Working with administrators, curriculum leaders,
and teachers, we identified ways to strenthen
math instruction for students at many Title 1
Primary Centers in South Bend.
The Math Academy is a free program open to the public. Students
of all ages can get help with homework, work on a guided
independent study project, or try one of our hands-on math
activities. On Sunday afternoons, the first hour of Math Academy
features a Family Math activity to engage younger students in fun
mathematics.
1st through 6th grade students at the Sample Street Boys and Girls
Club stop by the Math Studio Room to try hands-on math activities.
During the spring semester, our weekly sessions feature activities
relating to fractions. We also offer other activities designed to
strengthen computational skills and inspire student enthusiasm for
math.
Explore the connection between math and origami! Use classic
origami bases to create birds, fish, reptiles, and other animals.
Construct polyhedra and create tessellations. Try your hand at
inventing your own origami designs. Learn how math has
revolutionized origami by extending the creative reach of folders.
This class is for adults and children who have experience folding
many different types of origami animals and shapes. Folds in this
class will require patience and precision. The class is free of
charge.
We presented an interactive talk about Chladni Patterns and Sophie
Germain to St. Pius 3rd graders. We also assisted with judging the
St. Pius Science Fair.
Stop by the NISMEC booth or the Mathematical Origami workshop at the
Hoosier Association for Science Teachers Conference. Learn to fold
magic pinwheels, Sonobe polyhedra, hyperbolic paraboloids, PHiZZ
polyhedra, and other origami structures.
This 30 hour advanced math class is designed to assist skilled
workers displaced by the recent economic downturn to learn
additional skills that are in demand at local precision
manufacturing shops. Students earn credit hours through Vincennes
University.
Before each quarter during the 2008 -- 2009 academic year, we met
by grade level with all teachers at Coquillard Primary Center. We
looked for ways to strengthen math instruction, introduced a math
notebooking plan, and addressed questions about the curriculum at
each grade level for the upcoming quarter.
During the spring of 2009, we observed classes, met with
administrators and teachers, and led hands-on activities in many
classrooms at Madison Primary Center.
On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, we offer a GED Class for adult
students, sponsored by the Adult Education Department of the
South Bend Community School Corporation.
We co-organized the first Great Circles Conference at the
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) in Berkeley,
California. Mathematicians and teachers from around the United
States and Canada met for two days to network and share ideas for
leading math outreach activities for children and teachers.
Our community's second annual Next Steps in Math and Science
Education conference brought together approximately 100 educators,
business owners, parents, professors, government officials,
administrators, and community leaders to discuss strategies for
improving STEM education. Bertha Carson-King gave the keynote
address, and a panel of business, community, and education leaders
provided context for this issue. Breakout sessions allowed
participants to network and brainstorm next steps for improving math
and science education in our community.
We provided an external panel member for a senior capstone presentation
at Holy Cross College. This formal presentation is much like a thesis
defense, with special emphasis on the student’s growth in the college’s
core competencies and learning outcomes. The student’s evaluation panel
poses questions about the student's portfolio and presentation, drawing
out what the student has learned throughout the program.
During this week-long mini-course, we approached Calculus from and
intuitive and philosophical perspective. We used a motion detector
to find derivatives and integrals "by graph" instead of
computationally. We also explored Xeno's paradoxes, discussed
properties of real, rational, and natural numbers, considered
Berkeley's criticisms of Calculus as initially formulated by Newton
and Leibniz, and explored how Cauchy's introduction of limits
resolved these difficulties.
We invited a group of representatives from the IUSB Math Department,
the IUSB School of Education, and the South Bend Community School
Corporation to join in a conversation about the current state of
teacher preparation in mathematics in our community.
The Math and Technology Academy is a free program open to the
public. Students of all ages can get help with homework, work on
a guided independent study project, or try one of our hands-on
math activities.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. Our topic on June 7th and June 14th was Math Trails. On
June 7th, students followed a Math Trail along two blocks in
downtown South Bend. Afterwards, they discussed their solutions
to the problems they encountered. On June 14th, students created
their own questions for a Math Trail and discussed what needs to
be included in a question for it to be solvable.
Math teachers from each of the ten intermediate centers in South
Bend Community School Corporation participated in a two week
teaching techniques workshop. The overall themes of the workshop
were providing experiences that build conceptual understanding, and
helping students to make the transition from pre-algebraic to
algebraic reasoning without losing their problem solving skills.
Sessions related to fractions, algebra, and project based learning
incorporating multiple math skills.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was nets of polyhedra.
Participants taped cardstock squares together to form candidate
nets and predicted which of them would fold into cubes. We also
decorated and folded nets to make other polyhedra to take home.
About 30 mathematicians, teachers, and other math enthusiasts from
around the country paticipated in this week-long institute at Notre
Dame led by Bob and Ellen Kaplan with assistance from Amanda
Serenevy. Participants experienced Math Circles as students, shared
ideas for starting Math Circles, led Math Circles for children, and
delved into a number of engaging mathematical questions.
Working with administrators, curriculum leaders, and teachers, we
identified ways to strenthen math instruction for students at many
Title 1 Primary Centers in South Bend. We co-led summer training
sessions for curriculum leaders and teachers to prepare for new
initiatives for the 2009-2010 academic year.
The founders of Reasoning Mind, a
math program featuring a hybrid of online and face-to-face
instruction, are planning to launch their own Math Circle in the
Houston, Texas area in the fall of 2009. We spoke by phone to answer
various questions that they had about the Math Circle format.
