MATH TOOLS NEWSLETTER - December 13, 2010 - No. 93 ***Holiday Shopping with the Math Forum http://mathforum.org/amazon.html Shopping online with Amazon.com or Target this holiday season? Start at mathforum.org, and with one small initial step, you can help sustain the Math Forum. ***Online Courses in January http://mathforum.org/pd/ Four Math Forum professional development courses begin next month: - Problem Solving Strategies - PoW Class Membership: Resources & Strategies for Effective Implementation - Problem Solving in Geometry and Measurement - Differentiated Math Instruction: Using Rich Problems to Reach All Learners ***Addition to Math Tools Course List http://mathforum.org/mathtools/sitemap.html Financial Education has recently been added as a course to Math Tools. The topics listed include: - Credit and Debt - Financial Planning and Money Management - Financial Responsibility and Decision Making - Income and Careers - Risk Management and Insurance - Saving and Investing As you browse these topics and their sub-topics, please consider submitting any technology resources that you have successfully used with your students: http://mathforum.org/mathtools/util/resource_submit.html \|/ As you browse the catalog, please take a moment to rate a resource, comment on it, review it -- join an existing conversation, or start a new discussion! ***FEATURED DISCUSSION Language arts and reading / math http://mathforum.org/mathtools/discuss.html?&do=m&thread=___disc_20164_g-1 Ginny M asks, "I just got an ActivLearning board. Do you have a section on your site that has interactive capability?" ***FEATURED DISCUSSION Math Formula Editor for Blog? http://mathforum.org/mathtools/discuss.html?&do=m&thread=_____sh-57 DavidB announces, "My blog seems to be evolving from a general interest random-thought blog into a support blog for my math tools website." ***FEATURED TECHNOLOGY POW Technology PoW: How Many Cubes? ttp://mathforum.org/mathtools/tpow/5857/ Stephen Weimar Given the front view and side view of an arrangement of cubes, students are asked for the largest number of cubes that could have been used to make the arrangement, as well as the smallest number possible. A link to Space Blocks, a Java applet from the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, is provided to help students think about the possible arrangements. NOTE: A free login is required. Sign up using the link on the login page, or use your existing KenKen or Problems of the Week login. ***FEATURED ACTIVITY Activity: Consumer Economics in Algebra http://mathforum.org/mathtools/activity/3530/ Craig Russell and Sue Plisch Explore retirement issues and consumer credit with this activity, which involves online calculators, interviews, journaling, and group presentations. ***FEATURED TOOL Tool: DataFerrett: For TheDataWeb http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tool/12585/ U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control DataFerrett is a data mining and extraction tool that works with TheDataWeb, a network of online data libraries. Topics include economics, health, income and unemployment, population, labor, cancer, crime, transportation, family dynamics, and more. DataFerrett enables the user to develop and customize tables or create a chart or graph for a visual presentation and turn it into a web page. ***FEATURED TOOL Tool: Correlation / Regression http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tool/3516/ Bob Hall and Arlen Strader Correlation and Regression offers a series of linked workspaces in which the student can enter data directly into a gridded scatterplot complete with user controlled scaling of the X and Y axes. Points placed on the scatterplot are automatically entered into a deviation-score summary table (separate applet) and values from the summary table are passed to a formulas applet that displays computations for means, standard deviations, covariance, correlation, slope, and intercept values ***FEATURED TOOL Tool: FractionCalc http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tool/105792/ Dana Proctor The FractionCalc java Applet/Application is a calculator that may be used to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on two given input fractions. The calculator not only gives the results of the operation, but also a graphical representation of the results. ***FEATURED TOOL Tool: Compound Interest Simulator http://mathforum.org/mathtools/tool/109801/ NCTM: Illuminations This applet will allow you to investigate savings account earnings, credit card debt, and a stock market simulation. 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/ Twitter Feed http://mathforum.org/pd/twitter.html \`. .--------------.___________) \ |//////////////|___________[ ] `--------------' ) ( '-' The Math Forum @ Drexel -- 13 December 2010