
The games on there, so far, at least, still focus on mastering basic mathematical computational skills. However, I know my son can still use some work on recalling those math facts quickly and accurately. But they are fun games, even though they based on simple mathematics. Some of them are kind of like Sudoku, where you have to figure out the right selections of numbers, but you have to add, subtract, multiply, or divide to choose the right one. I found them kind of fun and interesting to do as an adult, but my son enjoyed doing them as well.
Our favorite was a game called Kakooma, in which you are given a series of hexagons with six numbers in them, and you have to figure out which number can be created by adding, subtracting, or multiplying two of the other numbers in the hexagon. So it doesn't require a math savant, but you are racing against the clock and other players, a bunch of whom have figured out all seven problems in a set in less than 10 SECONDS! Unbelievable!
Anyway, if you buy a subscription, all the games have a bunch of different levels to make the game harder or easier, but there is a free version of each game that has been challenging enough for us so far.
So if your family likes math puzzles, or if you are just looking for a fun way to practice some basic computational skills, check out GregTangMath.com.
If you are interesting in finding out more about how Greg Tang develops the math books, games, and other materials he creates, you can access a recording of the entire webinar at:
http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/GregTangMath .
Monday, October 3, 2011
Math Trek at the North Carolina Museum of Art
Our Math Trek series has started up again for the new year. This is one of the creative math activities organized by Maria Droujkova of Natural Math. It is a multi-aged program where students of all levels take quests to find and photograph different math concepts. We then share them with each other, whether by discussion, acting them out, or posting them on the web.
This week's Trek took place at the North Carolina Museum of Art, which has so many wonderful things to look at, whether mathematical or not. Maria's colleague, Brad Herring, was there to capture the action on film, so that we could share it with other similar groups around the world so they could have their own Math Treks:
Maria have the students various "quests" to find and photographs, including recording examples of fractions, proportions, and fractals. Then we came together to discuss and recreate some of our favorite mathematical concepts/photographs:
As always, it was a fun and educational outing. Plus, the weather was beautiful this weekend. But to see students discovering math in settings all around them--that was even more beautiful!
This week's Trek took place at the North Carolina Museum of Art, which has so many wonderful things to look at, whether mathematical or not. Maria's colleague, Brad Herring, was there to capture the action on film, so that we could share it with other similar groups around the world so they could have their own Math Treks:
 |
| Our intrepid leader, Maria Droujkova |
 |
| Our videographer, Brad Herring |
Maria have the students various "quests" to find and photographs, including recording examples of fractions, proportions, and fractals. Then we came together to discuss and recreate some of our favorite mathematical concepts/photographs:
 |
| Recurring Circles |
 |
| Acting out the proportions of seats in a circular amphitheater |
 |
| Making a human fractal |
As always, it was a fun and educational outing. Plus, the weather was beautiful this weekend. But to see students discovering math in settings all around them--that was even more beautiful!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Math and MBTI Psychological Type
Happy Math Storytelling Day! This is an event in honor of my dear friend, Maria Droujkova of Natural Math, whose birthday is it today. The idea is that we share our stories about math with each other.
So my story involves math education and psychological type as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This past winter, I taught an online class through P2PU on the Psychology of Math Learning. The idea of the class was to look at various psychological theories, including MBTI personality type theory, to see if it would give us insight on why math can be such a struggle to so many learners. (For more details on the class, you can read my original blog post about it).
The structure of the class was that each week, we would take an online test about one of these theories, then post our "score," such as our MBTI type, which in my case is ENFP (Extravert, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving). Then we would reflect on our experience learning math, and see if we noticed any ways that our test results might have helped or hindered our math education.
The class didn't work out quite like I planned, because even though this approach was explained in all the class descriptions, and had a couple dozen people sign up, the only students who ever posted their scores or their reflections on the theory and their math experience were the Extraverts! So, we ended up with a skewed sample of respondents. But we Extraverts had a great time talking about things between ourselves.
However, it was an eye-opening revelation for me. Math had always been my worst subject at school; worst NOT in the sense of grades, since I was the kind of student who would do whatever I needed to do to get an A, but in the sense that I knew I didn't really understand the answers I was regurgitating back on my graded work. And that wasn't usually the case for me--generally, I understood the concepts behind all my other subjects. So I never liked math, thought I wasn't good at math, and never took any academic math classes past my required Algebra II/Trig in my junior year of high school.