Project NeXT invited us to participate on the panel for the K-12
Outreach Session during Math Fest in Portland, Oregon. We presented
an overview of the needs of K-12 school districts that can be
addressed by mathematicians. We also outlined our outreach efforts
to South Bend area schools as well as our public outreach
programs.
The SIGMAA on Circles invited us to present during their session at
Math Fest in Portland, Oregon. We gave an overview of our work with
schools and our outreach efforts. We also shared Math Circle topics
that have proven to be popular with upper elementary and middle
school students in our programs.
The Math and Technology Academy is a free program open to the
public. Students of all ages can get help with homework, work on
a guided independent study project, or try one of our hands-on
math activities.
Working with administrators, curriculum leaders,
and teachers, we identified ways to strengthen
math instruction for students at many Title 1
Primary Centers in South Bend.
Jesse Johnson, a teacher who is forming a new Math Circle in
New York City, asked for some information about leading a Math
Circle class on tessellations for high school students.
Amanda met with two 6th grade students in Caryn Ellison's classroom
at Twin Branch Elementary School in Mishawaka. The two students are
ready to launch into an algebra book that requires the use of a
graphing calculator. Amanda oriented the students to the use of the
TI-83 graphing calculator and met with Caryn briefly the following
evening to answer additional questions that emerged.
Working with administrators and teachers, we supported the
implementation of a new math program for high-ability students in
4th through 6th grades at all seven elementary schools. We also
worked with John Young Middle School teachers to examine math
instruction at the middle school level.
This 30 hour basic math class is designed to assist skilled workers
displaced by the recent economic downturn to sharpen basic math
skills including fractions, problems solving, and basic algebra.
Students earn credit hours through Vincennes University.
During the 2009--2010 academic year, Dr.~Julie Turner, a professor
of psychology at Notre Dame is training middle school teachers at
Grissom Middle School to use principals of motivation theory to
improve student engagement. Dr.~Amanda Serenevy served as a math
content specialist to help plan these trainings during Dr.~Turner's
May planning session.
Our Community Research Project provides participants of all ages
with the opportunity to investigate an open problem and publish
their results. This semester, we are investigating the following
topic: How can we construct a fair three-sided cylindrical die?
For example, a "short" cylinder will almost always land on one of
the ends and rarely on the side. A tall cylinder will almost
always land on its side and rarely on an end. How should we
construct the die so that if we label the ends with "1" and "2"
and the side with "3" each number will have an equal chance of
coming up?
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was divisibility tests.
Participants used tokens and base ten blocks to investigate
divisibility tests for base ten.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was the binary number system.
We solved King Arthur's communication problems, learned how to
represent binary numbers using several techniques, and practiced
counting in binary.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was coin mysteries.
Participants used algebraic thinking to solve and create puzzles
about coins hidden in a bag.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was coin mysteries.
Participants used algebraic thinking to solve and create puzzles
about coins hidden in a bag.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was fairies and giants.
Participants used proportional reasoning to reconstruct the sizes
of giants and fairies based on the sizes of their fingerprints.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was fairies and giants.
Participants used proportional reasoning to reconstruct the sizes
of giants and fairies based on the sizes of their fingerprints.
We conferred by email and phone with Jim Kuzmanovich of the
Winston-Salem area in North Carolina about possibly starting a Math
Circle or other outreach program.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was ancient number systems.
Participants learned how to count and do arithmetic using Roman,
Mayan, and Chinese number systems
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was ancient number systems.
Participants learned how to count and do arithmetic using Roman,
Mayan, and Chinese number systems
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was games and probability.
Participants analyzed several popular games to determine what
outcomes are most likely and how that relates to strategies for
playing.
Teachers and curriculum leaders from throughout the South Bend
Community School Corporation participated in grade-level workshops
focusing on problem solving.
Downtown South Bend, Incorporated sponsors a series of First Friday
events in downtown South Bend to highlight local businesses and
bring people together. November's event offered fun activities for
families with children. We participated by teaching modular origami
at Spark Fine Stationary on Michigan Street.
The South Bend Museum of Art offers Family Days on most weekends.
During this Family Day, we first learned modular origami to build
several different kinds of shapes. During the second part of the
event, we viewed six George Rickey sculptures on display this year
in downtown South Bend. At each sculpture, we discussed related
math, science, and art questions. South Bend Museum of Art curator
Jessi Loyd walked with us to provide an artist's perspective on each
piece.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was the Pythagorean Theorem.
Participants used a rope with equally spaced knots to see how the
ancient Egyptians constructed right triangles in order to build
the pyramids. Participants also explored several proofs of the
Pythagorean Theorem. Finally, students discussed the amazing
fact that the Pythagorean Theorem does not just apply to squares
built on the legs and hypotenuse of a right triangle, but also
applies to the areas of any similar figures analagously constructed.
The South Bend Community School Corporation held a Teacher Academy
during the 2009 -- 2010 academic year for thirty K-4 teachers.
Meeting in groups of ten, teachers spent three full-time two-week
sessions discussing classroom management, best practices in
instruction, and understanding children from diverse cultures and
socio-economic backgrounds. We provided each group of ten teachers
with two days on best practices in mathematics instruction.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was Order of Operations.
Participants explored the consequences of not specifying an order
for performing various arithmetic operations. Participants also
tackled the four 4's challenge -- building each number from 1 to
50 using exactly four 4s, no other digits, and any operations.
Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and
their families to have fun together while learning about a math
topic. The topic for this session was Origami. Participants built
Sonobe polyhedra, made Magic Pinwheels, and tackled more
complicated modular origami such as Tom Hull's PHiZZ module and
Tomoko Fuse's Star Kusadama.
