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Re: Math Club
Posted:
Feb 15, 2002 7:22 PM
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Suggestions:
If possible, meet somewhere other than in a class room. The students
will be in your math group for fun, but a class room carries reminders of
tension and work.
You may be able to motivate your students by including applied
mathematics. Where possible, go over the math in the meeting room, and
then take the math out of the school for the actual applications. If
possible, have field trips. At the end of each semester, hold a
mini-conference, complete with formal presentations and published
conference proceedings, and invite local dignitaries (officials of the
school and the school system, and officials of organizations where you
hold the field trips). Parents may be able to help to organize the
mini-conferences. If possible in your area, seek parents who are in
scientific fields, and parents who have experience in organizing
conferences.
Math applications are limited in middle school compared with high
school, but your students can handle some types of problems graphically
rather than numerically. You can emphasize that as the students continue
in math, it becomes not only more powerful but easier.
Rather than call the organization a "club", consider a name more
fitting for a serious academic field; your students may want to call it
something like "The <school name> Applied Mathematics Society".
Dick Alvarez
alvarez at olagrande dot net
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