Well, it took a while, but my Penrose Magnets have finally arrived! We are going to have a lot of fun with these.
NYT Resources Teaching
Math Lesson: Teaching the Mathematics of Infinity
My latest contribution to the New York Times Learning Network is the lesson “Teaching the Mathematics of Infinity“.
Inspired by the wonderful article “The Life of Pi, and Other Infinities,” I put together a collection of resources and activities for exploring this rich, mysterious, and important mathematical concept.
Students are challenged to think about the different kinds of infinities encountered in mathematics, and then to research and discuss some of the classic applications and paradoxes of infinity. They are also invited to think about the infinite quantities in their own lives.
Infinity is one of my favorite mathematical concepts: it is an amazingly powerful tool, as well as a rich philosophical idea. The mystery and excitement of infinity always produces great conversations, some of which can go on forever!
Challenge Resources
Challenging Physics Problems
This is a sample of the problems from the book “200 Puzzling Physics Problems” published by Cambridge University Press:
http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/sam ples/cam034/00053005.pdf
This above resource contains 89 of the problems, but no solutions.
The problems here are simple to state, but seem to get at profound mathematical and physical ideas. For example, if the Earth and Sun were scaled down as to be 1 meter apart on average, how long would a year be?
I can see a lot of productive student struggle coming from this book!
Resources Teaching
Top Posts of 2012
Here are the most popular posts from MrHonner.com for 2012.
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| This is Not a Trig Function | The Algebra of Coffee Consumption | Which Triangle is More Equilateral? 2012 Edition |
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| Proof Without Words | Why Write in Math Class? | Another Embarrassingly Bad Exam Question |
Resources Technology
Online Analysis Course
Here is a fully formed Real Analysis course freely offered online:
http://www.webskate101.com/webnotes/home.htmld/home.html
The course includes a sequence of 60 classes with notes, a fully hyper-linked Analysis textbook, and a set of homework assignments.
This resource comes from John Lindsay Orr, a mathematician at the University of Nebraska.
It seems as though this WebNotes platform might be available for other teachers to create their own online courses.