But by looking at MBTI, I could see at least part of the reason why. Because the way I was taught math was EXACTLY opposite to my personality style.
So my story has a happy ending. Maria and others have helped me to "grow new math eyes" so I can appreciate math in a way that works for my personality. But I think my story also has a moral, which is that math instruction (and all instruction, really) needs to meet the individual's personality and style, at least to some extent. If you are a teacher or a parent or a homeschooler (some of my readers are all three), and your math teaching isn't working, consider the personality of the student who is having problems. It is easy for us to get so caught up in our own MBTI preferences that we don't even notice that we are only giving open-ended exploratory problems to students who do better with more structure, or refuse to even consider a response from our creative thinkers that is different than the one in the answer key, which we find so reassuring.
So my story involves math education and psychological type as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This past winter, I taught an online class through P2PU on the Psychology of Math Learning. The idea of the class was to look at various psychological theories, including MBTI personality type theory, to see if it would give us insight on why math can be such a struggle to so many learners. (For more details on the class, you can read my original blog post about it).
The structure of the class was that each week, we would take an online test about one of these theories, then post our "score," such as our MBTI type, which in my case is ENFP (Extravert, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving). Then we would reflect on our experience learning math, and see if we noticed any ways that our test results might have helped or hindered our math education.
The class didn't work out quite like I planned, because even though this approach was explained in all the class descriptions, and had a couple dozen people sign up, the only students who ever posted their scores or their reflections on the theory and their math experience were the Extraverts! So, we ended up with a skewed sample of respondents. But we Extraverts had a great time talking about things between ourselves.
However, it was an eye-opening revelation for me. Math had always been my worst subject at school; worst NOT in the sense of grades, since I was the kind of student who would do whatever I needed to do to get an A, but in the sense that I knew I didn't really understand the answers I was regurgitating back on my graded work. And that wasn't usually the case for me--generally, I understood the concepts behind all my other subjects. So I never liked math, thought I wasn't good at math, and never took any academic math classes past my required Algebra II/Trig in my junior year of high school.
But by looking at MBTI, I could see at least part of the reason why. Because the way I was taught math was EXACTLY opposite to my personality style.
- Math was taught as a completely I (Introvert) subject. You stayed in your own seat, stuck to your own paper, came up with your own answers. Any working together on a problem wasn't collaboration, it was cheating. Even in Science, we at least had lab partners when we worked on experiments, and did lots of group projects in the Arts and Humanities (my favorite subjects). But in math, I don't ever remember working with another student.
- Math was taught as a million different discrete problems that built up, bit by bit, to larger concepts--which is a very S (Sensing) approach. Everything had an order and a sequence that eventually led to a comprehensive explanation of the subject. But N (iNtuition) people like to see the big picture first, so that they understand why they are doing all the individual problems. N people also usually don't fare very well in the high-sequenced, "show all steps of your work" approach that was used in my academic math classes.
- Why subject could possible be more T (Thinking) than math? What does F (Feeling) have to do with whether 2 plus 2 adds up to 4, or that the area of the circle is Pi times the radius squared? I was presented math as a completely abstract, logical, impersonal subject, which isn't something that we emotional, subjective, relationship-oriented F people particularly like.
- Finally, I was taught math as a very black/white, right/wrong, only one right answer kind of way, which is what MBTI calls J (Judging). P (Perceiving) people like open-ended answers, multiple possibilities, and options. But I was never given any of those shades of gray in my math classes.
Let me make two things clear. First, I'm not saying that any of those approaches are "bad" or "wrong." The whole basis of MBTI is these different preferences, which we are born with, are not better or worse than each other. They are just different. I doubt I had bad math classes, because I went to good schools and I'm sure I had good math teachers. That was just how math was taught in those days. And I'm sure that approach works brilliantly for some people--just not for me and my personality style.
