PCMI @ MathForum: 2003-2004 Notes from the Field

2003-2004 Notes from the Field

To build a core group of users for the PCMI @ Math Forum resources, participants of the 2003 High School Teacher Program offered the following workshops.

[Jul - Aug] [Sep - Oct] [Nov - Dec] [Jan - Feb] [Mar - Apr] [May - Jun]

Elected, Ontario Association for Mathematics Education - Ontario, Canada: Honoree:Beverly Farahani; Description:The Ontario Association for Mathematics Education, whose board of directors Farahani serves from May 2004 - May 2007, is the professional organization for everyone interested in Mathematics Education in Ontario.
NorthWest Mathematics Interaction - University of Washington, Seattle: Dates: August 2 - 9, 2003; Presenters: Jim King, Carol Hatton, Joyce Frost, Brian Hopkins, Will & Ronda Webber, Carol Haid, Kris Koch, Gary Kovacs, Art Mabbott, Philip Mallinson, Mike Naylor, George Thornton, (Peg Cagle, Bev Farahani); Description: We had another very successful institute - alumni weekend, summer institute and 5 2-day mini-courses. (Jim and I even survived having both Bev and Peg in our GSP 4.0 mini-course.) We had three participants from New Jersey (Jo-Ann from this summer and two brand new teachers from Brian's college), one from Park City Schools, besides Bev, Peg and Troy with us.
The Most Irrational Number NWMI Alumni Weekend- Seattle, Washington: Dates: August, 2003; Presenters: Troy Jones; Description: The Golden Ratio in Polygons, Pyramids, and Branching Fractals
MTCD AHOE: Cryptology's Hidden Uses in Teaching Mathematics - Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics (OCTM) Annual Conference, Cleveland, OH: Dates: October 3, 2003; Presenters: Jeff Reinhardt, Upper Arlington High School and Kara Reinhardt, Columbus School for Girls; Description: It should be no secret that cryptology - code making and breaking - relies on the art and science of mathematics. Ciphering strategies can provide powerful, creative ways to enhance the learning of diverse mathematics: functions, matrices, number theory (base systems, modular arithmetic), probability. Lesson ideas explored.
NWMI Fall Workshop Skyview High School: Dates: October 11, 2003; Presenters: Carol Hattan, Celeste Williams, Kris Koch from PCMI and other NWMI associates as listed below; Michael Freeman - A hands-on tour of Mathematical Induction via the Towers of Hanoi Puzzle
Kris Koch - Geoboard and Areas
Karen Hall - Circles and Cones: An Investigative Activity
Celeste Williams - Packing Circles Old and New
MaeLynn Anderson - The golden ratio, digital cameras and Sketchpad
Carol Hattan - A Probability Simulation with Fathom
Problem Solving for Every High School Mathematics Course - Lansing, Michigan: Dates: October 16, 2003; Presenters: Melissa Cragg; Description: This presentation highlighted the problem solving program I started in my classroom. I showed student work, rubrics, and many problems and resources that I use.
Cabri Jr for TI 83 calculators - Lansing, Michigan: Dates: October 17 - 18, 2003; Presenters: David Kapolka; Description: A workshop to introduce teachers to the new free "apps" from TI to teach dynamic geometry. Presented both Friday and Saturday.
Probability Simulations - Lansing, Michigan: Dates: October 18, 2003; Presenters: David Kapolka; Description: Several probability simulations worked through with participants, including the "product" produced with PCMI "Probability of a Boy." Others included "Reliability of medical tests," and "Survival of random blood transfusion."
Strengthening Geometry in the Classroom - Skyview High School: Dates: Oct 22 - Nov 19 (2 hr per session); Presenters: Carol Hattan; Description: Teachers in middle school and elementary school will delve deeper into the teaching of geometry using the Annenberg/CBP video series.
Crystals and 3-D Space Filling Puzzles - Boeing Recreation Center: Date: November 13, 2003; Presenters: Joyce Frost; Description: I was invited to speak at the monthly meeting of the Boeing Mineralogical Society about three dimensional space filling polyhedra, constructing dissection puzzles of these shapes, and space filling polyhedra crystals in nature.
Fountains and the Gateway Arch Consortium for Mathematics Education Enhancement (CMEE) Conference - Salt Lake City, Utah: Dates: February, 2004; Presenters: Troy Jones; Description: Fitting a parabola and a catenary curve to a digital picture of a fountain and the Gateway Arch using Geometer's Sketchpad.
What Color is Your Knot? - Harvey Mudd Colege: Beckman Auditorium: Date: February 1, 2004; Presenters: Dr. Jim Hoste of Pitzer College; Description: The Northridge PDO and Harvey Mudd College are pleased to present a talk by Dr. Jim Hoste. Dr. Hoste will present some findings about how knots can be categorized based on whether they can be colored in certain ways. He will also share some activities involving knots that secondary math teachers can use in their classrooms.
