Pi King
Spring 2015 - Dylan 3.126Fall 2011 - Michael: 3.137 Fall 2009 - Kevin: 3.10 |
Pi Queen
Spring 2015 - Faith 3.137Fall 2011 - Amanda: 3.139 Fall 2010 - Megan: 3.14136 !! Fall 2010 - Jen: 3.4128 Spring 2010 - Nicole: 3.138 |
See Chapter 12 for Details |
Text
and
Readings: All readings for this course come from Rediscovering
Mathematics, and appear in the syllabus below.
Special
Dates: April 10, Friday is Passover and I will
not be in class. I will announce alternative plans for that
day.
Exams:
There
will be occasional quizzes, together worth 20% of your
grade. There will be one final examination worth 30% of your
grade. The best way to study for quizzes and exams is to
review the challenges, your journals, and your notes. Here
are some practice
challenges. The final will be Thursday, May 7, 1:30 PM
in 001 Stanger, our usual room.
Groups:
Studies have shown that success in mathematics is
directly related to how much a student incorporates study into
his/her social life. You should find a group of three people with
whom you feel comfortable working all semester. If you
prefer, I will assign you to a group. Try to pick group
members with whom you enjoy spending time, and whose study habits
you respect.
Journals:
Your journal is worth 30% of your grade. Journals should be
done in groups of three. At the end of each chapter, I will
assign a collection of challenges of varied difficulty. Your
journal should detail your group's attacks on various challenges.
You should include a summary of the attempts, dead-ends, and any
relevant discussions - whether or not you were able to solve the
challenge. In addition to these notes, whether a challenge
is straightforward for you or whether your group learned the
solution in class, write up the solution in your own words at the
end. The book's solutions to other challenges can be used as
a model for writing solutions. Always rewrite the challenge
in your journal before recording your discussions or solutions,
and use figures or drawings if it helps you explain your
ideas.
It is a
good idea to rotate the job of the person who records your group's
progress on the challenges. I will collect your journals
twice during the semester to grade and give you feedback.
Your group's final journal submission should be edited, and handed
in at the end of the semester. There will be one grade for
the entire group.
Class Participation: Class participation is
worth 10% of your grade. I expect you to interact with me,
your group, and the rest of the class. You need not be
extroverted, just willing to engage in investigation, conjecture,
and discovery.
Project: A
mini-lesson plan (20 minutes worth) is required in which your
group will interactively teach the class a new mathematical idea
using exploration and experiment. Your project is worth 10%
of your grade. Your group should choose a topic using the
resources below or you can choose your own topic. You are
encouraged to discuss your choice with me, but whether or not you
do, your choice must be approved by me before starting to work on
the details. Projects will be delivered over the last two
weeks of the semester. The grading rubric will be discussed
in class and depends on: organization of lesson, appropriate
and effective handouts, math knowledge and expertise of topic,
interactive discovery content, and further suggested work in
closing. One grade will be given for the entire group.
Questions
based on your presentations may appear on the final exam, so make
a special effort to understand each group's work and not just your
own. You are encouraged to hand out a couple of possible
problems based on your presentation that I might include on the
final. Your lesson plan and copies of any handouts should be
attached to the back of your journal and marked "project".
References you used and links for further investigation should be
included. There should be enough details in your write-up so
that another teacher could use and reproduce your lesson-plan.
Grades:
Your grade is based on 20% quizzes, 30% final, 10% class
participation, 10% project, and 30%
journal. Normally, 90%+ is A, 80%+ is B, etc. However,
I may curve these cut-offs in your favor at the end of the
semester, based on class average.
Resources for Projects |
|
Content Focused
|
Teaching Focused
|
Chapter Reading |
Topics |
Starting Out - How
does this trick work? And this one? |
|
Introduction | How to Read Mathematics
- An example using basic probability. |
1 | Discovery
and
Experiment
in
Mathematics
- An investigation of long division and repeating
decimals. |
2 | Calculating Tricks - A
deeper understanding of arithmetic and algebra. When
and when not to use calculators. Art
Benjamin doing his tricks. Here is Art on his soapbox about math education. |
3 | Infinite: Puzzles
and Paradoxes - Euclid and geometric series |
5 | What's
Mathematics Good For? - Finding math in daily
life. |
8 | Pythagoras'
Theorem - The relationship of algebra and
geometry. Paulo Porta version of My Pythagoras's Theorem Proofs |
Quizzes
throughout term |
|
6 if time allows |
Three
Averages - Different tools for different
problems. |
10 |
Games
and Gambling - Probability and combinatorics at
carnivals and the casino. |
9 | Memorizing
Mathematics - The pitfalls of memorizing
mathematics: solving quadratic equations without
memorizing. |
12 | Areas
and Pi - A geometric exploration of Pi and its
appearance in unexpected places. Sea of Solomon Slides |
11 if time allows |
Soccer
Balls
and
Counting
Tricks - Algebra and combinatorics meet graph
theory. |
13 | Think - Putting
it all together. |
Fun Stuff and
Puzzles
|
|