Secondly, I now know that math doesn't have to be that way. Math education has come a long way since then, and there are many more ways that math is presented these days in schools. I am also so thankful that I met Maria, and through her, all the people on the Natural Math loop who have shown me math as a rainbow, not just a black and white subject. For example, Math Mama Sue Van Hatten just recently had a blog post about how her students work together in groups. The wonderful math-rich puzzles presented by Math Pickle encourage students to find many answers to the same problem. Maria is constantly presenting math as fun, and as beautiful, and as creative, and as a vehicle for individual expression. And I could go on and on about the wonderful new math educators who are diversifying the experience of this important field.
So my story has a happy ending. Maria and others have helped me to "grow new math eyes" so I can appreciate math in a way that works for my personality. But I think my story also has a moral, which is that math instruction (and all instruction, really) needs to meet the individual's personality and style, at least to some extent. If you are a teacher or a parent or a homeschooler (some of my readers are all three), and your math teaching isn't working, consider the personality of the student who is having problems. It is easy for us to get so caught up in our own MBTI preferences that we don't even notice that we are only giving open-ended exploratory problems to students who do better with more structure, or refuse to even consider a response from our creative thinkers that is different than the one in the answer key, which we find so reassuring.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Edible Mobius Strips
There is only one day left in the fundraiser for my friend Maria of Natural Math, who is trying to raise $6,200 for a community-based initiative to help parents, caretakers, and preschool teachers to introduce deep math concepts to children from infants to age 5. Since the deadline is so near, we kind of have mobius strips on the brain (because the name of the project is Moebius Noodles). We are thinking, breathing, and eating mobius strips...
And I mean that literally:
Yes, tonight's dinner consisted of edible mobius strips, made out of handmade pasta, courtesy of my brilliant son. He is the one who had the idea of showing our support for the Moebius Noodle projects by making mobius strips out of actual noodles!
So we made some dough and pulled out the old pasta rolling machine:
Then we rolled out the dough, cut them into strips, and joined the ends of each strip together in that paradoxical inside/outside form that is the mobius strip:
It took quite a while, and it seemed like we had made 6,200 pieces of pasta, although I imagine it wasn't quite that many:
I had also made a homemade tomato sauce out of the fresh tomatoes and peppers from our local farmers market, combined them with some turkey meatballs, and VOILA!
Mobius Marinara!
And I share all this, not only because it is fun, but because it demonstrates the potential of the Moebius Noodles project. First, I doubt my son would ever have had this idea without his exposure to Maria, because let's face it--cool things like Mobius strips aren't covered that much in traditional math curricula. Secondly, it illustrates the way that Maria makes math fun and concrete and real life in a way that works for children of all ages. Sure, my son is a middle schooler, but toddlers could enjoy making a meal of mobius strips just as much. Finally, Maria's concept for Moebius Noodles is to make it a community project, not just her personal product. She wants to publish the ideas under a Creative Commons license, which means it would be free for others to use and adapt. She also wants to make it a open web-based program where everyone can contribute ideas and resources. So my son came up with this project, which was fun and worked out really well and which we are glad to share with others. But what might you or your children come up that would not only work for your family, but might really benefit others--if you had a way to get it to them. THAT is the idea behind Moebius Noodles--not simply a book or a commercial product, but a vehicle by which we can all access and add to the community of ideas about teaching even our youngest how to use and enjoy math.
So as of the time I'm writing this (10:00 PM on Monday, September 19), we only have 24 hours to raise the remaining $2,500 for this project (remember, with Tipping Bucket, if the entire sum isn't raised, all the money goes back to the donors). So if you have been meaning to donate, but haven't gotten around to it, now is the time. And whether you donate or not, stay tuned to developments with the Moebius Noodles project. Maria wants your educational ideas and experience as much, if not more, as she would like your money.
And I mean that literally:
Yes, tonight's dinner consisted of edible mobius strips, made out of handmade pasta, courtesy of my brilliant son. He is the one who had the idea of showing our support for the Moebius Noodle projects by making mobius strips out of actual noodles!
So we made some dough and pulled out the old pasta rolling machine:
Then we rolled out the dough, cut them into strips, and joined the ends of each strip together in that paradoxical inside/outside form that is the mobius strip:
It took quite a while, and it seemed like we had made 6,200 pieces of pasta, although I imagine it wasn't quite that many:
I had also made a homemade tomato sauce out of the fresh tomatoes and peppers from our local farmers market, combined them with some turkey meatballs, and VOILA!
Mobius Marinara!
