HumaneMaths

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Teaching using a video. (Quadratic Equations) When we hand out a video to students to learn from, often teachers claim that the students are not really learning or we do not know how to test if they have learnt something. I think when a video is handed out, we have to give some very good leading questions also to students to extract information out of the video. Else they may not know exactly what they are supposed to learn and can come back with a "that was awesome!" or "that sucked!" approach. This is how my lesson went: 1. I gave students a weblink for a youtube video on applications of quadratic equations  and asked them to spread out with their partner anywhere in the school. The video involves the following: " An answer to the common question from students, "When am I ever gonna use this stuff?" This episode of Math In Action features Sgt. Rob Krider of the CHP MAIT (California Highway Patrol Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation ...

Teachers often feel quite burdened by the syllabus. However there are topics that can be left for the students to learn on their own, with some smart strategy on the part of the teacher.  One such topic is Scientific Notation.  I f you do not wish to teach it directly, this is what you do! Set clear objectives: At the end of this lesson, you should know:     How to convert a number to scientific notation/standard form.     And the reverse, converting a number back to normal form. Give the students a clear task sheet.  Preferably email to them do they can go to the required websites directly. The task sheet language should be SO clear that they don't have to come back to you with questions. (It is hard...took me 2 years to refine my language) Mine went like this: Go to the  site .  Learn about Scientific Notation Open the site 2 .  Read and understand the information on scientific notation.  Scroll do...

The students constructed a right triangle using their choice of Pythagorean triples. Then they cut it out. In pairs, they went around the school checking if the walls are aligned at right angles. They also checked if the floor and wall were aligned right all across.  Then they very politely presented their results to the principal, informing her where all the designing of the building is not 'mathematically accurate'!

Instructions Make the route that your school bus takes. Mark clearly the time at which it stops for each stop. Analyze it and see if you can spot problems that delay you (if it is true) Create a better route. Extended thinking Present both old and new routes to class clearly showing why your new route is better.  If you think the old route is fine, explain why! Life skills Connects students to real life. Analytic and graphical skills are called upon to make the new route.

Analyze and calculate how much your parents spend on you. On various items. No create a target budget for yourself that you can live on for a month. Report at the end of the month if you could. A student, realizing he spent too much, made his budget Rs 5000. Midway he realized he needed new black shoes and their was no money for them. But he was hellbent on sticking to his budget. He painted an old pair of coloured shoes black and wore them for the rest of the month. Tongue in cheek he told his mom "ma'am never noticed!" This project brings them in touch with money in real life. They also become aware of their own expenditure. And what else...who knows!

Statistics lends itself very well to survey!  Choose a topic out of your passion Create a questionnaire based on it Conduct a survey Collate data as raw and frequency table Present it as graphs Analyze your findings. Give an original analyses The students used BBM, FB and of course Gmail for their survey. And of course - going to a mall and just asking people! I feel this brings them in touch with their passions and makes learning interesting. An original analyses helps to think analytically. The rest is maths skills!

My students are out in the field!  They are required to find someone from insurance company and learn how probability is used by them to calculate chance of dying.  They will ask the person to explain mortality table used by the company and how they calculate insurance premium using it.  Phew...I hope they learn something useful through this! I did a background work with them, grade 11.  Went over the meaning of probability and insurance.  We discussed why insurance is needed.  We also brain stormed a set of questions that they must ask the person they were going to meet.  Next they will show me the result of the interview - written/recorded/video taped.  Then we move forward with research and presentation of facts. 

"Contour maps" give a good way to bring alive negative integers. I Handed out a contour map to the class and had a short discussion. Then I asked students to make problems based on the map. They exchanged with peers and solved each other's problems. Exchanged notebooks back to be corrected. This was a difficult one, for many kids did not quite get the 'make the problems' part. :(

The little ones went around checking if the walls are at right angles!  They created triangles using Pythagorean triples (right triangles) and learnt application through this check up. We did find 4 walls that were skewed. I didn't have the heart to tell the children that maybe their triangles are skewed... :)

As a part of HOUSEHOLD FINANCES, students were asked to find out how much they spend on '5 or more hot items' from their parents. Then they were asked to analyze their expenses and work out a new budget, with more or less expenses. They also had the option to keep the same budget. But they definitely had to justify their choice! We also played music with money songs. An interesting, fun-filled afternoon of chirpy 6th graders...

