Events of February 2011

Science Olympiad -- Experimental Design

Feb 5, 2011

High school students competing in Science Olympiad design and carry out experiments to explore factors that would be important when figuring out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop

HASTI Origami Session and Lessons

Feb 10, 2011

During this workshop, we fold several models that illustrate how origami relates to engineering. Afterwards, conference participants may stop by the NISMEC booth or the Mathematical Origami workshop at the Hoosier Association for Science Teachers Conference to learn to fold magic pinwheels, Sonobe polyhedra, hyperbolic paraboloids, PHiZZ polyhedra, and other origami structures.

HASTI Fermi Estimates Presentation

Feb 11, 2011

During this interactive session, we will work through many of the stages of a Fermi Estimates lab that we have been using with middle school math and science students in the South Bend / Mishawaka area. Fermi Estimates are an exciting way for students to investigate topics of interest to them. Questions that our students have chosen to investigate include "How many people in the world are talking on cell phones right now?" "If your hai was never broken or cut from the time you were born until now, how long would it be?" "How many gumballs would reach to the moon and back?" "How much energy would be saved if our city undertook a voluntary one-minute blackout? Investigating questions of this type inevitably causes students to grapple with measurement, unit conversions, creating and using algebraic formulas, creating surveys and experiments, and conducting research to obtain needed information.

Wheelock College Presentations and Consulting

Feb 22, 2011 – Feb 26, 2011

Amanda worked with four instructors at Wheelock College who teacher math to future elementary teachers to share hands-on activities and to discuss pedagogical strategies for the courses they teach. Amanda also gave a presentation on fractals and dynamical systems to a class of students.