And I share all this, not only because it is fun, but because it demonstrates the potential of the Moebius Noodles project. First, I doubt my son would ever have had this idea without his exposure to Maria, because let's face it--cool things like Mobius strips aren't covered that much in traditional math curricula. Secondly, it illustrates the way that Maria makes math fun and concrete and real life in a way that works for children of all ages. Sure, my son is a middle schooler, but toddlers could enjoy making a meal of mobius strips just as much. Finally, Maria's concept for Moebius Noodles is to make it a community project, not just her personal product. She wants to publish the ideas under a Creative Commons license, which means it would be free for others to use and adapt. She also wants to make it a open web-based program where everyone can contribute ideas and resources. So my son came up with this project, which was fun and worked out really well and which we are glad to share with others. But what might you or your children come up that would not only work for your family, but might really benefit others--if you had a way to get it to them. THAT is the idea behind Moebius Noodles--not simply a book or a commercial product, but a vehicle by which we can all access and add to the community of ideas about teaching even our youngest how to use and enjoy math.
So as of the time I'm writing this (10:00 PM on Monday, September 19), we only have 24 hours to raise the remaining $2,500 for this project (remember, with Tipping Bucket, if the entire sum isn't raised, all the money goes back to the donors). So if you have been meaning to donate, but haven't gotten around to it, now is the time. And whether you donate or not, stay tuned to developments with the Moebius Noodles project. Maria wants your educational ideas and experience as much, if not more, as she would like your money.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
What If We Could Eliminate Math Anxiety?
What is it about math? We all have subjects that we are better at or are worse at, or that we like or don't like as well. But no one ever talks about having "history anxiety" or "grammar anxiety." Math, however, is a whole different matter, at least for thousands....no, let's be honest...millions of us (of all different ages). If there is any topic that our children (or, again being honest, ourselves) are likely to say that they hate or just don't get or just try to avoid, it most often math.
But what if we could eliminate that for the next generation of students? Wouldn't that be worth a few dollars to you?
My friend Maria of Natural Math has some great ideas about how to raise children so that they love, rather than fear and resist, math. Through Maria's eyes, math is a language or an art form through which to view, understand, and communicate about life, not a series of incomprehensible formulas to be memorized and worked over and over again. And Maria believes that, just like language, basic math concepts--even those that form the basis of calculus--are best absorbed when the human brain is young and plastic....say, up to five years old. After that, according to Maria's research and experience, it is harder to children to learning the basic mathematical building blocks, just as it is harder for older brains to hear and repeat the distinct sounds of a different spoken language.
I am one of the privileged few who lives close to Maria, and has had the benefit of her experience in teaching my son about math. Since math was my toughest subject as a child--I'm definitely one of those who continued to suffer from math anxiety into adulthood (although, thank goodness, my husband is really strong in math)--I attribute my son's recent confidence and high performance in math to what he has learned from her, not from me. But she is only one person in one place, and the problem is so much larger than what one person can do.
So here is what we are doing to try to make Maria's expertise available to a larger population. Maria has a fundraising effort going on at Tipping Bucket, a cool new social media fundraising vehicle. Tipping Bucket takes proposals from worthy efforts, checks them out to make sure they are legitimate and have a reasonable plan, and then selects some to support through their website. Each project has about a week to present their case to the world. People check it out, and if it speaks to them, they pledge money. HOWEVER, their pledges only count IF the project reaches its desired goal. If it falls short, all the money is returned.
Maria is seeking $6,200 to turn her expertise about introducing math concept to infants and toddlers into a book, which could then be made available to everyone. So we are trying to mobilize hundreds or thousands of us who care about children and the math education they receive BEFORE they ever get to school to give just a few dollars to make this project a reality.
If this speaks to you, please use the button below to go to Tipping Bucket to donate:
Then, spread the word among your communities. Each of us may only be able to give $1, $5, or $10 dollars. But if we share this educational opportunities with our friends and colleagues, and ten of them choose to give as well, that raises another $10, $50, or $100.
However, there is a short deadline on this project. We must raise the entire $6,200 by Wednesday, September 21, or all the money is returned to the donors.
So if you would like to be part of the effort to raise our children to embrace and create with math, rather than to dread and dislike it, please act right away.
If you want more information, visit Maria's blog post about the project, or see the Tipping Bucket page.
