resources for hands-on-math
Here are the resources we discussed at the convention. Please follow the contact link if you have any difficulty or questions.
Research shows that many students need more experience in thinking at lower levels before learning formal geometric concepts. This paper is written in Q & A format.
The website in the link above shows the Van Hiele levels and activities that would be appropriate for students at each level.
Christmas activity using graphing calculator, editing a list, changing the window, etc . . .
Hands-on activity for graphing y = sinx and y = cos x
Activity to model and graph simple quadratic. Tying hex nuts to string, dropping string to hear sound.
Activity to find minimum and maximum possible length for 3rd side of a triangle. Uses straws and pipe
cleaners. This is not a ready-made-handout. It is an idea that you can adapt for your needs.
cleaners. This is not a ready-made-handout. It is an idea that you can adapt for your needs.
These two pages go together. This is a sample for how to teach your students to do proofs. You need to print out part 1 for each student and cut out the steps into strips. Give the students the strips in a bag or clipped together.
Activity using coffee stirrers and string to make congruent SSS triangles.
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These two pages go together. You will need to print out part 2, one for each student. This page has the drawing, the given, and the prove statements.
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Activities using different types of boxes to find area of regular and irregular shapes, volume, surface area. practice with area addition postulate.
Activity using chords and perpendicular bisectors to find the center of a circle. This is an idea that you can use as-is of develop into a worksheet with follow-up questions.
Activity to calculate pi. Students will use dried lima beans to mark out the circumference and diameter of a circle. Divide to find pi. Compare answers with another group. Which group came closest? Discuss the potential problems- varying sizes of beans, a non-standard unit. Difficulty of getting beans to fit exactly on the circle. I have a box of dried lima beans and lids from plastic containers that are the circles they trace.
Your classroom represents 3-D space when you label the walls, floor, and ceiling with points. Students have to look all around to correctly identify lines and planes. Can be done as a game or in groups.
Use right triangles to investigate: slope, tangent ratio, Pythagorean theorem. Make you own ramp in your classroom using books or use a staircase or a use an actual wheelchair ramp on your campus.
Activity using a large ball to represent the sun and a small ball to represent the earth. Math skill required: cross-multiplication to solve for one unknown and unit conversion.
Use cut-out shapes to explore symmetry, reflection, rotation.
Use SMARTIES candies to explore probability.
I made a set of tangrams from felt. The felt sets can easily be passed around the room without dropping any pieces. You can also put it on a bulletin board for students to work on when they finish other assignments
Just for fun
Fun Activity involving multiplication and conversions. I use it in physics class, but it could be used in a math class as well. Calculate the time Santa has to visit each house, the speed he would need, the weight of the sled, etc . . . In the end you discover that the millions of pounds of force required would be devastating "instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of red goo. Christmas is indeed a magical time"