Amazing History and Mathematics lesson
Posted by mrwaddell on 3 July, 2008
For one of my classes (two sections) I was given an 89 Gig Ipod Video. This class is (badly) called the Gateway class, and it is a quarter of Post Alg 2 mathematics in Finance, a quarter of Mathematics in Art, a quarter of Mathematics in Technology / Computers, and a quarter of Mathematics in Medicine/ the Human body.
It is a very different kind of math class, where only seniors can take it. It will be mathematically rigorous, but 100% focused on the mathematics in each of these areas.
So, back to the ipod. Part of the issue with this is I need, I mean really NEED to use it. After all, my district just paid $400 for me and five other teachers to each have these ipods. If we don’t use them in class, we are in some deep doo doo trouble.
So I have made a goal for myself of finding, in advance, two to three videos that are relevant to the course each day. I have watched a lot of YouTube crap, let me tell you. Of course there is also DNATube, TeacherTube, Teachers.tv, and Vimeo where you can find some good stuff. There is also TED.
I have been using these sites to find good video. Today I watched this one, and it blew me away. Who know fractals and Africa had such a rich history, and that that exact history influenced Western culture to such a high degree. I did not.
If the player doesn’t work (I had it work and not work) here is the link: Ted Talk – Ron Eglash
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:53 pm
So, I’m a bit confused. Will your entire class being viewing the videos on the iPod?
What was the rationale for their use?
July 4th, 2008 at 11:19 am
No, we all have projectors and the connector cables to connect the ipod to the projector.
The rationale is to bring in a more multimedia and rich environment into the math class. This is not a traditional math class. It contains exploratory units, many many spreadsheets in the finance section, connections between Spirographs and parametric equations of epicycloids, etc.
The goal is to construct a class for Seniors that keep them involved in rigorous math, but will not be a traditional lecture class. Since our district just changed to 4 years of required math, this is a middle level option for those seniors who would otherwise not take a 4th math class.
July 4th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Thanks for the clarification. Do you have access to computers (or one computer to hook up to a projector)?
July 5th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I actually have 5 computers in my classroom. Three are student computers, one is a teacher computer (at my desk) and one is slaved to a SmartPanel and projector.
The SmartPanel is awesome. It is essentially an electronic whiteboard. Everything I write / draw on the board is projected to the screen. Combine that with powerpoint (which I am going to use this upcoming year, last year I did all freehand) and I have something on which I can capture a slide and annotate the heck out of if needed.
Everything I do on the SmartPanel can be saved as a jpg and uploaded to Edline (our district uses Edline and EasyGradePro) so 100% of all classroom notes can be easily deposited for learner access.
Makes life easy for me when people are absent!
July 5th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Sounds like a nice setup! With that, I’m not sure why you need an iPod! If I run across any videos that might meet your needs, I’ll leave a link here. Good luck!
July 5th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
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