PS: If you would like to post a button on your own blog or website, please copy the HTML code below:
But what if we could eliminate that for the next generation of students? Wouldn't that be worth a few dollars to you?
My friend Maria of Natural Math has some great ideas about how to raise children so that they love, rather than fear and resist, math. Through Maria's eyes, math is a language or an art form through which to view, understand, and communicate about life, not a series of incomprehensible formulas to be memorized and worked over and over again. And Maria believes that, just like language, basic math concepts--even those that form the basis of calculus--are best absorbed when the human brain is young and plastic....say, up to five years old. After that, according to Maria's research and experience, it is harder to children to learning the basic mathematical building blocks, just as it is harder for older brains to hear and repeat the distinct sounds of a different spoken language.
I am one of the privileged few who lives close to Maria, and has had the benefit of her experience in teaching my son about math. Since math was my toughest subject as a child--I'm definitely one of those who continued to suffer from math anxiety into adulthood (although, thank goodness, my husband is really strong in math)--I attribute my son's recent confidence and high performance in math to what he has learned from her, not from me. But she is only one person in one place, and the problem is so much larger than what one person can do.
So here is what we are doing to try to make Maria's expertise available to a larger population. Maria has a fundraising effort going on at Tipping Bucket, a cool new social media fundraising vehicle. Tipping Bucket takes proposals from worthy efforts, checks them out to make sure they are legitimate and have a reasonable plan, and then selects some to support through their website. Each project has about a week to present their case to the world. People check it out, and if it speaks to them, they pledge money. HOWEVER, their pledges only count IF the project reaches its desired goal. If it falls short, all the money is returned.
Maria is seeking $6,200 to turn her expertise about introducing math concept to infants and toddlers into a book, which could then be made available to everyone. So we are trying to mobilize hundreds or thousands of us who care about children and the math education they receive BEFORE they ever get to school to give just a few dollars to make this project a reality.
If this speaks to you, please use the button below to go to Tipping Bucket to donate:
Then, spread the word among your communities. Each of us may only be able to give $1, $5, or $10 dollars. But if we share this educational opportunities with our friends and colleagues, and ten of them choose to give as well, that raises another $10, $50, or $100.
However, there is a short deadline on this project. We must raise the entire $6,200 by Wednesday, September 21, or all the money is returned to the donors.
So if you would like to be part of the effort to raise our children to embrace and create with math, rather than to dread and dislike it, please act right away.
If you want more information, visit Maria's blog post about the project, or see the Tipping Bucket page.
PS: If you would like to post a button on your own blog or website, please copy the HTML code below:
Thursday, September 1, 2011
LEGO Competition Offers Free Legos to Creative Education Contestants (including Homeschoolers)
The LEGO Corporation is running its 2011 LEGO Smart Creativity Contest for K-12 educators living in the United States. It is open to teachers in public, private, or home-based schools.
To enter the competition, teachers must create a video that is no longer than 150 seconds (2 and 1/2 minutes) that demonstrates how they have used LEGO products in an educational way. However, the focus is on creativity, so the company isn't looking for a dry, academic explanation of a LEGO-based lesson plan. Instead, they encourage skits, songs, rapping, stop-motion animation, or other fun ways to excite fellow educators about using LEGO in the classroom (even if the classroom is your kitchen table)!
Winners in five categories: Public/Private Schools K-2, 3-5, 5-8, 9-12, and Homeschools, will each receive LEGO Education gift certificates worth $2,500, with one grant prize winner receiving a $5,000 gift certificate. All winners will also get an expense-paid trip to the LEGO Education Summit on November 16, 2011.
However, if you are an early applicant, you may get a prize just for participating! The first 8,000 public and private school entries, and the first 2,000 homeschool ones, will receive a FREE LEGO Smart Kit. So it is best to get your contest video in as soon as possible. The deadline for the competition is October 14, 2011.
For more information, or to access the complete rules and registration materials, visit the 2011 LEGO Smart Creativity Contest homepage.
Good luck to all competitors. Let us know if you win!
