Mathematics and FCIT

It’s that time of year…  FCAT time!  For those of us living in Florida, spring is approaching and with that comes the FCAT.  Please take some time to review the reference sheets with your students.  They are available here.  In addition to the reference sheet, there’s an activity page you can have your students do that will help them become familiar with what is given on the sheet.  This is a terrific activity to do the week before the FCAT as you ready your students for the test.

March 14, 2009:  Pi Day - Start planning now.  The Greek letter pi is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi is approximately 3.1415926535…  Math enthusiasts around the world celebrate Pi Day on March 14th. Visit the Pi Day website for inspiration!  There are classroom ideas, tee shirts, and even e-cards available on the site.

Save the date:  March 4, 2009!  World Math Day is an interactive global competition.  Students from around the world compete to solve math problems.  Students play mental arithmetic games in real time.  The levels are arranged appropriately for ages 5 - 18.  Check out the website for more information:  World Math Day 09.  This is a great way to get your students geared up for the FCAT.

It can be challenging and sometimes frustrating as we try to integrate technology into our classrooms.  There have been many a night that I have searched on-line and called friends to help me with a problem I’ve encountered while trying to write a lesson plan.  Tech-Ease will help you past the obstacles you stumble upon in your technology quest!  Whether you use a Windows or Mac machine, help is on the way!  My favorite section of Tech-Ease are the tutorials.  You can view videos showing the exact steps you need to take to accomplish the steps at hand.  Or, you can download pdf files with directions.  This is a great resource to use and to share with others, regardless of their content expertise.

Polar grids are available on theClipart ETC site!  For those of you that teach any type of Precalculus class, you know the pain of trying to find polar graph paper for your students to use.   There are several variations, labeled in both degrees and radians, in a variety of increments.  You are sure to find what you are looking for.  Are you teaching the unit circle and want the students to memorize the special angles?  Here you will find the ideal images to use in your presentations, quizzes, tests, and assignments.  I’m sure you’ll appreciate this resource as much as I have!! Enjoy!

Unit Circle in Radians

There are some wonderful activities linking literature to mathematics on the Lit2Go site.  “Five Little Tadpoles” has both Language Arts and Mathematics activities to go along with the poem.  After reading the poem below, students can complete the math activity that addresses addition and subtraction word problems about tadpoles.  This is a fun cross-curricular activity that catches the students interest with the poem and then addresses sunshine state math standards with the activity sheet.  This particular activity sheet is designed for kindergarten students, but there are activities on the site that pertain to all grade levels.

“Five Litte Tadpoles”
Traditional rhyme

 Five little tadpoles swimming near the shore.

The first one said, “Let’s swim some more.”

The second one said, “Let’s rest awhile.”

The third one said, “Swimming makes me smile.”

The fourth one said, “My legs are growing long.”

The fifth one said, “I’m getting very strong.”

Five little tadpoles will soon be frogs.

They’ll jump from the water and sit on logs.

This lesson, Go Fish!, has a great hands-on activity!  Although found in the FCAT 8th Grade Math section, it is appropriate for students in elementary school through high school.  (Note:  The site is due to update to the latest Sunshine State Standards very soon.  Stay tuned!) The real-life activity models a capture-recapture situtation so students can see how useful proportions are.  They collect data and use proportions to make generalizations.  I have done this activity and found it simple to implement in a classroom setting.  Everything you need is on the FCIT site - lesson plan, student activity sheet, teacher’s guide, and even a video!

There has been a push for incorporating reading into every classroom.  Middle school and high school mathematics teachers often find it a bit challenging.  Lit2Go has math activities that go along with the literature.  There are various ways to incorporate this into your curriculum.  Here is an activity that you can use while working with an English and/or a science teacher at your school.  The reading is about white blood cell counts.  There are several more on the site.  I chose this one to showcase because I like the idea of an activity that incorporates science and literature with the mathematics.  Browse the site for other interesting ideas.  I will discuss Lit2Go for elementary teachers in another post.

Visit Lit2Go

Today’s lesson uses a map from FCIT’s Florida Maps project. The project takes historic maps - state, county, and city - from the entire history of Florida and makes them available for download for classroom use.

Image from Florida Maps at FCIT

This is an example of how you can use the Florida maps site in mathematics. This activity addresses proportionality while referencing a 1975 map of Florida showing hardness of water state-wide. This is a great example of a cross-curricular activity that addresses math, science, and social studies. I’ve also included an activity sheet that you can download and print for your class.