Southeast Texas P-16 Council

Updated 5/10/2010 see Interactive below.

Free web resources for Mathematics continue to proliferate.

We started looking at free mathematics resources when we were working to put a banner for MathNerds.com on this web site.  That site offers advice and tips on solving math problems.  The site is staffed by some Southeast Texans.

The recent release of Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 as free software and the beta release of GeoGebra 4.0 started us searching for more.  Graph.tk is another of these  free graphing engine that allows multiple equation graphed on the same chart

Here’s some of the resources we uncovered:

(5/10/2011)

• Interactivate at Shodor.org a collection of math java applets collected by the National Science Digital Library and the Computational Science Reference Desk. This was sent to us by Ralph Polley who teaches Mathematics at the Houston Academy for International Studies.  (Great to have the world looking in).

(4/30/2011) –

(3/22/2011) — some interactives:

• MathsIsFun.com‘s interactive unit circle. This is one of our favorites.  Spin around the circle and see how the sines, cosines and tangents appear in a graph next to it.  You instantly “get the picture.”(3/22/2011)
• Maths.net offers this  Interactive Shapes Glossary — hover over a name of a shape and a image shows the shape.  The page works snappy so you can run through several until you find the shape that you’re thinking of. (3/22/2011)
• MathsFiles.com has a host of  Excel interactive spreadsheets for maths education, GCSE, AS and A level using macros and visual basic for applications.  Make sure to read the short instructions to help you set them up for your class. (3/22/2011)
• Learner.org offers this group of Interactives on their Mathematics Iluminated course site. These interactives illustrate concepts and give opportunities to test out ideas that have been explored in the units. Some set up concepts within the units, while others extend them through idealized real-world applications. (3/22/2011)
• Lists of free mathematics ebooks and free mathmatics software. Includes 41 ebooks from including on topics in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus and more.  Also includes 31 free math software titles including Microsoft Mathmetics, Geograbra and GraphCalc (3/22/2011)
• 24 GeoGebra tutorials. (3/7/2011)
• 72 counting and probability video tutorials from Art of Problem Solving (3/7/2011)
• Visual Math Learning has some flash tutorials to help visual learners get deeper understanding of math. (3/7/2011)
• BLOSSOMS (Blended Learning Open Sources Science or Mat h Studies) is a a MIT initiative to build free repository of video modules for high school math and science classes created by gifted volunteer teachers from around the world, seeded initially by MIT faculty members and by partnering educators in Jordan and Pakistan. (3/7/2011)
• Digital Learning Commons has numerous math casts to demonstrate problem solving sorted by high school, middle school, and elementary school levels.  (3/7/2011)
• WolframAlpha is a computational knowledge engine  – type in your equation and such as 3x^2+5 and get the plot, the derivative, the indefinite integral and much more.   WolframAlpha does so much more than we can explain here when you go to the site, be sure to take the tour.  (3/7/2011)

We’re going to be adding to this post as we discover newer resource, so check back at a future date.   Link to : http://setxp16.org/wp/2011/02/freemath

NOTE : here’s some newly-added-to-our-list resources: (these were sent in by Lamar University Mathematics Associate Professor Jennifer Daniel)

NRICH – (NRICH is a team of qualified teachers who are also practitioners in RICH mathematical thinking. This unique blend means that NRICH is ideally placed to offer advice and support to both teachers and learners of mathematics.

• Enrich the experience of the mathematics curriculum for all learners
• Offer challenging and engaging activities
• Develop mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Show rich mathematics in meaningful contexts
• Work in partnership with teachers, schools and other educational settings

Illuminations — Several hundred classroom projects for grades K-12, tied to the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) standards.   I particularly liked the function mapping activity.  It graphs a random function and you have to adjust the coefficients in your equations until the two graphs are the same.

Also check out our YouTube site for math video tutorials.  (go to the Math playlist in the right hand column)

Check out these special tutorials

Vector Math for Computer 3D graphics

Of course we could not help but miss that Professor Paul Dawkins of Lamar University has a math tutorial and help page for Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus and Differential Equations.

Maybe you know of some site we need to list here?  Let us know : sbuser@setxP16.org

Kids Kollege was a great success, thanks to a sizeable and hard workinging team.

The new issue of the Southeast Texas P-16 Council Newsletter gives some insight into the team that made it happen, as well as some of the things we learned to make it better next time. In total 230 students attended the event held at Lamar University and Lamar Institute of Technology. Lamar State College-Orange and Lamar State College-Port Arthur also participated in the event by sending faculty.

The event focused on bringing hands-on, participatory learning to students in 7th and 8th grade as they start to focus on careers and what courses they will take in high school.

Also in the newsletter are stories on:

• 21rst Century Skills — a new project of the Southeast Texas P-16 Council to make students safer and smarter in their internet pursuits.
• New ideas on making the newsletter tie in better to the web site and makingthe experience more interactive.
• A look back and education in 2010 and a look forward at the future.