Many students read for pleasure, but how many, stranded in an expansive library, would willingly reach for a mathematics textbook? One reason this scenario is so inconceivable is that mathematics textbooks are organized less as exercises in storytelling and more as how-to manuals. Unfortunately many mathematics teachers instruct accordingly. This…

Most people who are attracted to STEM-related fields are drawn not by a desire to take mathematics tests but to create things. The opportunity to create an algebra drawing gives students a sense of ownership and adventure that taps into the same sort of energy that leads a young person to get lost in reading a good book, building with Legos®,…

Content area literacy is a growing trend across the entire secondary school curriculum. Science, history, physical education, and mathematics teachers are being required to teach reading comprehension in their classrooms. Many resources are available to aid students' prereading, reading, and postreading skills. Typical activities include KWL…

Presents an example of how students can use the connections among different disciplines of mathematics to investigate a branch of mathematics that is not usually encountered in high school courses, that of graph theory. (ASK)

Presents a set of activities in which students explore how complex models can be generated using a small and simple set of rules. (ASK)

Presents activities that allow students to explore alternative voting methods and discover the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Features the statement and proof of Arrow's theorem which requires only basic arithmetic and allows students to engage in high-level mathematical thinking. (ASK)

Tensile and compressive forces in planar trusses can be analyzed using either the method of sections or the method of joints. This article summarizes and extends a project accomplished by a high school student using the method of joints and graphing calculators, spreadsheets, and matrix-manipulation software. (MKR)

Defines and discusses anamorphic art and describes an anamorphic art activity using the reflection of mirrored cylinders through a grid system. Particularly suitable for algebra or geometry classes. Requires some minimal skills from coordinate geometry and spatial visualization. (AIM)

Presents lessons with activities that integrate a science unit about seasons, energy from sunshine, and radiation from the sun, with a mathematics unit about angles and trigonometric functions. (ASK)

Describes an activity which connects mathematics and science by using data analysis and studies of animal camouflage. Includes a reproducible student worksheet to be used for data collection. (11 references) (MKR)

Presents two activities created by preservice middle school teachers that integrate technology and real-life mathematics in algebra. (MKR)

By developing a sequence of mathematical models of harmonic motion, shows that mathematical models are not right or wrong, but instead are better or poorer representations of the problem situation. (MKR)

Presents a trigonometry problem concerning control of the entry of sunlight through a window. (ASK)

Discusses four historical methods by which the seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned and the ways these methods can be used to reinforce operations involving decimal fractions and different rounding procedures. (MDH)

Presents examples of algebra from the field of accounting including proportional ownership of stock, separation of a loan payment into principal and interest portions, depreciation methods, and salary withholdings computations. (MKR)