Math and Science Partnership Proposal Review Panel - NSF, Arlington, Virginia: Dates: February 19-21, 2004; Participants: Joyce Frost and Peg Cagle; Description: Bob Stein (site director for California State University at San Bernardino) is working for the National Science Foundation this year and he invited Peg Cagle and me to serve on a MSP review panel.
NWMI Spring Workshop - John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, Seattle, WA: Date: February 28, 2004; Participants: Art Mabbott, Michael Naylor, John Lee, Joyce Frost, Jim King, and Will Webber; Description: The program includes Irrational Rectangles; Modern Geometry and the Shape of the Universe; Fractal Problem and Lesson Study; Exploring Math History with Geometer's Sketchpad; and The On-line Graphing Calculator.
Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School - NCTM journal: Date: March, 2004; Author: John Mahoney; Description: "Benjamin Banneker and the Method of Single Position" was published in the March, 2004 issue.
What Mathematics do Students Really Need to Know for College - Castilleja School, Palo Alto, CA: Dates: March 22, 2004; Presenters: Andy Bernoff of Harvey Mudd College and Henri Piciotto of Urban High School; Organizer: Kyle Barriger; Description: Keynote presenter Andrew Bernoff, professor of mathematics, at Harvey-Mudd College will address the topic, followed by workshop sessions exploring it in greater detail for middle and upper school teachers. The day will conclude with three concurrent sessions: pre-algebra and algebra, geometry and algebra 2, pre-calculus and calculus. This is a professional development day sponsored by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS). Attendance is open to both public and independent school math teachers. This will serve as one of our PDO meetings for the year.; This collaboration with Andy Bernoff was made possible by my experience at PCMI. I met Andy this summer (through breakfast and problem solving sessions) and during the fall we worked out the idea of his leading this professional development day. It will bring university expectations and perspective to high school teachers who need to prepare students for those expectations.
Polygon Centers of Mass NCTM Annual Meeting - Philadelphia, PA: Dates: April, 2004; Presenters: Troy Jones; Description: Fitting a parabola and a catenary curve to a digital picture of a fountain and the Gateway Arch using Geometer's Sketchpad.
Northern New Jersey PDO - Paterson, New Jersey: Date: April, 2004; Presenters: Brian Hopkins, Holly Farnsworth, and Nikki Benevento; Description: The Northern New Jersey PDO provided an afternoon of in-service continuing education for a K-8 school in Paterson, New Jersey. The principal requested discrete mathematics as the topic, a field with a growing place in state standards but which few teachers have experience. The PDO devoted much of our Saturday afternoon time last semester to various topics in combinatorics and graph theory in preparation.
Northwest Mathematics Interaction - Seattle, Washington: Date: April, 2004; Webmaster: James King; Description: The NWMI website has been recently updated to provide information on the special opportunity for teachers in Seattle public schools.
Einstein Fellow - Washington DC: Date: April, 2004; David Kapolka; Description: David Kapolka has accepted a position with the National Science Foundation as an Einstein Fellow for the coming school year. He will be responsible for an assortment of projects dealing with elementary, secondary, informal education, and the Presidential Awards program. David will return to the classroom upon completion of the one year appointment.
Articles on College Board's Advance Placement website: Date: 2004; John Mahoney; Teach AP Statistics next year! (June, 2004); Do Cubes and Squares have the same properties as spheres and circles? (February, 2004); The mathematical puzzles of Benjamin Banneker (March, 2004)
Learning from Benjamin Banneker's Mathematics - Copenhagen, Denmark (ICME-10): Date: July 6, 2004; John Mahoney; Description: Benjamin Banneker (1731 - 1806) was a self-taught African American mathematician, scientist, astronomer, and surveyor. He published almanacs and assisted, at the request of Thomas Jefferson, in surveying the District of Columbia. Banneker used his journal to record and solve mathematical puzzles. He also recorded his explorations into trigonometry and geometry. This poster illustrates Banneker's actual handwriting and shows how Banneker's mathematics can be used with students to facilitate their understanding of non-algebraic ways of solving problems. Banneker used the techniques of Single and Double Position. The poster also illustrates how Banneker's work with trigonometry and geometry can be used to help students with these topics. Banneker was honored on a 1980 USA postage stamp. Computer enhancement techniques were used to make Banneker's handwriting legible. These examples of Banneker's handwriting have not yet been published.
This presentation was based on a poster that was displayed during the week-long conference of the International Congress on Mathematical Education.