Never Fear Mr.Math Is Here

vasurace1@go.wtamu.edu

1) Name of Web Site: Science U

2) Web Site Address: http://www.scienceu.com/

3) Copyright date and/or last update: Comments to webmaster@ScienceU.comCopyright © Geometry Technologies 1998. All right reserved.

4) Author/organization credentials: The Geometry Center is a mathematics research and education center at the University of Minnesota. The Center has a unified mathematics computing environment supporting math and computer science research, mathematical visualization, software development, application development, video animation production, and K-16 math education.

5) Web site design and ease of navigation: This website is very useful and allows the user for easy navigability. Upon entering the website you are granted with interactive “observatories” in which the user can click through various subject matters including mathematics and science by clicking on the buildings that represent the topics. When you click on the Geometry Learning center you are engaged in learning the various patterns, shapes and symmetry of geometric shapes. I love this website because it is hands on, meaning that it is interactive. Upon clicking on the Symmetry and Tiling subsection of the Geometry Learning Center the user is actively engaged and the website is very informal in explaining vocabulary terms such as what is tiling, or what is symmetry? Since I believe math is a visual subject this website is excellent in providing reading that is easy to understand as well as provide great graphic organizers and picture examples to display meaning to what they are talking about. My favorite part is the interactive models that let the user interact with the content matter. When you click on the interactive link on the website you are given links to programs in which you can interact with the software which is excellent for kinesthetic learners. For instance in the tiling and symmetry there is an interactive tiling maker in which the user can change the shape of the triangles via clicking and dragging on the triangle which allows the shape, color and contour of the tiling to change showing how changing shapes and sizes in a geometric tiling effects the overall tiling itself, which is an excellent feature of the site. Other features that make this an excellent site for the mathematics teacher is the links such as activities in which this website gives the teacher suggestions on activities for the classroom in implementing new learning material under certain subject matter. Also it gives articles in which the teacher can refer to that explain in very simple detail certain concepts of the subject matter such as isometry and where it came from, which is useful to the teacher when the student asks the who, what, when, where, and why of the subject. The usefulness of the website is endless for when you get through with a subject matter it takes you to other links on the web that provide excellent content as well.

6) Your response and recommendation for use: I absolutely love this website. The color, interaction and easy to understand definitions make me wish every website was this easy. In my profession I feel that this website will be used and implemented into my classroom whether it be to interactively engage my students in what they are learning via technology or to refer to when I am stuck on certain aspects of how to present my material to the class in an easy way.This website is the best one I’ve come across mathematically yet!!!

1) Name of Web Site: Visual Calculus

2) Web Site Address: http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/

3) Copyright date and/or last update: ©1995-2001 Lawrence S. Husch andUniversity of Tennessee, Knoxville, Mathematics Department.All rights reserved.

4) Author/organization credentials: Lawrence S. Husch, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Tennessee in part with the Innovative Technology Center at the University of Tennessee.

5) Web site design and ease of navigation: This website is very easy to use. Although it deals with upper level mathematics I found if very useful and applicable to an calculus classroom especially at the high school level when students are first getting introduced to the concept of calculus and what it means. Upon entry of the website the user is given options of topics to click upon and explore that aspect of calculus such as integration, limits and continuity, differentiation, applications of anti-derivatives, etc…When you click on the links they take you into endless information about the topic anything you want from notes, to visuals, other websites and all the way to interactive flash demonstrations in which the user can view step by step directions on how to graph calculus functions on a TI-83 to TI 85 calculator!!! For upper level mathematics teachers this website is the ultimate dream it includes suggestions for notes in the Tutorial section of each subtopic that provides the basics of the concepts that are being presented in terms that don’t involve extensive mathematical foreign language, the notes just scream, “HERE ARE THE CONCEPTS AND HERE’S WHAT THEY MEAN.” And the most exciting part is even the tutorials contain interactive flash visuals that go step by step and show the process of graphing, integration, differentiating, etc… This is the ultimate tool that the teacher can use, on a projector screen when showing students step by step how the calculus concepts and processes work!!! This can save time for the teacher and confusion for the students when going through long drawn out examples in class. Instead the teacher can actively engage in the student learning process and concentrate more on students’ understanding of the material and answer any questions they may have.

