Teaching Secondary Math I: Assignments for Algebraic Thinking and Problem Solving, Papers of Mathematics

Download Teaching Secondary Math I: Assignments for Algebraic Thinking and Problem Solving and more Papers Mathematics in PDF only on Docsity! Assignments Mtht 400: Methods of Teaching Secondary Mathematics I John T. Baldwin September 2, 2004 Fall 2004 AT denotes the book Algebraic Thinking, published by NCTM which is our main text for the semester. Aug. 30: 1. Chapter 3 from The Teaching Gap will be discussed on Aug. 30 2. Turn in Aug. 30: A bottle of wine contains 1 liter of wine. Next to it is a glass which holds .4 liter of water. One teaspoon (2 ml) of water is taken from the glass and mixed into the wine. Then a teaspoon of the mixture is stirred back into the glass. Is there more water in the wine or more wine in the water? Write out both ‘intuitive’ and ‘algebraic’ solutions of this problem. Think about the use of variables in each solution. 3. Two articles expand on the first class; I don’t intend to schedule further discussion but they are interesting. (a) The article ‘From Words to Algebra, mending misconceptions’ by Lochhead and Mestre, page 321 of AT (b) Some Misconceptions Concerning the Concept of Variable, Ros- nik, page 313 of AT. Sept 13: 1. Why Algebra can should and must be in 8th grade, Zalman Usiskin, page 40 Algebraic Thinking 2. In each of the following label your variables very carefully and write the solution in a form you would like to read on a blackboard. Write a few sentences of English explanation about how you set the problem up. (a) It takes a bicyclist 4 minutes to ride a mile a against the wind and 3 minutes with the wind. How long would it take her to ride a mile with no wind. (Hint: not 3.5 minutes). 1