Yummy Math:
Yummy math is actually a blog, created by teachers, that provides suggestions and examples for making math relevant to the world. What better way to engage students and motivate them to "do math?" This blog covers suggestions for topics such as algebra and geometry, number sense, probability and statistics, and much more. A contributor to iLearn Technology summed up the usefulness of the site in the following way: "These are not your typical “real” world word problems. None of that, if train a is traveling north at x, and train b is traveling south at y what time will they meet? Garbage. This is…what is the real cost of owning an iPhone 5? or The House of Representatives passed a law in 2007 to increase the efficiency of light bulbs, what is the real energy savings that can be realized with CFL and LED. Not only relevant, but really interesting!"
Talk about clever! The QAMA (Quick Approximate Mental Arithmetic) Calculator functions as a regular calculator for students, but they only get the results if they first key in a "reasonable mental estimation of the answer." The device was created by, Ilan Sampson, and inventor with the University of San Diego. Sampson believes that, ""The purpose of QAMA™ is to bring back the full involvement of the mind without having to give up the virtues of the calculator. There is very little use in doing things that does not involve understanding. Students have been trained increasingly to perform correctly without necessarily understanding what they're doing and why."
Numberphile:
Are any of you looking for creative openers for math class? Perhaps you would love to turn your students on to a tool that takes some of the mystery out of numbers. Numberphile is a compilation of videos designed to reveal patterns and tricks that may take the fear out of math computations. You should definitely check it out!
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