This article connects three disciplines while exploring how students computed tons of food consumed by both locusts and people. Included with this article are two worksheets "How Much Does a Locust Eat?" and "Can You Eat Those Locusts?". (Contains 3 figures.)

There is a childhood saying about a confused dog who thinks he sees a possum in a tree. The problem is that the possum is actually in a different tree so the dog barks up the wrong tree. American education is constantly playing both dog and possum. Sometimes they are the prey, and sometimes they are just confused about what and where the prey is.…

This article reports on the teaching of a unit of lessons which integrates mathematics with studies of society and the environment. The unit entitled "Population Growth Rates" was taught to a double class of Year 6 students by a team of three teachers. The objectives of the unit were: (1) to provide students with a real-world context in…

The problems many Indian children experience in schools-- low academic achievement, absenteeism, high drop-out rates-- cannot be solved by any one individual. Instead, it requires action by the entire school system and, especially, greater leadership by Indians themselves. Tribes must become partners in the process of school reform and become…

The importance of homework activities for student achievement has been extensively discussed. Research has indicated that, in general, students who spend more time on homework tend to show higher levels of academic achievement. For instance, results from the Third International Mathematics Study (TIMSS) indicated that adolescent students in Japan…

This study investigates the role of basic elements of a learning context namely: the given tasks, the nature of the provided tools, and the pupils' gender in their choice of tools provided by an open problem-solving computer environment. Pupils' choice of tools is discussed through the description of an experiment involving the interaction of (30)…

Each month, "Curriculum Review" offers teachers mutual support, the sharing of ideas, and words of encouragement to help them face challenges in the classroom. The January 2004 issue of "Curriculum Review" contains the following articles: (1) "We Hear from Readers"; (2) "What They're Saying"; (3) "Technology Update"; (4) "Use Parent Nights to…

Results from an earlier study (Hart, 2002) suggested that a group of 14 teachers participating in an alternative preparation program for elementary teachers had developed beliefs that were consistent with current thinking in mathematics education. The current study follows 8 of those teachers into their first year of teaching in an urban…

This article looks in some detail at the transcript of a mathematics lesson in exploring the nature of low-level disruption in schools. This is preceded by a brief theoretical overview of behavioural issues, aimed at giving a context for the consideration of low-level disruption. The discussion of the issues arising from the analysis of the…

This article summarises a doctoral thesis entitled "Learning algebra in a computer algebra environment, design research on the understanding of the concept of parameter" (Drijvers, 2003). It describes the research questions, the theoretical framework, the methodology and the results of the study. The focus of the study is on the…

New information technologies can act as a Trojan horse offering activities that will require major changes in the teaching-learning process. Computer aided learning applications are able to offer advanced students the opportunity to improve their skills and to maintain their motivation. In the spirit of "learning by doing", they are…

A time of upheaval and innovation, the American Colonial Period (1600-1775) was marked by New World settlers' struggles to adapt to a life that lacked anything familiar or prefabricated. The period provides a rich opportunity to study the contributions of the colonists across multiple disciplines. In the fall of 2003, a team of eighth-grade…

In this paper we present a study conducted within the framework of an in-service professional development program for junior and senior high school mathematics teachers. The focus of the study is the analysis of processes encountered by the staff members, as members of a community of practice, which contributed to their growth as teacher…

This review of the literature on peer and cross-age tutoring emphasizes programs in mathematics and suggests that such programs have positive academic outcomes for African American and other minority students as well as for White students who participate as tutors, as tutees, or both. Such programs also appear to have a positive impact on a…

This paper examines part of a set of students who were followed during their first-term, first-year studies in formal definition-based real analysis at a British university. It explores the approaches to problems about convergence of sequences and series made by students who have a tendency to include visual imagery in their reasoning. We explore…