Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
In this activity, students learn about the body mass index (BMI) formula and how it can be used to determine health risk. The activity is part of the Figure This! collection of 80 online mathematical challenges emphasizing real world uses of mathematics. The activity web page contains links to a solution hint, the solution, and to other math questions, such as how the BMI formula can be written to show weight in kilograms and height in centimeters. Students and their families are challenged to u
Windshield wipers : it's raining! Who sees more? The driver of the car or the truck?
This activity challenges students to use areas of geometric shapes to compare the areas cleaned by different designs of windshield wipers. Part of the Figure This! collection of 80 challenges emphasizing real-world uses of mathematics, this activity notes the importance of calculating area for surveyors, designers, and building contractors. Students examine an animation that shows the movement of two designs of windshield wipers. The one on a passenger car has the arm attached to the end of the
Tournaments : I've got to win how many games?
In this activity, students are challenged to determine how many more basketball games were played in a tournament with a field of 64 teams, compared to a field of 32 teams. Part of the Figure This! collection of 80 math challenges, this exploration challenges students to use a variety of problem-solving techniques that include developing equations, making tables, and drawing tournament brackets. The importance of these strategies in making business decisions and planning space missions is noted.
Smiles : which is worth more, a smile or a frown?
This activity offers a logic problem in which students are shown an array of smiling, frowning, and neutral faces. Each row and column adds up to a different dollar amount, and students are challenged to determine how much a smile is worth. The activity, from the Figure This! collection of 80 online challenges, notes that working with equations is an important skill in such careers as nursing, chemistry, and engineering. Students are encouraged to begin this challenge by finding rows or columns
Salaries : will women ever earn as much money as men?
In this activity, students are given a data set that compares the salaries of men and women over a period of years and asked to determine if women's salaries will ever be equal to those of men. The activity, part of the Figure This! collection of 80 online challenges emphasizing real world uses of mathematics, explains how data interpretation is important in such industries as advertising, athletics, and insurance. It suggests that students approach the problem by using fractions or difference t
I win! : she always wins, it's not fair!
In this activity, students play a game and examine what it means for a game to be fair. The activity is part of the Figure This! collection of 80 online mathematical challenges emphasizing real world uses of mathematics. In the game's 12 rounds, two six-sided die are rolled, the face values are subtracted, and data are recorded on a table. Player A wins if the difference is 0, 1, or 2, and Player B wins when the difference is 3, 4, or 5. The page contains a solution hint, the solution, and relat
Thirteen? Oh, no! : Are you superstitious? Do you avoid the number 13?
This activity asks student to determine if there a Friday the 13th in every year. The activity, from the Figure This! collection of 80 math challenges, also considers superstitions associated with the number 13. It suggests that the student make lists and examine calendars to determine the total number of possible calendar arrangements. The usefulness of reasoning with number patterns and dates is noted. The page features links to a solution hint, the solution, related math questions, and resour
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This activity challenges students to think about angles as geometric shapes and to find the sizes of the angles between their fingers. It is part of the Figure This! collection of 80 online mathematical challenges emphasizing real world uses of mathematics. For this challenge, the students trace a hand stretched to form an L-shape with the thumb and sketches angles of 90 degrees and 45 degrees between the thumb and index finger. They use the sketches to estimate the angles between their other fi
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This web site contains descriptions and links to more than 60 virtual manipulatives, activities designed to function as concept tutorials. The virtual manipulatives, mostly in the form of Java applets, are designed to facilitate grades 6-8 mathematics learning. By encouraging active student exploration with computers, the virtual manipulatives can help students visualize mathematical relationships. They are organized into five categories based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This activity opens with a picture that shows two individuals who have each built a patio using different arrangements of the same number of identical concrete tiles. Both patios have the same total area, and students are challenged to figure out the dimensions of a single concrete tile. The activity, part of the Figure This! collection of 80 math challenges emphasizing math in the real world, explains how area is an important concept used by architects, real estate agents, and artists. The Hint
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This is a biographical sketch of William Hyde Wollaston. Wollaston studied and made advances in many scientific fields, including chemistry, physics, botany, crystallography, optics, astronomy and mineralogy. He is particularly noted for being the first to observe dark lines in the spectrum of the sun, discovering the elements palladium and rhodium, and proving the elementary nature of niobium and titanium. Wollaston also developed a method for making platinum metal malleable, establishing an eq
Roger Bacon (1214-1294)
This is a biographical sketch of Roger Bacon. Roger Bacon was an English scholastic philosopher who was also considered a scientist because he insisted on observing things for himself instead of relying on what other people had written. Bacon's writings included treatises on optics (then called perspective), mathematics, chemistry, arithmetic, astronomy, the tides, and the reformation of the calendar. Copyright 2005 International Technology Education Association
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This website is an intermediate on-line textbook on the fundamentals of flight. Initially, this resource examines different kinds of flight. Specifically gliding and true flight are explored. Further topics in the principles of flight will cover aeronautics, the movement of fluids, water and liquids, movement of air, measurements, properties of flight, air moving objects, and forces in flight. This resource also provides fundamentals of flight references. Copyright 2005 International Technology
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This activity introduces students to the concept of drag in relationship to a sailboat. Students will design and make a sailboat. The materials needed are clean Styrofoam tray (trays that meats are sold on in the grocery store), wooden skewers (used for shish kabobs), small piece of a clean sheet, scissors, fan, large container of water, and pen. This would be a suitable activity for small groups. Copyright 2005 International Technology Education Association
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This activity introduces students to the dynamics of a propeller. Students will design and make a propeller. The materials needed are pencil with an eraser, scissors, sticky tape, thin cardboard, straight pin, and ice cream stick. Students may work individually or in groups. Copyright 2005 International Technology Education Association
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
Science identifies speed as a ratio (distance over time). When combined with human innovation, speed can be applied exponentially. Speed is COSI's (Center of Science and Industry) newest traveling exhibit that examines the way in which speed impacts our lives. Speed has become blended and blurred into complex human desires to fall faster, to drop farther, and to climb higher. This website will demonstrate how speed touches our world. Copyright 2005 International Technology Education Association
Electricity
This document examines the mysterious force of electricity. The reading will focus on the physical properties of electricity and discuss topics such as (1) The Atom of Carbon, (2) Static electricity, (3) Magnets are special, (4) Magnetic fields can produce electricity, (5) Batteries produce electricity, (6) Electricity travels in circuits, (7) Secondary energy source, (8) Making electricity, (9) Moving electricity from power plants to homes, (10) Fuels that make electricity, (11) Fossil fuel pow
Middle School Portal: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2)
This is a biographical sketch of Otto Schott. Otto Schott is considered a leading pioneer in modern glass chemistry due to his creation of a variety of high quality glass for the optics industry. Copyright 2005 International Technology Education Association
Energy consumption
This document examines energy consumption. The reading will explore energy consumption or energy usage in the United States and discuss specific topics such as (1) Who uses energy?, (2) Homes and commerce, (3) Heating and Cooling, (4) Lighting, (5) Appliances, (6) Appliance efficiency ratings, (7) Payback period, (8) Industrial sector, (9) Petroleum refining, (10) Steel manufacturing, (11) Aluminum Manufacturing, (12) Paper manufacturing, (13) Chemical Manufacturing, (14) Cement Manufacturing, (
Wind
This document examine wind power as an energy resource. The reading will define wind and discuss topics such as (1) The history of wind machines, (2) Today's windmills, and (3) Types of wind machines. This resource is structured as an informational handout to supplement your energy activities or to generate discussion questions. Copyright 2005 International Technology Education Association
