Featured 5-22-2014: The Math Open Reference Project

 

The Math Open Reference Project is free, interactive math textbook on the web covering high-school geometry.

 

 

The Math Open Reference Project has the goal of providing high-quality digital content free of charge to the end user, while providing numerous benefits over paper textbooks:

• Accessible anywhere, any time.
• Interactive, interesting experience.
• Hyperlinks promote exploration and easy lookup.
• Use the search to look up a word or term.
• Interactive quizzes with instant feedback.
• Lower cost.
• Less weight.

Using interactive tools and compelling animations, The Math Open Reference Project provides an engaging way to learn and explore the subject. A vast library of virtual manipulatives can be used to demonstrate concepts using a computer, projector, and whiteboard. Students can use the same manipulatives themselves outside the classroom.

 

 

The Math Open Reference Project meets the NCTM standards for content and is aligned with the Common Core standards, but also has the potential to adapt to and comply with the standards for every state.

 

The Math Open Reference Project will work with most popular browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. The interactive illustrations use Java and/or Flash, so these plug-ins must be installed on the user's computer.

 

The copyright and license agreement permit any printing for non-commercial use, useful for class handouts.

 

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Featured: 12-9-2013 Smithsonian X 3D

The Smithsonian X 3D viewer offers students the ability to explore some of the Smithsonian’s most treasured items using 3D objects.

The level of control available using the SIx3D viewer has never before been possible. The goal is that this cutting-edge level of access to the Smithsonian collections will stimulate students’ curiosity and that these explorations will help develop observation skills and critical thinking.

SIx3D also offers access to most of the data sets used to make these 3D objects. Then using the same tools as professionals, students can have the chance to create imaginative and innovative work themselves. Smithsonian educators are working on a new resource (scheduled for release in the Spring of 2014) to help you introduce 3D and its possibilities to your students.

 See a Smithsonian X 3Doverview

Smithsonian X 3D requires an up-to-date browser supporting WebGL. All major browsers on Windows are supported, including MS IE11, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. On OS X, Chrome and Firefox fully support the SIx3D Explorer, but in Safari, WebGL is disabled by default, but can be enabled from the developer menu.

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Featured: 5-1-2013 Word Mover [Language Arts]

ReadWriteThink's Word Mover is a free iPad app that can be used to supplement and reinforce classroom instruction and promote increased student engagement through the use of modern technology.

Word Mover allows kids to create "found poetry" by choosing from word banks and existing famous works. Users can also add new words to create a piece of poetry by moving and manipulating the text.

Features of Word Mover:

• Multi-user poem storage.

• User management with the ability to delete or restore.

• Six poem categories, each with the ability to personalize.

• Twelve backgrounds for stylizing poems.

• Helpful how-to information.

• Auto-saving of poems.

• Viewing of finished poems for proofreading.

• Save poems as images.

• Print poems to a wireless printer.

• Share poems by e-mail.

Word Mover aims to add creativity and fun to the learning process. ReadWriteThink offers a library of lessons that incorporate Word Mover. See them here.

Watch a video demo of Word Mover

Word Mover is compatible with iPad (iOS 4.3 or later) and is available on the iTunes App Store from the National Council of Teachers of English.

A note on privacy: Your poems are private unless you decide to share them by e-mail. This app does not store any personal information.

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COD - 6/27/2012 - Physion [Physics]

Physion is a free 2D physics simulation software that can be used to easily create a wide range of interactive physics simulations and educational experiments.

Physics teachers may find Physion useful as a virtual physics laboratory which they can use to demonstrate some basic physics concepts in the classroom.

Users can create various physical objects such as circles, polygons, and gears and joints (eg. springs, pulleys, and so forth) that obey the laws of physics. Scenarios can be created which may be either simple physics experiments or complex structures or mechanisms.

Physion can also be a friendly tool for introducing students to programming. Physion allows users to execute their own JavaScript scripts/programs with the results of the commands being visualized immediately.

Watch a Physion general tutorial

Physion is available in English, Greek, Russian, Japanese, German, Spanish, and Indonesian. 