To enter the competition, teachers must create a video that is no longer than 150 seconds (2 and 1/2 minutes) that demonstrates how they have used LEGO products in an educational way. However, the focus is on creativity, so the company isn't looking for a dry, academic explanation of a LEGO-based lesson plan. Instead, they encourage skits, songs, rapping, stop-motion animation, or other fun ways to excite fellow educators about using LEGO in the classroom (even if the classroom is your kitchen table)!
Winners in five categories: Public/Private Schools K-2, 3-5, 5-8, 9-12, and Homeschools, will each receive LEGO Education gift certificates worth $2,500, with one grant prize winner receiving a $5,000 gift certificate. All winners will also get an expense-paid trip to the LEGO Education Summit on November 16, 2011.
However, if you are an early applicant, you may get a prize just for participating! The first 8,000 public and private school entries, and the first 2,000 homeschool ones, will receive a FREE LEGO Smart Kit. So it is best to get your contest video in as soon as possible. The deadline for the competition is October 14, 2011.
For more information, or to access the complete rules and registration materials, visit the 2011 LEGO Smart Creativity Contest homepage.
Good luck to all competitors. Let us know if you win!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Math of Art
My dear friend Maria of Natural Math has a life mission of showing people the art of math. But last night at Cary's monthly Art Loop (or Final Friday, as we usually call it), I got to see examples of the math of art.
Unfortunately, there were very few people enjoying this month's Art Loop, presumably because most were at home preparing for Hurricane Irene. But that was a shame, because there was some lovely art and artists, and the evening ended up being perfectly calm and beautiful.
While I always enjoy all the galleries, one that particularly struck me was J.J. Jiang's exhibit at the Page-Walker Art & History Center entitled "Hometown Waters-From Suzhou, China to Oriental, North Carolina." Jiang, a professional architect and illustrator who was originally from China, somehow came to settle in the Eastern Carolina town of Oriental, and the show features pictures of boats and other water scenes from the two places. This particularly struck me because Oriental is where my husband keeps his boat (and thus was down there on Thursday securing it from the hurricane). Oriental has a theme of dragons (to connect its name to China), and you can wonder through the town finding dragon eggs in various parks and such. But I had never seen a Chinese response to this North Carolina town. You can see some of the pieces in this show on his website under the Galleries, then Art Portfolio. The artist is a gifted and interesting man.
But then I wandered over to the Cary Town Hall, and there I found two other captivating artists. The first I was Elke Brand, formerly from Germany but now working in the area. She has a Planet series made of digital photography with a very symmetrical focus. You can see my bad photos below, but can see her work more clearly on her blog:
I really, really liked her three pieces "Planets We Are One" that are shown on her "Legends, Heroes, Leaders" post on her blog. We've done some similar things with Maria in Natural Math by reflecting art in mirrors, but her's were much more professional and interesting, of course.
But then I came to an exhibit that made me think even more about Maria: an exhibit entitled "Baskets: Billie Ruth Sudduth Meets Fibonacci." You can't get much more math-y than that! The Fibonacci sequence (the number plus the number preceding it, such as 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13...) occurs naturally in the wild and often unconsciously in human art and living. Sudduth, who is based in North Carolina but is becoming a world-renowned basket weaver/artist, weaves her baskets deliberately using Fibonacci sequence number in such pieces as the one below, which I believe was called Fibonacci 3:
Once again, you can see much better pictures of her work in the Gallery on her blog. Her middle school connection is that she came up with this idea when she was teaching a middle school class called
Math in a Basket, which is now available for sale as a book on her website (scroll down towards the end of the page to see it).
Anyway, it really made me think of Maria and all the others who are exploring Math as not just manipulation of numbers on a worksheet, but as a language that informs all sorts of other field--including math. But they are beautiful things to go see, even if you don't want to make them into a mathematical exploration.
Unfortunately, there were very few people enjoying this month's Art Loop, presumably because most were at home preparing for Hurricane Irene. But that was a shame, because there was some lovely art and artists, and the evening ended up being perfectly calm and beautiful.
While I always enjoy all the galleries, one that particularly struck me was J.J. Jiang's exhibit at the Page-Walker Art & History Center entitled "Hometown Waters-From Suzhou, China to Oriental, North Carolina." Jiang, a professional architect and illustrator who was originally from China, somehow came to settle in the Eastern Carolina town of Oriental, and the show features pictures of boats and other water scenes from the two places. This particularly struck me because Oriental is where my husband keeps his boat (and thus was down there on Thursday securing it from the hurricane). Oriental has a theme of dragons (to connect its name to China), and you can wonder through the town finding dragon eggs in various parks and such. But I had never seen a Chinese response to this North Carolina town. You can see some of the pieces in this show on his website under the Galleries, then Art Portfolio. The artist is a gifted and interesting man.