The links in the subtopic also contain interactive quizzes that provide problems and answers. If the student is having difficulty grasping a concept or just wants to see the steps required for getting the answer all they have to do is click on the interactive flash answer and instantly they are provided with step by step instructions on how to get the answer. I feel that this website has really outdone itself it is an excellent resource for teachers and students to portray the meaning of calculus through easy website navigation and various interactive examples and accurate research.
6) Your response and recommendation for use: This website is a calculus student and teachers DREAM! The concepts are portrayed in the easiest terms and I am all about the interactive mathematics because I feel that mathematics is a visual and hands on experience. Definitely I will integrate this website in my classroom by using the flash demonstrations to use to work through examples in the various subjects of calculus to better help my students understand the material. Even though it is upper level I do plan to teach calculus in the future so this website will be a must! The graphing examples are phenomenal because they show the student how to graph the difficult graphs in calculus. Now rather than looking through the long, hard to understand instruction manual that comes with the graphing calculators these days, now the student can click and interactively go through the process step by step on their calculator and get the answer. I sure wish I would have known about this website when I went through calculus it would have been a real life saver

1) Name of Web Site: Algebra Help

2) Web Site Address: http://www.algebrahelp.com/

3) Copyright date and/or last update: Copyright 2001-2005 jrmski @ algebrahelp.com All Rights Reserved

4) Author/organization credentials: John R. Mishanski Jr, Algebrahelp.com has been featured in print publications including the LA Times, and Access Magazine. Algebrahelp.com has been used by students of secondary schools, colleges, universities, and home schooling students.

5) Web site design and ease of navigation: Navigation of this website is so easy even a caveman could do it….Well it’s really user-friendly. This website is very useful to those who are looking for questions about Algebra whether it is at the high school level or at that college level. It is more of a homework help site for students and teachers. This is not your ordinary math website, it provides detail and critical information in algebra that is put in to terms that you can understand with ease! There are many links on the website for algebraic concepts such as FOIL method, how to factor, how to compute exponents, graphing, graphing in three dimensions, etc…The possibilities of this website are endless. Upon clicking under a sub-topic that you are having trouble with such as the FOIL method, the user is instantly provided with definitions and information on how the process works and what the acronym FOIL stands for, first, outer, inner, last when multiplying two binomials. MOST IMPORTANTLY the user is given step by step visuals mapping out how the process works with any equation and even gives the user access to practice problems. That is just one example, but under every sub topic all the user has to do is click and they are introduced to detailed meaning and explanations as to what the concept is and the most important aspect is the use of step by step processes that allow the user to see how the mathematical concept is followed out. For teachers it provides worksheets that one can print off for the students and gives a good outline for lesson plans through the detailed sub topics. Last this website provides online calculators that are very easy to use in which compute, and graph almost anything you can think of even in 3D!!!

6) Your response and recommendation for use: Upon navigating through this website I can honestly say that it was INSTANTLY added to my FAVORITES!!! I love this website; it portrays algebra in the simplest terms to the student as well as the teacher. I am junior-level mathematics major and there are a lot of algebraic concepts that have never been portrayed to me until I came across them in this website!!! I absolutely will use this website in my future teaching profession by more than likely planning my lesson plans around the concepts. It is very useful for the teacher in providing excellent in-depth presentation of material that is easy enough to understand and convey to students. I absolutely love the way it shows the step by step examples and what is actually being done in the computation which is very crucial in mathematics because if you do not understand the process you’ll have difficulty with the concept. Overall this is an excellent resource that I plan to use throughout my teaching career to help me further my students understanding and education as well as better my teaching ability.

1) Name of Web Site: Interactive Trigonometry

2) Web Site Address: http://colalg.math.csusb.edu/~devel/IT/

3) Copyright date and/or last update: © 2007 by Key College Publishing

4) Author/organization credentials: Davida Fishman, Dan Rinne, Peter Williams, program designers.

