SmartCar Smash!

May 17, 2014October 10, 2018 by Jon Orr

On Friday I attended the Mobile Summit 2014 at Lambton College. The last keynote speaker was Dr. Alec Couros. He showed a tweet I found particularly interesting!

This guy thinking he was quite witty ended up getting a reply from the SmartCar people, check it out!

My first thought was that is hilarious!! My second thought was can i make a math problem out of this?

Continue reading →

OAME2014 – Using Videos/Images to Engage. Whatcha Thinking?

May 3, 2014May 8, 2014 by Jon Orr

Most of the resources below we have discovered because of twitter.

Follow us:

@MrOrr_geek @MrJeffreyLKDSB

Below is a list of resources we like and use. It is a hodgepodge of good stuff for teaching math with video and images.

Math Teaching Resources Menu

Appetizers:

Estimation180

Estimation180 is great for warm ups but even better for getting students to practice predicting their answer which allows them to decide if their answer they calculate makes sense. Here is an example:

Estimate: Day 53

What is the volume of the vase?

Questions we ask to get students thinking of reasonableness of their answers. Give an estimate that is too low. Give an estimate that is too high Give an estimate that is just right.

Video Answer

Would You Rather

ASKING STUDENTS TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN PATH AND JUSTIFY IT!

Great way to start a topic/or lesson. Students are eager to justify their choice. Relevant problems.

Here is another example: Would You Rather

Would You Rather

Visual Patterns

Fawn Nguyen’s site has 140 different growth patterns. Find the correct equation!

Here are a few examples:

or

or

Along the same lines as this are ….

Vine Videos created by Nat Banting

Click here to go to his blogpost on this… He takes a pattern like this one from a textbook: and turns it into this…. or one like this….

and turns it into this…

Main Course

Engaging Math Problems vs. Standard Math Problems

3-Act Math Problems

Original concept from Dan Meyer – Read about it – The Three Acts of a Mathematical Story

Here is a standard Math problem from grade 9

A water balloon is filled at a rate of 0.22L/s If a standard balloon will hold about 14L of water, how long will it take until it bursts?

Here is the 3-Act Math Approach

Act 1: The Water Balloon

Did you wonder when the balloon will blow? Give an answer too high, too low, just right.

Act 2:

Act 2:

Act 3:

Whatcha Thinking!!

We created a bank of 3-act math problems to use in your grade 9 applied class. The website is designed for student use.

Direct your students to the Whatcha Thinking site.

Thanks!!

@MrOrr_geek @MrJeffreyLKDSB

Using Video/Images to Engage in Math

April 10, 2014April 10, 2014 by Jon Orr

Below is a link to few examples of how I use Video and/or images to engage students in my math classes.

– Most of the ideas here are not my own. Credit should be given to Dan Meyer, Andrew Stadel and Kyle Pearce.

Click here to read more….

Water Balloon Mishap!

October 10, 2013October 10, 2013 by Jon Orr

Another 3-Act Math Problem.

I originally created this problem for the iBook I made for Linear Relations. I used the problem with grade 9 academics on the first day of school this year to get them introduced to the 3-Act style of questions.

This problem also has worked well with a grade 9 applied class when working with ratios and rates.

Here’s the problem,

ACT 1

Ask students: What were your “Wonder Questions” – What did you wonder?

Students will most likely ask when will the balloon explode, or how much water is in the balloon.

Ask Students: What information would you need to know?

ACT 2

Video

Teacher Note: When I did this problem with students I was interested in applying rates, so when students wanted to know how big the balloon would get I told them the standard balloon will hold 14 Litres of water. If I was doing this near the end of the course I would tie in the volume of a sphere [Most balloons will have about 12 inch diameter.]

ACT 3