Source: https://www.facebook.com/AmerMathMonthly/photos/a.250425975006394.53155.241224542593204/755598191155834/?type=1&theater
Month: April 2015
A 100-Year old computer for computing Fourier transforms
From http://www.engineerguy.com/fourier/:
Many famous machines have been built to do math — like Babbage’s Difference Engine for solving polynomials or Leibniz’s Stepped Reckoner for multiplying and dividing — yet none worked as well as Albert Michelson’s harmonic analyzer. This 19th century mechanical marvel does Fourier analysis: it can find the frequency components of a signal using only gears, springs and levers. We discovered this long-forgotten machine locked in a glass case at the University of Illinois. For your enjoyment, we brought it back to life in this book and in a companion video series — all written and created by Bill Hammack, Steve Kranz and Bruce Carpenter.
A free PDF of their book is available at the above link; the book is also available for purchase. Here are the companion videos for the book.
New Education Initiative Replaces K-12 Curriculum With Single Standardized Test
As the season of high-stakes testing hits America once again, we have one choice: cry or laugh.
The new test will reportedly cover all topics formerly taught in K-12 classrooms, including algebra, World War I, cursive penmanship, pre-algebra, state capitals, biology, letters of the alphabet, environmental science, civics, French, Newtonian mechanics, parts of speech, and the Cold War. Sources said students will also be expected to demonstrate their knowledge of 19th-century American pioneer life, photosynthesis, and telling time.
Officials said the initiative would also focus on improving teacher performance by tying teachers’ salaries to the test scores of the students they hand the assessment to.
Student t distribution
Source: http://www.xkcd.com/1347/
Talking about math to Congress
From MAA Focus:
If you think it’s hard to distill research results into a 15-minute conference presentation, try this: Choose a subject like matrix factorizations or recent progress on the twin prime conjecture. Figure out how to make a nonexpert audience—members of Congress, say—if not fully understand the chosen topic, at least appreciate its significance. Do this in a minute. The clock is ticking.
Jerry McNerney of California’s ninth congressional district has risen to such a challenge more than 10 times in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he has served since 2007. The only current member of the House or Senate to hold a doctorate in mathematics (University of New Mexico, 1981), McNerney has read into the congressional record one-minute expositions of such abstruse subjects as vector bundles, synesthesia, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope…
Boiling down complex material into a minute of talking is tricky, McNerney concedes, but he has been pleased with the results. As a member of the Public Face of Mathematics panel at the 2014 Joint Mathematics Meetings, McNerney told listeners that being coaxed into thinking about math has a positive effect on his congressional fellows.
“Instead of all the usual bickering that you get on the House floor, everyone smiles,” he reported. “They say, ‘This is really fun.’”
Source: http://mcnerney.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/math-by-the-minute-on-capitol-hill
MIT Scientists Figured Out How to Eavesdrop Using a Potato Chip Bag
From Gizmodo:
In a scenario straight out of “Enhance, enhance!,” MIT scientists have figured out that the tiny vibrations on ordinary objects like a potato chip bag or a glass of water or even a plant can be reconstructed into intelligible speech. All it takes is a camera and a snappy algorithm. Take a listen.
Collaborative Mathematics: Challenge 13
I’m a few months late with this, but my colleague Jason Ermer at Collaborative Mathematics has published Challenge 13 on his website: http://www.collaborativemathematics.org/
Engaging students: Deriving the Pythagorean theorem
In my capstone class for future secondary math teachers, I ask my students to come up with ideas for engaging their students with different topics in the secondary mathematics curriculum. In other words, the point of the assignment was not to devise a full-blown lesson plan on this topic. Instead, I asked my students to think about three different ways of getting their students interested in the topic in the first place.
I plan to share some of the best of these ideas on this blog (after asking my students’ permission, of course).
This student submission comes from my former student Delaina Bazaldua. Her topic, from Geometry: introducing proportions.
How can technology (YouTube, Khan Academy [khanacademy.org], Vi Hart, Geometers Sketchpad, graphing calculators, etc.) be used to effectively engage students with this topic?
How has this topic appeared in the news?