5) Web site design and ease of navigation: This website is confusing at first, but after you get registered the navigation is easy all you do is click and then you are given the various information in front of you. Upon entering the website you are given a screen of bold topics, but you have to register to use the website which only takes about twenty seconds after that you are off to a world of trigonometry in the simplest terms. Upon clicking on the subtopics one can view every aspect of trigonometry. For example when you click on the right triangle subsection you are provided with extensive definitions and pictures that allow you to not only view the definition, but SEE the definition as well. The websites is like an educational picture book.
You are provided with various quizzes about every section in which tests your certain knowledge that you can take online. For teachers this website would make life a lot easier, there are various quizzes and tests that you can actually print out and use for you class and the website gives permission to do so. Another exciting feature of the website is the interaction with triangles, angles, trig identities that are provided when you click on the DEMONSTRATION section of the program/website. If you click on a topic such as triangles a JAVA applet pops up and you can manipulate the triangle and find various trig ratios (i.e. sine, cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant, cosecant). This website provides the user for the easiest of navigation in terms that are understandable and accurate.

6) Your response and recommendation for use: This website is awesome. It portrays trigonometry in the simplest of terms and makes it kinda fun. It applies to most learners visual and kinesthetic through the program and the way that you can use the program to view the various methods. They haven’t quite appealed to the auditory learners, but other than that it provides accurate and easy information to understand.
I love the interactive software that you can use to figure out various equations, trig ratios, and trig identities. Although I did find some difficulty in using these programs, but they can be easily corrected if I take my class through a tutorial before I allow them to use this website. The best thing about the website is that it is okay to copy and use the information in your own class, each section is detailed with plenty of pictures to outline the concepts and definitely I’ll use the sections as notes/help with notes in my class. This website will be a must in my classroom providing that I teach trigonometry. If I knew that trigonometry could be so interactive then I wish I would have discovered this site sooner. I use to be a skeptic about technology and mathematics, but now I am growing quite fond of technology and integrating it in the classroom after viewing websites like these.

1) Name of Web Site: E-ledesma.Com

2) Web Site Address:

http://www.e-ledesma.com/math.htm

3) Copyright date and/or last update: Copyright Patrick Ledesma, 2003


4) Author/organization credentials: Patric Ledesma

5) Web site design and ease of navigation: This website is by far the easiest navigation I’ve come across. This website is more of a lower level mathematics website, but it can be used for upper level math. Upon the opening page of the website you are presented with a very simple screen with links leading you to math games, web quests, activities, and tools. When you click on math games it takes you to various interactive games such as counting money, spelling numbers, naming money, etc… These games enable the user to interactively engage in learning by providing pictures and even (if you have headphones/speakers) audio encouragement by if you get a right answer the program says good job!
Upon clicking on the web quest section you are provided with two web quests vacation project and virtual money in which the web quest directions are provided even with the websites that the students are to use. When you click on the activities link there are various games using money and the best feature is that you can get activity sheets and print them off for use in your class room. Even though this website is for lower levels I was actually surprised in the information I found about various forms of money and currency exchange rates. In the about section Patrick tells of how this website is for various education levels, but was aimed at a special education class that he taught. So the various levels of education as it applies to the real world are great.
A great feature I found about the site was the coin calculator in which the use has interactive coins in which they can add up to calculate money by clicking on the various coins (I.e. nickels, dimes, pennies, quarters) in which is a very realistic application to the real world because everyone at some point comes across money, and even for me sometimes counting money back is a little harder task.

6) Your response and recommendation for use: As for my classroom I love this website for the simplistic interaction that it gives you. I would integrate this website in my classroom to give my students a break from the norm or maybe for something to do as extra credit. Although I will teach high school mathematics I will teach all types of learners and this website would be great for application of real life scenarios that we come across everyday such as money.
I also view it for suggestions for use to my special education teachers to give them extra insight as to new things that they can use to help teach the students because I know that mathematics teachers across various levels have to collaborate sometime or another and I feel that this would give good insight to those who do not know of this website.