Common Core Activity: Square in Right Triangle - One More Variation!

As posted on twitter.com/dmarain ...
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AN UNCOMMON? CORE GEOMETRY ACTIVITY

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COMMON CORE ALGEBRA/GEOMETRY INVESTIGATION

Also posted on twitter.com/dmarain
Let me know how you use/modify this activity for your Algebra and Geometry students! Feel free to comment or send email via Blogger Contact Form in sidebar.

COMMON CORE: LINKING MEAN AND CENTER OF MASS

Common Core Desmos Activity for Algebra 2 and beyond

Click on graph to see the activity!
Set viewing window: -5<=x<=5
Also, it's better to manually animate the tangent lines by dragging the point or the slider!

Just a simple demo of the power of Desmos to build interactive Investigations for our math students.

My primary goal is to model the critical balance between technology and concept development. While students can freely explore the graphs, they are also guided with carefully crafted questions. Feel free to use it and modify as needed.

This activity can be improved upon with Desmos' New Activity Builder! As I learn it, I'll share more of these. See Desmos.com and on Twitter visit @Desmos and @mathhombre for more examples, many of which are far more creative than mine.

Use this link if graph does not display: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/ukpdfbmaf6

Balanced Learning is not Blended or Flipped

Haven't been up to one my passionate rants in a long time so buckle up...

Technology has enabled educators to reimagine the  traditional classroom, how students learn and how we facilitate this process, aka teach. Incredible new opportunities to empower students to take more control over their own learning in a "space-time continuum" sort of way. Not to mention providing powerful tools to analyze data to individualize and maximize learning. Are there any buzzwords I omitted!

BUT...

We have strayed from NCTM'S central message from over 25 years ago:
***BALANCING*** PROCEDURAL LEARNING and CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING.

Technology changes the landscape in a fundamental way but the best source code cannot quite replace the critical dialog and face-to-face interaction that is needed to accomplish the above goal. The spontaneous give-and-take of questions and ideas. Interaction vs interactive...

Oh, Dave, you're so 90s, 80s,70s,... You just don't get it, Dave....

The hexagon/triangle problem in the diagram above can be approached using dynamic software like Geogebra & Desmos. You could develop an extraordinary exploration with carefully crafted questions enabling the student to discover relationships in the figures. I love doing that. I used to do this in the classroom long before it was fashionable. Anyone who follows me knows I'm a techie geek at heart.

BUT I came to realize that there was something missing. If you believe I'm not knowledgeable enough of how these new tools can accomplish the BALANCING I speak of, then challenge my premise! Let the New Math Wars begin...

And I haven't even addressed the myriad of approaches to "solving" this multifaceted geometry problem. Most students/groups will find their own solution paths but it is human nature to CHOOSE THE METHOD THAT FITS YOUR OWN WAY OF THINKING.

To develop the deeper ideas of geometry - symmetry, transformations, dissecting, combining and rearranging pieces of a puzzle, students need to be TAKEN OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE and experience others' ideas and we need to fill in the gaps. That is part of teaching, yes?

And, oh yes, there certainly are algebraic/geometric approaches here with lots of nice formulas like (x²√3)/4...

Modeling - What Algebra Looks Like on the New SAT/PSAT and the Common Core

On twitter.com/dmarain...

A bear population, P(t), after t yrs,  is modeled by
P(t)=M-k(t-20)², 0≤t≤20.
Initial population:356
Max pop'n:500
Estimated population after 10 yrs?
Answer: 464

COREFLECTIONS

Is this the "new" algebra? Students given a function with PARAMETERS which "models" real world data? Questions like this have appeared on SATs for a few years now and, based on the sample new SAT/PSATs released by the College Board, they will become even more common. Students will be asked to analyze the function and use it in application.

The Common Core also emphasizes algebra models - "using" algebra to solve applied problems.

Middle and secondary math educators are not surprised by any of this as these changes have been around for a while but textbooks may need to include even more examples and homework problems of this type.

The real challenge, IMO, is to find that proverbial BALANCE between traditional algebra skills and  applications.

How much knowledge of quadratic functions is needed for this question? Will most students relate the form of the model to f(x) = a(x-h)²+k? Will they immediately recognize that M must be 500 since (20,500) is the vertex or maximum point? Try it and let me know!

Students should be allowed to explore this function using powerful software like Desmos and Geogebra. Sliders in Desmos allow for considerable analysis when parameters like M and k are given. 

BUT they also need to develop a fundamental knowledge of quadratic functions.

A key question for me is:
Should some background be developed BEFORE exploring with technology or AFTER or something in between?

I included a screenshot from Desmos for the bear population problem but this does NOT show how to IMPLEMENT this powerful tool in the classroom. I'll leave that for the real experts like John Golden! (@mathhombre).

37 not 42 the Answer to The Meaning of Life? A Common Core Investigation

From twitter.com/dmarain...

A Middle School Common Core Investigation

Is 37 an "interesting" #?

37x4=148; 4-1="3",8-1="7"
37x13=481
37x22=814

37x5=185; 8-5="3",8-1="7"
37x14=518
37x23=851

How far can you extend the pattern?

And is 37 patriotic (apologies to AK&HI)??

37x48=1776

And my favorite ...

1/37=0.027027...
1/27=0.037037...

Is it all because 37x3=111?

First we engage, then illuminate...