Often students don’t realize how important math is in the “real world.” This video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhm7-LEBznk is a funny and educational way for students to realize that math isn’t just for the classroom, but it can actually help you become famous if your spouse decides to post your lack of mathematical knowledge on YouTube (this video ended up turning into an interview on ABC News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ordps6MbPhg)! The video is about a husband asking his wife how long it takes someone to get 80 miles if they were going 80 miles per hour. Since this topic is introducing proportions, I would push pause the video right after the question was asked (around 20 seconds into it) and ask the students to attempt the problem that the man is introducing with only their background knowledge of the concept from previous math classes. This is kind of a video of “what not to do” when solving proportions. After the video has concluded and the students get a good laugh, I would continue teaching the lesson and relate it back to the video since this is a real world question and is applicable to the topic. I think this is a good introduction to the lesson because it helps the students grasp the concept quickly and they will also find it humorous to watch.
How could you as a teacher create an activity or project that involves your topic?
I found a really good blog from a teacher through Pinterest: http://mathequalslove.blogspot.com/2012/04/sugar-packets-and-proportions.html. This website is really great because it is posted from a teacher on a blog who actually tried the lesson. The lesson can be adjusted for a geometry class, but it is really remarkable the way it is without changing a thing especially as an introduction to proportions before going into deeper questions that involve geometry. Like the video above, it can be relatable by the audience of students because of how applicable it is to their life. Likewise, it could also help them eat/drink better! The goal of the lesson is to figure out how many packets of sugar are in a variety of food and drinks using proportions between packets of sugar and grams of sugar! The engage would include the video of someone eating packets of sugar, students brainstorming ideas of how many packets of sugar are in a drink, and then would escalate to students putting the drinks in order of most sugar to least sugar without looking at the nutritional label. After that, students would be given the fact that there are approximately 4 packets of sugar in a gram of sugar. They would also be given the nutritional labels to calculate how many packets are in the drinks using proportions. I think this is a good lesson because it engages the students by allowing them to relate to something that happens in everyday life when they drink/eat things. It is also a good way to introduce proportions with something concrete like bottles before introducing something that is somewhat abstract, such as shapes drawn on a paper which is how geometry is often seen.
What interesting things can you say about the people who contributed to the discovery and/or the development of this topic?
Perhaps the most famous proportion in history is known as the “Divine Proportion.” Using the research found on the website: http://www.goldennumber.net/golden-ratio-history/, it can help students realize the history behind proportions because, despite popular belief, students need to learn the history of the concept they are being taught to fully grasp the concept of the topic. The website given is really great because it goes through the different names other than divine proportion, such as Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Sequence, and how it was discovered and rediscovered throughout time which is why there are so many unique names that exist now. I also found that the fact that the names that have the words ‘golden’ and ‘divine’ in the name are because of a spiritual background. Understanding divine proportion is important because it is around us every day and it is only a piece of the whole umbrella that engulfs all of probability. It is also applicable to students because it involves them and their physical body along with objects they interact with everyday. I found the topic of divine proportion very interesting and I would hope my students would as well which is why I think this is an extraordinary engage.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhm7-LEBznk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ordps6MbPhg
http://mathequalslove.blogspot.com/2012/04/sugar-packets-and-proportions.html
http://www.goldennumber.net/golden-ratio-history
Engaging students: Verifying trigonometric identities
In my capstone class for future secondary math teachers, I ask my students to come up with ideas for engaging their students with different topics in the secondary mathematics curriculum. In other words, the point of the assignment was not to devise a full-blown lesson plan on this topic. Instead, I asked my students to think about three different ways of getting their students interested in the topic in the first place.
I plan to share some of the best of these ideas on this blog (after asking my students’ permission, of course).
This student submission comes from my former student Tracy Leeper. Her topic, from Precalculus: verifying trigonometric identities.
Many students when first learning about trigonometric identities want to move terms across the equal sign, since that is what they have been taught to do since algebra, however, in proving a trigonometric identity only one side of the equality is worked at a time. Therefore my idea for an activity to help students is to have them look at the identities as a puzzle that needs to be solved. I would provide them with a basic mat divided into two columns with an equal sign printed between the columns, and give them trig identities written out in a variety of forms, such as 
Trigonometry identities are used in most of the math courses after pre-calculus, as well as the idea of proving an equivalency. If the students learn the concept of proving an equivalency that will help them construct proofs for any future math courses, as well as learning to look at something given, and be able to see it as parts of a whole, or just be able to write it a different way to assist with the calculations. If students learn to see that
their ability to manipulate expressions will dramatically improve, and their confidence in their ability will increase, as well as their understanding of the complexities and relations throughout all of mathematics. The trigonometric identities are the fundamental part of the relationships between the trig functions. These are used in science as well, anytime a concept is taught about a wave pattern. Sound waves, light waves, every kind of wave discussed in science are sinusoidal wave. Anytime motion is calculated, trigonometry is brought into the calculations. All students who wish to progress in the study of science or math need to learn basic trigonometric identities and learn how to prove equivalency for the identities. Since proving trigonometric identities is also a practice in logical reasoning, it will also help students learn to think critically, and learn to defend their conjectures, which is a valuable skill no matter what discipline the student pursues.
