Math Education Month
1, 2, 3, 4—April is Math Education and Awareness Month! Count, calculate, and compute the fun and significance of math with these lesson ideas. Each of these activities meets a variety of state and national standards for technology and core subject areas.
Grades K-2
Get students excited about data by collecting and analyzing information about themselves! Create a database that includes fields for: Name, Birth Month, Height, Hair Color, Eye Color, etc. Have each student take a turn entering his or her information as a new entry in the database (have a mirror and a tape measure handy to help students collect the data). Then, as a class, sort, search, and analyze the data – and create and discuss different types of graphs. Which months have the most student birthdays? How many names contain the letter ‘a’? What are the greatest and lowest values for height? Also, discuss how math can be applied to things that don’t seem very mathematical – like people. (You can also discuss this data collection and mathematical analysis in the context of the 2010 census.)
EasyTech units: Data and Database Basics, Introduction to Keyboards, Keyboarding
Aha!Math units: Understanding Whole Numbers, Linear Measurement
Grades 3-5
Ask students to take out a piece of paper and write down the math lesson/concept they understood the most over the year so far – as well as the math idea/concept they understood the least. Then have students use Word Processing software to create a worksheet for each of those concepts. The worksheet should contain instructions and five questions/problems related to that topic. Have students create an additional document that provides the answers to their questions, as well as instructions for reaching those answers. In both documents, instruct students to use formatting and numbering tools to make the worksheet organized and appealing visually. Have students trade worksheets with a partner and complete each others’ math problems. Then have them discuss the answers together. As a class, discuss how explaining a concept (that you understand well and that you don’t understand well) affect your grasp of it?
EasyTech units: Word Processing
Grades 6-8
The theme for Mathematics Awareness Month 2010 is Mathematics and Sports. As a class, brainstorm sports and put each named sport into a hat. Have students choose a sport from the hat, and use the Web to research it. Then have students create a multimedia presentation that presents various ways math is used in that sport, and how mathematical knowledge can lead to greater skill and understanding for that sport. Presentation should include basic information as well as graphics and formulas. Have students share their presentations with the class.
EasyTech units: Web Browsing, Presentation Software
