Teacher to Teacher: Truss(t)ing Triangles

1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 394-396
Author(s):  
Bobbye Hoffman Bartels
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Seventh Grade ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematics Class ◽  
Traditional Mathematics ◽  
Saturday Academy ◽  
School Schedule ◽  
Rigidity Characteristic

Often middle school students see no connection between geometry and real life. The following activity was designed to help make this connection for seventh-grade students participating in a Saturday academy. The activity centers on an elementary investigation of the rigidity characteristic of triangles, a concept seldom mentioned in K-8 mathematic textbooks but essential to the construction of structures that have to absorb tremendous forces and not collapse. Although this activity was completed outside the traditional mathematics class, it can be adapted to a school schedule and completed over two or more class periods.

Get Your Head in the Game

2013 ◽  
pp. 228-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Herrig
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Technology Education ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Seventh Grade ◽  
School Students ◽  
Introductory Programming ◽  
The World ◽  
Game Environment

This chapter discusses the development and implementation of an introductory programming unit within a seventh grade technology education course. The goal of this unit was to introduce the concepts of programming to middle school students in a way that was accessible and unintimidating. Digital games provide an inherent level of engagement not present in other programming activities, and the digital game environment provides a safe platform for experimentation without concern for safety or equipment. The curriculum described in this chapter provides many practical examples of how digital games can be incorporated into a technology education classroom to engage students in the world of programming.

The Case of Video Viewing, Reading, and Writing in Mathematics Class: Solving the Mystery

1993 ◽  
Vol 86 (8) ◽  
pp. 682-685
Author(s):  
Frances R. Curcio ◽  
J. Lewis McNeece
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Problem Solver ◽  
Mathematics Lesson ◽  
School Students ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Video Viewing ◽  
Mathematics Class ◽  
Mathematics Problem

The element of mystery can be a naturally intriguing component of a mathematics lesson for middle school students. Mystery stories capture students“ interest and attention and contribute to developing critical-reading skills (Crouse and Bassett 1975; Curcio 1982; Scalzitti 1982). When presenting mystery stories within the context of a mathematics lesson, students often ask, “What does this have to do with mathematics?” Significant connections can be made between solving a mystery and solving a mathematics problem that supply a rationale for incorporating mystery stories in the mathematics class. In particular, similarities in the questions a problem solver asks when confronting a problem (Polya 1973) and the questions a detective asks in solving a mystery can be found in figure 1. After solving short mystery stories, students will see the connection between solving a mystery and solving a mathematics problem.

Measuring Tremendous Trees: Discovery in Action

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-139
Author(s):  
Sheryl A. Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematics Class

Twenty-four middle school students gathered around their teacher, curiously anticipating the upcoming activity. They were enjoying the weather and being outside—a different place to hold their mathematics class. The day before, they experienced a minidiscovery lesson about isosceles right triangles. Today, they were to link this concept to a tree-measuring activity that was designed by a teacher educator at a nearby university.

Historical Research: How to Fit Minority and Women's Studies into Mathematics Class

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-76
Author(s):  
Margaret Sáraco
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Women's Studies ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Hair Color ◽  
School Students ◽  
Women’S Studies ◽  
Mathematics Class

Ask middle school students to name their favorite musicians, athletes, or actors, and they will tell you everything about them: statistics, hair color, who they are married to, where they live, their accomplishments, and more. Students are exposed to celebrities every day through television, movies, radio, and the Internet. Isn't it time we expose our students to some mathematical heroes?

scholarly journals MENCIPTAKAN PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA YANG KREATIF DAN MENYENANGKAN

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahmi Rahmi
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Real Life ◽  
School Students ◽  
Teacher Students ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Elementary And Middle School

The general puposes of experiencing math subject to elementary and middle school students are; first preparing the students to face the changing of real life through the thinking rehearsal based on the effective, effisien, honesty, critical, rationale, and logical way of thinking, and second, preparing the students to apply the mental principle of math in their daily life and as basic in learning other disciplines. Regarding to the importance of learning this subject, teacher of math should be able to create an effective teaching learning process to stimulate and to rise students enthusiasm in learning match. One of the strategy that can increase students desire in learning math is PAILKEM (Pembelajaran Aktif, Inovatif, Lingkungan, Kreatif, Efektif, dan Menarik). There is an interactive dialoque between teacher students and students-students, during teaching-learning process.This creates a condusive situation in wich students feel free to discuss their problems in learning math to their teachers and their classmates. At the end, through this strategy, students can increase their ability in learning and it is hoped that teaching learning process will be done in optimal achievement. 

Leafing through Irregular Shapes

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-60
Author(s):  
Alessandra King
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
School Students ◽  
Classroom Experience ◽  
Irregular Shapes ◽  
Area And Volume

By the time middle school students start a prealgebra course, they should have explored a variety of familiar two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and should have been exposed to the concepts of perimeter, area, and volume. They know that they can assign numerical values to some attributes of a shape, such as length and surface area. However, my classroom experience confirms the statement that although “students may have developed an initial understanding of area…, many will need additional experiences in measuring directly to deepen their understanding of the area of two-dimensional shapes” (NCTM 2000, p. 242). In addition, the students' previous practice with area is usually with polygons, circles, or a combination of both. However, many real-life objects cannot be described or approximated with simple geometric shapes or with combinations of shapes. Therefore, this activity, which asks students to estimate the area of irregular shapes using finer and finer grids, is not only novel but also a way to apply mathematics to real life.

Teaching the Mean Meaningfully

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-115
Author(s):  
John C. Uccellini
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Pythagorean Theorem ◽  
School Students ◽  
Life Context ◽  
The Mean

Ask a group of middle school students what the average (mean) of 2, 8, 4, 6, 3, and 7 is; they will probably give the answer 5. Ask these same students what the number 5 represents in relationship to the six numbers given and the response usually heard is an explanation of the algorithm, “Add them up and divide by the number of them that you have.” The response is no different if the problem is given in a real-life context. For example, the foregoing six numbers could represent the number of pencils that six students have in their desks. In either situation, the almost universal response of students when questioned about the meaning of 5 from the “add and divide” algorithm demonstrates that students have not gained a conceptual understanding of this basic statistic. This same phenomenon exists throughout mathematics and is demonstrated whenever students try to explain subtraction by describing the vertical algorithm or the Pythagorean theorem by stating that c2 = a2 + b2. Through the use of simple manipulative activities and graphing, however, middle school students can be taught the mean meaningfully.

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