LOOK AROUND FELLAS!  INSTRUCTIONS 1. Tear pictures/advertisements/articles from newspapers or magazines  2. Each should show clearly the use of fraction/decimal/%  3. Prepare a collage using the pictures  4. Maximum size allowed is 1 full chart  5. Give it a catchy heading   6. Do not use any pen or pencil or scissor. Only pictures torn out.   7. There should be at least 2 pictures for each – fraction, decimal, %

"Why do we need estimation?" "Why do we need 4 types of estimation?"  Had a great discussion involving doctors and football stadia on this. The kids love real life connections.  I also asked them to ask any 5 adults where they use estimation in life. Interesting answers. Some of the adults said, "I never use it!"  I have told my 7Th graders to ask me whenever they feel like 'what's the use of this?'. The challenge for me is to find the answer to the query!  Any helpers out there?

Project - line and rotational symmetry 1 a) You are a designer and have been hired to create eye appealing artwork for a company logo (you can decide what the company manufactures!). Your audience comprises of the company’s CEOs. Your situation is to design eye appealing artwork for the company logo. Your product performance and purpose is to identify and effectively use mathematics of symmetry to create an aesthetic company logo. b) Write in about 100 words justification for the logo. Explain the symbols used. How does it represent the product of the company? 2 a) Design a logo that represents of your life b) Write in about 100 words justification for the logo. Explain the symbols used. How does it represent your life? 3 a) Click pictures from life – flowers, cut fruits, people etc and show the symmetry existent in nature. b) Write in about 100 words “symmetry adds to the beauty of nature” RUBRIC – 20 marks Aesthetics of the design- 5 Use of symmetry – 10 Paragra...

“HOW MUCH OF A NEWSPAPER IS REALLY NEWS?”  Task: Select a newspaper – the main paper only (no supplements) ·  Make list of 6 types of content categories contained in the newspaper-News;Advertisements;Photographs;Entertainment;Sports;Weather ·  Choose at least 2 pages of the newspaper (you may take more) ·  Measure the area covered by each category TOTAL AREA OF ALL CATEGORIES  Now find what % is each category area of the total area? PRESENTATION ·  Present initial work on this sheet only. ·  Bring the newspaper that you have used also. ·  Attach the R.W sheet with this sheet ·  Final presentation artistic on a colour paper THOUGHTS TO REFLECT: § IS YOUR NEWSPAPER MOSTLY ADVERTISEMENT? §  Che...

CREATE AN ADVERTISEMENT AND A STORY A shop is putting all its items for sale. Create a colourful advertisement sheet for the shopkeeper to use. Take pictures of the items (from internet/magazines/newspaper etc), their real cost and decide discounts yourself.   Write a fictional story of Ramu who goes shopping in the shop. He buys 5 items.  Create a bill for him showing the actual and the discounted price. How much money is he saving due to the discount? MARKS: 20 ADVERTISEMENT –5 STORY AND BILL - 10 AESTHETICS - 5

We did a SHAPE WALK the other day. The children were sent to a club nearby to do a cross curricular work.  For math, they were asked to look at each object, identify the underlying shape and write any 2 properties of the shape they chose! Soon you had grade 6 kids looking at branches, bushes, swimming pools... "there is math everywhere!"

PROJECT – CREATING A MATH MAGAZINE FOR SALE    This is a classic example of a project through which a girl, having found her niche, also found her relation with the subject.  It is her magazine that is attached.  She came to my class very scared of math.  So much so that she would start crying.  It is through these projects that she overcame her distaste of the subject and went to the extent of taking a class one day and taught algebra!  AIM:   To take an overview of the topics done in the 1st term.  To be able to express them in their own words. T o elicit inherent creativity of linguistic expression. To improve the grip of the math concepts covered.  MATH INVOLVED:   Fractions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, applications) geometry – few properties decimals (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, applications) directed numbers (adding them using number line)  ...