But then I wandered over to the Cary Town Hall, and there I found two other captivating artists. The first I was Elke Brand, formerly from Germany but now working in the area. She has a Planet series made of digital photography with a very symmetrical focus. You can see my bad photos below, but can see her work more clearly on her blog:
I really, really liked her three pieces "Planets We Are One" that are shown on her "Legends, Heroes, Leaders" post on her blog. We've done some similar things with Maria in Natural Math by reflecting art in mirrors, but her's were much more professional and interesting, of course.
But then I came to an exhibit that made me think even more about Maria: an exhibit entitled "Baskets: Billie Ruth Sudduth Meets Fibonacci." You can't get much more math-y than that! The Fibonacci sequence (the number plus the number preceding it, such as 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13...) occurs naturally in the wild and often unconsciously in human art and living. Sudduth, who is based in North Carolina but is becoming a world-renowned basket weaver/artist, weaves her baskets deliberately using Fibonacci sequence number in such pieces as the one below, which I believe was called Fibonacci 3:
 |
| Fibonacci #3? Basket |
 |
| Signature Basket |
Once again, you can see much better pictures of her work in the Gallery on her blog. Her middle school connection is that she came up with this idea when she was teaching a middle school class called
Math in a Basket, which is now available for sale as a book on her website (scroll down towards the end of the page to see it).
Anyway, it really made me think of Maria and all the others who are exploring Math as not just manipulation of numbers on a worksheet, but as a language that informs all sorts of other field--including math. But they are beautiful things to go see, even if you don't want to make them into a mathematical exploration.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Who Wants to Win (REAL) $1,000,000--Math Edition
Yesterday we talked about a science game based on the TV show, Who Wants to Win $1,000,000? Today, we are talking about a site that is offering $1,000,000 (to be split with their most inspirational math teacher) for people who solve 13 great math questions, one for each K-12 grade level.
Just one caveat--the sponsors of these competition, Math Pickle and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, haven't yet gotten the funding for the puzzle winners. But I guess they don't have many people claiming to be winners yet, either, so perhaps they've got a while to raise the money.
Here is a video that presents the unsolved problem for the 8th grade, which is based on the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur in the labyrinth:
Even if you don't expect to win $1,000,000, you should definitely check out Math Pickle. It has a bunch of different videos, all geared to specific grade level, about ways to spice up your math teaching. In particular, it features puzzles, exploratory questions, and hands-on activities that draw students into problem-solving and applying the math they are learning, rather than doing rote exercises. The problems and ideas are quite interesting, and I've tried a few of them with my own son.
It is this kind of approach to math (also a hallmark of the work we have done with Maria Droujkova of Natural Math) that has turned around my son's attitude towards math, which he used to hate but now thinks is neat. And that is worth more than $1,000,000 to me. So it is worth your while to visit Math Pickle and pick up a few ideas for getting your students engaged in math problem solving.
Just one caveat--the sponsors of these competition, Math Pickle and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, haven't yet gotten the funding for the puzzle winners. But I guess they don't have many people claiming to be winners yet, either, so perhaps they've got a while to raise the money.
Here is a video that presents the unsolved problem for the 8th grade, which is based on the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur in the labyrinth:
Even if you don't expect to win $1,000,000, you should definitely check out Math Pickle. It has a bunch of different videos, all geared to specific grade level, about ways to spice up your math teaching. In particular, it features puzzles, exploratory questions, and hands-on activities that draw students into problem-solving and applying the math they are learning, rather than doing rote exercises. The problems and ideas are quite interesting, and I've tried a few of them with my own son.
It is this kind of approach to math (also a hallmark of the work we have done with Maria Droujkova of Natural Math) that has turned around my son's attitude towards math, which he used to hate but now thinks is neat. And that is worth more than $1,000,000 to me. So it is worth your while to visit Math Pickle and pick up a few ideas for getting your students engaged in math problem solving.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)