I created a series of pre and post visit mathematics activities for an exhibit at the Nasher Museum located on the campus of Duke University. Kindergarten through High School levels are included as is a listing of the state standards that each activity covers.
Below is an edited version, the complete document can be downloaded by clicking here.
Working with mixed level ability groups in PreCalculus led to the development of short, 10 question quizzes on various basic pre-requisite skills. If a student passed they received a 100, if not they got a ‘0’ which they replaced by practicing the skill and retaking the quiz until they passed; at which point the 0 became 100. This gave the students that needed it more practice without harming their grade and has proved to be effective thus far.
Documents can be downloaded by clicking here.
One of the latest activities I’ve created is used on the first day of PreCalculus. It is an activity where students determine time and distance data for an NCSU student based upon their daily schedule. Graphs are taken up, distributed to other students, students then have to take a quiz using only the graph of their peer. If all the data is present this peer quiz is an easy one hundred, which is part of the graph creator’s grade, not the quiz taker’s. There is a follow up quiz of critical thinking questions included.
Documents can be downloaded by clicking here.
The first project I ever created investigated the link between fuel economy and the weight of the materials used to manufacture automobiles. It was originally used in an Algebra I class with a set of students in their first year in a full immersion Project Based Learning environment. I have adapted it over the years for different math levels and differing amounts of PBL experience. Here is a sampling of documents that go with the project.
Documents can be downloaded by clicking here.
Long before hearing the phrase “flipped-classroom” I was using my presentation software to create videos of lessons, here is the first one which was for a low-ability math class:
Here is one that goes with a note packet from the first day of PreCalculus:
That same software also allows me to save everything written on the board as a PDF, which I upload daily for my students and parents.