Note: Physion runs on Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and Linux (x86 and x86_64) operating systems.

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COD - 3/20/2012 - Classroom Products Warehouse [Supplies]

Classroom Products Warehouse (CPW) is an educational and supplemental instructional materials supplier providing premium math and science products at discount prices.

Classroom Products Warehouse offers over 1400 products meant to make the K-12 math/science classroom experience more fun, engaging, and meaningful for teachers and students.

CPW applies modern methods and practices to better serve the evolving needs of their customers, providing teachers, students, and parents with access to high-quality educational tools.

A new free item is offered each month, as well as a selection of free products always available with purchases over $200 (US). You can qualify for free ground shipping on orders exceeding $100.

Classroom Products Warehouse, a division of A. Daigger & Company, was founded in 2000 as SAFE-T Classroom Products to bring safer geometry tools to math classrooms. The name was changed to Classroom Products Warehouse In 2006.

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COD - 12/5/2011 - The Math Open Reference Project [Math]

The Math Open Reference Project is a web-based interactive math textbook with the goal of providing high-quality content free of charge with numerous benefits over paper textbooks.

The Math Open Reference Project uses interactive tools and animations to deliver an engaging way to learn and explore math. Teachers can discover new ways to teach students in a manner that is more engaging and can be fun.

The interactive and animated illustrations supply teachers with a library of "digital manipulatives" that can be used to elucidate concepts. Students can use the same manipulatives outside the classroom, facilitating better visualization and understanding of complex ideas.

Other features of The Math Open Reference Project:

• The URL of every page will never change.
• Printing anything for non-commercial use is allowed.
• Many problems and activities, with and without answers, are available.

In addition to meeting the NCTM standards for content, this reference work also can be modified to comply with the standards of any state if need be.

The Math Open Reference Project will work with all popular browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari. The interactive illustrations use Java and/or Flash, so they likely will not work properly on iOS devices.

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Catch of The Day - Thinking Blocks - 9/29/2011

 

Thinking Blocks is a group of tools designed to help students solve math word problems accurately and efficiently using brightly colored blocks. Thinking Blocks makes it possible for teachers to easily integrate model drawing into their math curriculum.

Students model mathematical relationships and identify known and unknown quantities. The Thinking Blocks models help students organize information and clarify the problem solving process with a powerful visual image. Students can develop stronger reasoning skills which will facilitate the transition to higher levels of mathematics.

The Thinking Blocks activities provide both guided instruction, Tutorials, and independent practice, Modeling Tool.

The Tutorials sections cover addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions, and ratios. Videos show completed examples from each section.  Students may work on specific skills or randomized problems in each category.

The Modeling Tool sections cover addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions, ratios, decimals, percent, and algebra. Included are hundreds of word problems or you can enter your own problems. The self-checking feature enables students to compare their own models with those dynamically generated by the program.

Thinking Blocks features:

• Student-driven tutorials
• Numbers and question marks are draggable
• Tutorial programs include a calculator
• Full screen option complements interactive whiteboards

See a video showing Thinking Blocks used to model a ratio problem

Thinking Blocks was developed by Colleen King in 2003 to help students who were struggling with math word problems. Thinking Blocks is free to use in the classroom.

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Catch of the Day - Virtual Manipulatives - 8/27/2010

The Virtual Manipulatives website from Glencoe gives math teachers at every level through grade 8 (ages 13-14) a rich source of free interactive tools for the classroom.

These Virtual Manipulatives can be used by individuals or small groups of students or shared on an interactive whiteboard.

In the simple and intuitive UI, first select a grade level from Pre-K through 8. You then have a choice of several background workmats suitable to the chosen level. Then select any of a large number of level-appropriate virtual manipulatives.

Among the tools you have to choose from are algebra tiles, geoboards, fraction tiles, base-10 blocks, geometric solids, currency, and many more.

At the bottom of the Virtual Manipulatives window is a toolbar with text, drawing, measuring, timing, and other tools.

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