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Newsletter: Math Forum Internet News No. 17.22 (1 Jun 12)
Posted: Jun 1, 2012 12:24 PM

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1 June, 2012 Vol. 17, No. 22

THE MATH FORUM @ DREXEL INTERNET NEWS

Summer Problems of the Week | Summer Fermi Math League
Statistics Workshops for K-12 Teachers

***************************************************************
Register for a TI-Nspire Summer Workshop!
Learn from experienced T^3 instructors to
incorporate TI-Nspire technology and activities.
Each participant will walk away with a
NEW TI-Nspire CX or TI-Nspire CX CAS handheld
and TI-Nspire Teacher Software.

http://education.ti.com/calculators/pd/US/In-Your-Area/Summer-Workshops
***************************************************************

SUMMER PROBLEMS OF THE WEEK

http://mathforum.org/pows/

Every two weeks from June through August, the Math Forum will
continue to post challenging, non-routine problems and accept
solutions to them. Although we will have only a few volunteers
doing mentoring -- and our responses will otherwise be scaled
back as we get ready for a new series of problems at the end
of August -- we encourage all Problem of the Week members to
continue using the PoWs throughout the summer.

Over the course of the recently concluded 2011-2012 academic
year, we posted a total of 100 Current Problems of the Week,
each with its own supporting resources -- a great starting
point for designing your own summer projects. For those with
Full PoW memberships, or access through your schools or
districts, help yourselves to the Library Problems. For
starters, we've highlighted a seasonal selection in these
pages before:

http://mathforum.org/electronic.newsletter/mf.intnews14.20.html

Want to get in on the fun, but don't have an account yet?
Register a trial:

http://mathforum.org/products/trial.html

-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-

PoW taking place: math problem-solving moment of the week

"This problem was a difficult one to explain and show your work
on. One key was drawing a good picture to help you understand
how all of the lengths and widths were related to one another.
Cynthia, Richard, and Matthew shared this picture, which helped
me understand the meaning of the different expressions they
used in solving the problem ..."

- Max, commenting on the Algebra PoW's Latest Solution

http://mathforum.org/pows/solution.htm?publication=4074

-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-

SUMMER FERMI MATH LEAGUE

http://district287.org/fermi/

Do you like to measure, estimate, and play around with
technology? Then join the Fermi Off-the-Wall Math League!

This Internet-based math competition welcomes students in
grades 1-9 from around the world who seek enrichment, small
group work, and creative, technology-rich experiences.

A Fermi question is posed with limited information given.
For example,

- How many water balloons would it take to fill
grandma's bathtub?
- How many cockroaches will fill the trunk of a VW Beetle?
- How much fabric would it take to make a camo-suit for
Moby Dick?
- How many eggs would fit in the Trojan Horse's body?

Fermi questions require that students ask many more questions;
emphasize process rather than "the" answer; demand
communication and writing; and utilize estimation, rounding
numbers and guesses.

The four-week Summer '12 season starts Tuesday, July 12th.

-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-

Now taking place: math education conversation of the hour

"The thing that bothers me about systems like this is that it
seems to give legitimacy to the totally arbitrary scale that
says '90% is an A.' We all know that 90 means 'bottom of the A
range' and 70 means 'bottom of the C range.' But why? What is
so magical about those cutoffs? They are completely arbitrary.
I would much rather look at the quality of work on the test
and make grade decisions based on that."

- Corey, posted to the ap-stat discussion group

http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=7831379

-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-

STATISTICS WORKSHOPS FOR K-12 TEACHERS

http://www.amstat.org/education/workshops.cfm

The American Statistical Association (ASA) offers two workshops
in conjunction with the 2012 Joint Statistical Meetings,
July 28 - August 2, San Diego, California.

The Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) Statistics Workshop for
middle and high school mathematics teachers seeks to enhance
understanding and teaching of statistics within the mathematics
curriculum through conceptual understanding, active learning,
real-world data applications, and appropriate technology.

http://www.amstat.org/education/mwm

The Beyond AP Statistics (BAPS) Workshop, for experienced
Advanced Placement statistics teachers, consists of a day of
enrichment material just beyond the basic AP syllabus.

http://www.amstat.org/education/baps

For free K-12 statistics education resources from the ASA,
download this one-page PDF:

http://www.amstat.org/education/pdfs/EducationResources.pdf

-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-\-/-|-

CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE:

The Math Forum @ Drexel http://mathforum.org/
Online PD http://mathforum.org/pd/
Online Workshops http://mathforum.org/workshops/
Ask Dr. Math http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
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_o \o_ __| \ / |__ o _ o/ \o/
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\ \ / \ / \ /o\ / \ / \ / | / \ / \

The Math Forum @ Drexel ** 1 June 2012

An archive of all the Math Forum newsletters
and directions for subscribing can be found at
http://mathforum.org/electronic.newsletter/
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<td>1 June, 2012</td>
<td><div align="right">Volume 17 No. 22</div></td>
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In This Issue





Summer Problems of the Week
Summer Fermi Math League
Statistics Workshops for K-12 Teachers

 


<img src="http://mathforum.org/pd/images/continuum.pd.jpg"; width=45> 

Online PD


Free:
 
