5 Maths Gems #21

Happy New Year's Day together with welcome to my 21st gems ship service - this is where I portion 5 pedagogy ideas that I've seen on Twitter inward the past times week. Now I'm dorsum at travel from motherhood leave, I await these posts volition acquire fortnightly rather than weekly. Sadly, mark together with lesson planning volition hateful I accept less fourth dimension to get together ideas from Twitter.

My aim for 2015 is to hold to travel towards a ship service for every topic, thus that when you're planning lessons you lot tin refer to these posts together with there's everything you lot demand - concepts, ideas, resources, enrichment together with links. I truly promise these posts cut down the amount of fourth dimension you lot accept to pass searching the internet. My latest ship service was on Teaching Indices, together with you lot tin come across the total hit here.

1. Brilliant
I've been enjoying the questions from brilliant.org this week. It has a big hit of mathematical problems that you lot could role inward lessons (algebra, geometry, calculus, mechanics etc). Plenty of the problems are available for gratis - total solutions, extra problems together with a bunch of other materials is available for a small-scale subscription.

Here's a duad of examples of problems for your students:

Some topics also accept explanations together with interesting worked examples - cheque out the chapter on the volume of a pyramid. The associated quiz has questions similar the i shown below.

So if you're looking for interesting questions to role when pedagogy a specific theme together with then you lot mightiness respect Brilliant helpful.

Also, if you're looking for some challenging problems to accept a leave of absence at yourself, I recommend you lot similar Brilliant.org on Facebook - you'll acquire a overnice time period of problems inward your newsfeed. Here's what Facebook presented me amongst this morn - this is a grade 2 interrogation (levels leave of absence from 1 to 5, amongst 5 existence the most difficult).
2. FOIL

Whether or non you lot learn 'FOIL' every bit a method for expanding brackets, spotter the video below.

By the way, I don't mean value there's necessarily anything terribly incorrect amongst pedagogy 'FOIL' every bit long every bit students know that the social club doesn't matter. When I was at schoolhouse I was merely told to 'multiply everything inward the outset bracket past times everything inward the 2nd bracket' together with every bit a lawsuit I role a hit of FOIL, FIOL, FOLI together with FILO on the board... sometimes my students who've been taught FOIL mean value I'm doing it wrong. It's truly of import that nosotros emphasise that at that spot is no railroad train order. I suppose FOIL merely helps students hold rails of their workings.

3. BODMAS
Sticking amongst the first-class videos from @minutephysics, if you lot haven't seen this i most PEDMAS (that's BODMAS inward the UK), it's good worth a spotter (thanks to @JustinAion for sharing). The social club of operations turns humans into robots!


4. Furbles
I may hold upward the in conclusion maths instructor to listen most Furbles, but inward instance anyone else hasn't heard of them, they deserve a advert here. Thanks to Hannah (@missradders) for bringing this cute statistics pedagogy tool to my attention.

Furbles tin hold upward used to learn statistical graphs together with probability - if you've non seen them earlier together with then accept a play unopen to - there's ii web-based versions on the website, summation a downloadable version here. Examples of Furbles-related questions are shown below, together with there's a to a greater extent than comprehensive listing here (thanks to @clwatson999 for sharing this link).

• Which is the best graph to demonstrate you lot which is the most together with the least? 
• What would the telephone substitution for this pie nautical chart expression like? 
• What is the probability the side past times side starred Furble volition hold upward … a imperial triangle amongst four eyes?

You tin also inquire students to brand a railroad train of Furbles to plough over detail nautical chart properties or a specified probability distribution.

5. Euclid the Game
H5N1 few people accept recommended Euclid the Game to me together with I finally got circular to having a practiced expression at it. I come across what all the fuss is most now. I'm pedagogy loci together with constructions shortly thus I mean value I'll mass an information technology room to permit my students accept a leave of absence at this game. After a brusk tutorial inward which they acquire how to role the basics of GeoGebra, students are asked to produce a serial of constructions.

What I similar most it is that students who commonly merely acquire a physical care for for these constructions accept to mean value most how the constructions truly travel (ie they're non merely drawing arcs). It's a slap-up game thus if you've non seen it before, produce accept a look.

Well that's it from me today. Hope you lot all accept a practiced outset calendar week dorsum at school!