MATH TOOLS NEWSLETTER - SEPTEMBER 3, 2005 - No. 31 Thank you to everyone who participated in our Special Events held each week in August. We hope everyone joins in the continuing discussions! ***FEATURED TPOW Technology PoW: A Million Penny Project Cynthia Lanius http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tpow/18198/ Students use a spreadsheet to show when they will have collected their million pennies. ***FEATURED DISCUSSION ICMI Study 17 on "Technology Revisited" http://mathforum.org/mathtools/discuss.html?&do=m&thread=_____g-84 John Olive encourages "those of you who work within the mathematics education community to consider contributing to this ICMI study on technology." In his post he provides a link to a document to download more information. ***FEATURED DISCUSSION TI83 Graphing Calculator Online http://mathforum.org/mathtools/discuss.html?&do=m&thread=_____g-82 Mary asks, "I would like my students to access through the Internet or as a software package that can be installed on a computer a program that acts like a TI83 or TI84 graphing calculator. Does anyone know of such a program?" ***FEATURED DISCUSSION Analyzing how Tools are used: Stories and Reviews from the Field http://mathforum.org/mathtools/discuss.html?&do=m&thread=_____g-79 Gene writes, "Some folks think that writing stories is really a bit daunting and it's harder to see how it directly relates to your teaching." ***FEATURED TOOL Tool: eNLVM - Interactive Online Math Lessons Utah State University http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tool/20291/ The eNLVM enhances the applets available through the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (NLVM). It allows teachers to embed applets in lessons, make up questions to which students can submit answers online, and compare the answers thus submitted. Teachers may also choose to use or adapt existing lesson plans. ***FEATURED TOOL Tool: Linear Lasers Ankur Dalal and Eric Meyers http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tool/20367/ This project uses Java and Flash technologies to graphically represent the concept of linear functions (of the form y = mx + b). The project has four sections, including a demonstration, pre-think, Java-based game and a wrap-up section. ***FEATURED TOOL Tool: ODE Toolkit Harvey Mudd College http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tool/20344/ ODE Toolkit can numerically find and display the solutions to differential equations. It is useful when you want to visualize the solutions to differential equations, or when analytic solutions are not available. ODE Toolkit is a Java-based program available on the web that runs on Linux, Mac OS X and most Windows platforms. ***FEATURED STORY Story: Side Length and Area of Similar Figures Jeff LeMieux http://mathforum.org/mathtools/lesson/20245/ The subjects of this story are the two applets 'Side Length and Area of Similar Figures' and 'Side Length, Volume, and Surface Area of Similar Solids.' These two applets help demonstrate the relationships listed in the titles, also known as scale factor and similarity. ***FEATURED SUPPORT MATERIAL Support Material: Probability Kirsten Anderson, Learningwave http://mathforum.org/mathtools/support/20226/ Collection of illustrated descriptions, with problems for students to work out, for automated feedback. CHECK OUT THE MATH TOOLS SITE: Math Tools http://mathforum.org/mathtools/ Register http://mathforum.org/mathtools/register.html Discussions http://mathforum.org/mathtools/discuss.html Research Area http://mathforum.org/mathtools/research/ Developers Area http://mathforum.org/mathtools/developers/ Newsletter Archive http://mathforum.org/mathtools/newsletter/ \`. .--------------.___________) \ |//////////////|___________[ ] `--------------' ) ( '-' The Math Forum @ Drexel -- 3 September 2005