For learning how to verify trigonometric identities, I like the Professor Rob Bob (Mr. Tarroy’s) videos found on youtube. He’s very energetic, and very thorough in explaining what needs to be done for each identity. He also gives examples for all of the different types of identities that are used. He is very specific about using the proper terms, and he makes sure to point out multiple times that this is an identity, not an equation, so terms cannot be transferred across the equal sign. He also presents options to use for a variety of cases, and that sometimes things don’t work out, but it’s okay, because you can just erase it and start again. I also like that he uses different colored chalk to show the changes that are being made. He is very articulate, and explains things very well, and makes sure to point out that he is providing examples, but it’s important to remember that there are many different ways to prove the identity presented. I enjoyed watching him teach, and I think the students would enjoy his energy as well.
Engaging students: Finding the equation of a circle
In my capstone class for future secondary math teachers, I ask my students to come up with ideas for engaging their students with different topics in the secondary mathematics curriculum. In other words, the point of the assignment was not to devise a full-blown lesson plan on this topic. Instead, I asked my students to think about three different ways of getting their students interested in the topic in the first place.
I plan to share some of the best of these ideas on this blog (after asking my students’ permission, of course).
This student submission comes from my former student Tiffany Wilhoit. Her topic, from Precalculus: finding the equation of a circle.
How has this topic appeared in pop culture (movies, TV, current music, video games, etc.)? How has this topic appeared in high culture (art, classical music, theatre, etc.)?
Circles are found everywhere! Everyday, multiple times a day, people come across circles. They are found throughout society. The coins students use to buy sodas are circles. On the news, we hear about crop circles and circular patterns in the fields around the world. One of the first examples of a circle was the wheel. Many logos for large companies involve circles, such as Coca-Cola, Google Chrome, and Target. Even the Roman Coliseum is circular in shape. Since circles are found everywhere, students will be able to identify and be comfortable with the shape (more than say a hexagon). A great way to get the students engaged in the topic of circles would be to have the brainstorm different places they see circles on a normal day. Then have each student pick an example and print or bring a picture of it. Then have the student take their circle (say the Ferris Wheel of the state fair), and place in centered at the origin. The students could then find the equation of their circle. They could do another example where their circle is centered at another point as well. This would allow the students to become more aware of circles around them, and would also allow them some freedom in the assignment.
What interesting things can you say about the people who contributed to the discovery and/or the development of this topic?
Circles have been an interesting topic for humans since the beginning. We see the sun as a circle in the sky. The ancient Greeks even believed the circle was the perfect shape. Ancient civilizations built stone circles such as Stonehenge, and circular structures such as the Coliseum. The circle led to the invention of the wheel and gears, as well. The study of geometry is focused largely around the study of circles. The study of circles led to many inventions and ideas. Euclid studied circles, and compared them to other polygons. He found ways to create circles that could circumscribe and inscribe polygons. This created a problem called “squaring a circle”. Ancient Greeks tried to construct a circle and square with the same area using only a compass and straightedge. The problem was never solved, but in 1882 it was proved impossible. However, people still tried to solve the problem and were called “circle squarers”. This became an insult for people who attempted the impossible. Borromean Rings is another puzzle involving circles. Circles have been a part of civilization from the beginning, and it is amazing how much they are still prevalent today.
How can technology (YouTube, Khan Academy [khanacademy.org], Vi Hart, Geometers Sketchpad, graphing calculators, etc.) be used to effectively engage students with this topic?
The website on www.mathopenref.com/coordgeneralcircle.html is a good site to use when learning to find the equation of a circle. The page contains an applet where the students are able to work with a circle. The circle can be moved so the center is at any point, and the radius can be changed to various sizes. At the top, it shows the equation of the circle shown. This website would allow the students to see how the equation of a circle changes depending on the center and size. This is a good tool to use for the students to explore circles and their equations or to review them before the test. The website also contains some information for the students to read to understand the concept, and there is even an example to try. The website is easy to use, and would not be difficult for students to understand.
Resources:
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Curves/Circle.html
www.mathopenref.com/coordgeneralcircle.html
https://circlesonly.wordpress.com/category/history-of-circles/
Mean Green Math 