'Making Math Connections integrates mathematics into a variety of subject areas and real-life settings, providing motivation for students to want to learn the material being presented. The book also uses a variety of activities to promote learning for students with different interests and learning styles' - Steven P. Isaak, Mathematics Teacher, Advanced Technologies Academy, Las Vegas, NV 'I'm looking forward to finding ways of using these resources in my lessons and can only recommend you read it too' - Peter Hall, Imberhorne School, East Grinstead Students often fail to make the connection between "school maths" and their everyday lives, becoming passive recipients of isolated, memorized rules and formulas. This remarkable new resource will help students become active problem-solvers who see mathematics as a meaningful tool that can be used outside the classroom. Hope Martin applies more than 40 years of teaching experience to developing a myriad of high-interest, meaningful maths investigations. Using a teacher-friendly format, she shows educators how to integrate into the maths curriculum engaging, everyday topics, such as forensics, natural disasters, tessellations, the stock market, and literature. This project-based resource encourages cooperative, interactive learning experiences that not only help students make connections between various math skills but also make important connections to the real world. These mathematical applications are broken down into complete units focusing on different topics. Each chapter includes: / Background information on the topic / Step-by-step procedures for maths investigations / Assessment strategies / Journal questions / Photocopiable worksheets / Additional related readings and Internet Web sites By increasing their awareness of meaningful everyday applications, students will learn to use maths as an essential tool in their daily lives.
Hope Martin is an innovative mathematics teacher with over 40 years of experience. Having worked with children in elementary, middle school, and high school, and with teachers in local universities, she is currently a private consultant facilitating workshops across the United States and Canada. Hope, who was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, began her teaching career in Skokie, Illinois and obtained her Masters Degree in Mathematics Education from Northeastern Illinois University. Hope's personal experiences and knowledge of educational learning theories have convinced her that students learn mathematics more effectively when they are active participants and see its relevance to their own lives.
Preface Acknowledgments About the Author Alignment With NCTM Standards 1. Our Earth: Natural Disasters Introduction Earthquakes Volcanoes Hurricanes Tornadoes Additional Reading Internet Web Sites 2. Physics, Formulas, and Math Introduction Sports Balls and Density Swings of the Pendulum Roller Coasters: How Fast Are We Falling? Additional Reading Internet Web Sites 3. Our Body Systems, Forensics, and Math Introduction Our Remarkable Heart The Sum of the Parts: How Long Is Your Digestive System? Find Your Body's Ratios Forensics and the Human Skeleton Fingerprints: A Unique Classification Additional Reading 4. Quilts, Tessellations, and Three-Dimensional Geometry Introduction The Geometry of Quilts The Hawaiian Quilt Square Semi-Regular Tessellations: Designs and Angles Platonic Solids: Designs in Three Dimensions Additional Reading Internet Web Sites 5. The Stock Market Project Introduction How to Read a Stock Listing and Deciding on a Stock First Week to Buy Stock Week-to-Week Stock Market Sell Week Buying More Stock Our Final Sell Week Additional Reading Internet Web Sites 6. Math and Literature Introduction Looking for Math in Poetry: Capture-Recapture: How Many Beans? Looking for Math in Poetry: Flavors of Ice Cream Looking for Math in Poetry: Overdue Book Fines Traveling to Lilliput: How Little Were the Lilliputians? A Million Is a Very Big Number: Spending $1,000,000 A Million Is a Very Big Number: How Big a Box Do We Need for 1,000,000 Pennies? A Million Is a Very Big Number: A Million Stars Additional Reading Internet Web Sites Resource A: Alternatives to Traditional Assessment Resource B: Design Your Own Lessons Bibliography
"Integrates mathematics into a variety of subject areas and real life settings, providing motivation for students to want to learn the material being presented. The book also uses a variety of activities to promote learning for students with different interests and learning styles." -- Steven P. Isaak, Mathematics Teacher
