A Reuleaux triangle is constructed by drawing an arc connecting each pair of vertices of an equilateral triangle with radius equal to the side of the triangle. Investigates the application of drilling a square hole using a drill bit in the shape of a Reuleaux triangle. (MDH)

Examines the point of inflection in the curve determined by the hinge of a bifold door as it opens. Determines the equation of the branch function of the curve and calculates its point of inflection. (MDH)

Uses ancient Egyptian numeration system in a new setting to extend the concepts of base, place value, and correspondence. Discusses similarities and differences between the Egyptian and decimal systems. Students are asked to propose changes to make the Egyptian system easier. (LDR)

Freudenthal was the founder of realistic mathematics education, in which reality serves as a source of applications and learning. Takes a newspaper article about reproducing a Van Gogh painting using plants in a field to exemplify a rich context problem containing elements of all areas of elementary school mathematics. (MDH)

Discusses how grocery shopping activities can help primary and intermediate grade students develop mathematics skills useful in real life. (BB)

Presents a game in which if player is playing a match of this game with an opponent, at each step in the game he has to decide whether to continue or to stop. Helps students to develop a strategy for making such a decision based on the expected gain and related probabilities. (Author/ASK)

Presents activities to model dynamic systems using graphing calculators and calculator based laboratories. (Author/ASK)

Describes the characteristics that must exist for a secondary school curriculum to be successful with all students and the crucial elements needed for its implementation. An example of one such program, the Interactive Mathematics Program, is discussed along with the program's outcomes, some political consequences of the activity, and the…

Describes an activity that integrates the study of fractions, decimals, percents, rounding, Cartesian coordinates, probability, and statistics into a game using baseball statistics. (MKR)

Describes two activities to analyze unit-cell structures from a geometric viewpoint and invites students to apply their mathematical understanding to scientific phenomena. Students form models of the simple cube, a building block of crystalline structures, and a methane molecule. (MKR)

A study introduced a mathematics text that combines real math and science in a fictional context to six gifted sixth-graders. Responses to four questions by the students are provided. Results indicate that using prose writing in mathematics is a fruitful means of assessment in mathematics. (Contains seven references.) (CR)

Mathematical optimization problems are not typical in the classical curriculum of mathematics. In this paper we show how several generalizations of an easy problem on optimal transportation were solved by gifted secondary school pupils in a correspondence mathematical seminar, how they can be used in university courses of linear programming and…

Development in the ability of 11-year-olds to solve numerical problems of addition, multiplication, and proportion was analysed by means of three Rasch models of change. The students, who had participated in a New Zealand numeracy project in 2002, comprised two groups that differed in socio-economic status: 1,274 students came from low…

Increasingly, companies are taking part in process improvement programmes, which brings about a growing need for employees to interpret and act on data representations. We have carried out case studies in a range of companies to identify the existence and need of what we call "techno-mathematical literacies" (TmL): functional mathematical…

This study explores the ways in which eleven preservice elementary teachers used a web-based teacher resource to apply a mathematical definition, to correct a procedural error in arithmetic, and to make sense of a story requiring the multiplication of fractions. In our analysis we propose a framework to compare the behaviors and values expressed…