<a href="http://mathforum.org/pd/#sessions">Orientation Sessions</a> 


Paid:
 
<a href="http://mathforum.org/pd/#courses">Problem Based Learning Courses</a>


Graduate Credit: 
<a href="http://www.drexel.com/online-degrees/education-degrees/cert-mlt/index.aspx">Mathematics Teaching and Learning Certificate</a> 



<a href="http://www.drexel.com/online-degrees/education-degrees/ms-mlt/index.aspx">Master's Degree</a>


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If you prefer to receive a text-only version, please send a note to <a href="http://mathforum.org/electronic.newsletter/mfin.faq.html#feedback">the Math Forum Internet Newsletter editors</a> and we will subscribe you to that list. 
You can also subscribe via <a href="http://mathforum.org/kb/rss/rssmessages.jsp?forumID=212">RSS feed</a>.

<hr>



Summer Problems of the Week



<a href="http://mathforum.org/pows/">http://mathforum.org/pows/</a>


Every two weeks from June through August, the Math Forum will
continue to post challenging, non-routine problems and accept
solutions to them. Although we will have only a few volunteers
doing mentoring — and our responses will otherwise be scaled
back as we get ready for a new series of problems at the end
of August — we encourage all Problem of the Week members to
continue using the PoWs throughout the summer.


Over the course of the recently concluded 2011-2012 academic
year, we posted a total of 100 Current Problems of the Week,
each with its own supporting resources — a great starting
point for designing your own summer projects. For those with
Full PoW memberships, or access through your schools or
districts, help yourselves to the Library Problems. For
starters, we've highlighted a seasonal selection in these
pages before:

<a href="http://mathforum.org/electronic.newsletter/mf.intnews14.20.html">http://mathforum.org/electronic.newsletter/mf.intnews14.20.html</a>

Want to get in on the fun, but don't have an account yet?
Register a trial:

<a href="http://mathforum.org/products/trial.html">http://mathforum.org/products/trial.html</a>


<hr>


<dl>
<dt>
PoW taking place: math problem-solving moment of the week

<dt>
"This problem was a difficult one to explain and show your work
on. One key was drawing a good picture to help you understand
how all of the lengths and widths were related to one another.
Cynthia, Richard, and Matthew shared this picture, which helped
me understand the meaning of the different expressions they
used in solving the problem ..."
<dd>
- Max, commenting on the Algebra PoW's Latest Solution
<dd>
<a href="http://mathforum.org/pows/solution.htm?publication=4074">http://mathforum.org/pows/solution.htm?publication=4074</a>
</dl>


<hr>


Summer Fermi Math League

<a href="http://district287.org/fermi/">http://district287.org/fermi/</a>


Do you like to measure, estimate, and play around with
technology? Then join the Fermi Off-the-Wall Math League!


This Internet-based math competition welcomes students in
grades 1-9 from around the world who seek enrichment, small
group work, and creative, technology-rich experiences.


A Fermi question is posed with limited information given.
For example,

<ul>
<li>
How many water balloons would it take to fill
grandma's bathtub?
</li>
<li>
How many cockroaches will fill the trunk of a VW Beetle?
</li>
<li>
How much fabric would it take to make a camo-suit for
Moby Dick?
</li>
<li>
How many eggs would fit in the Trojan Horse's body?
</li>
</ul>

Fermi questions require that students ask many more questions;
emphasize process rather than "the" answer; demand
communication and writing; and utilize estimation, rounding
numbers and guesses.


The four-week Summer '12 season starts Tuesday, July 12th.



<hr>


<dl>
<dt>
Now taking place: math education conversation of the hour

<dt>
"The thing that bothers me about systems like this is that it
seems to give legitimacy to the totally arbitrary scale that
says '90% is an A.' We all know that 90 means 'bottom of the A
range' and 70 means 'bottom of the C range.' But why? What is
so magical about those cutoffs? They are completely arbitrary.
I would much rather look at the quality of work on the test
and make grade decisions based on that."
<dd>
- Corey, posted to the ap-stat discussion group
<dd>
<a href="http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=7831379">http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=7831379</a>


</dl>
<hr>


Statistics Workshops for K-12 Teachers

<a href="http://www.amstat.org/education/workshops.cfm">http://www.amstat.org/education/workshops.cfm</a>


The American Statistical Association (ASA) offers two workshops
in conjunction with the 2012 Joint Statistical Meetings,
July 28 - August 2, San Diego, California.


The Meeting Within a Meeting (MWM) Statistics Workshop for
middle and high school mathematics teachers seeks to enhance
understanding and teaching of statistics within the mathematics
curriculum through conceptual understanding, active learning,
real-world data applications, and appropriate technology.

<a href="http://www.amstat.org/education/mwm">http://www.amstat.org/education/mwm</a>

The Beyond AP Statistics (BAPS) Workshop, for experienced
Advanced Placement statistics teachers, consists of a day of
enrichment material just beyond the basic AP syllabus.

<a href="http://www.amstat.org/education/baps">http://www.amstat.org/education/baps</a>

For free K-12 statistics education resources from the ASA,
download this one-page PDF:

<a href="http://www.amstat.org/education/pdfs/EducationResources.pdf">http://www.amstat.org/education/pdfs/EducationResources.pdf</a>



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