Thursday, June 19, 2008

Maths and Art (josleys.com)

Youtube link to showcase one of his works:


josleys.com
Mathematical Imagery

Amazing website on Mathematical imagery!
I. Gallery has:
1. Sculptures
2. The shape of Planet Earth: Could the Earth has been flat after all? How about cigar shaped? Or do you prefer pear shaped?
Knots and dynamics: Collaboration with Prof. Etienne Ghys of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, containing material presented at the International Congress of Mathematicians (Madrid, August 2006)
3. Knots and dynamics animations: Collection of animations where one can see what a matrix looks like in four dimensions, how to make spaghetti using a 'horocycle', and more
The Droste effect: Collection of images and animations, made with a "Droste effect" image transformation.
II. References: Information about books published in the area of Math and Art
III. Links: Useful links to create images
IV. Articles

Acknowldgements to respective website owner (josleys.com) and video creator. Copyrights as stated in the website (Jos Leys)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Virtual library (sldirectory.com/teachf/teach.html)

sldirectory.com/teachf/teach.html
Virtual Middle School Library

Very useful for teachers and students. Website has links to following contents:

Education and Lesson Plan Sites
Free stuff for classroom use
TV in the classroom
Art Education
Economics
Educational Technology
Language Arts
Mathematics
Multicultural Subjects
Music
Physical Education and Health Science
Social Studies

Jobs and opportunities (www.DevNetJobsIndia.org)


Development Nework Jobs

A valuable site for locating jobs, consultancies in development, NGOs, Government, Non-profits & Environment sector.


Friday, June 13, 2008

www.mrbartonmaths.com (Maths website)

www.mrbartonmaths.com/
Mr. Barton Maths

Description:
A treasure trove of free maths gems for pupils, teachers and parents!
The aim of this website is to get everybody enjoying their maths a bit more. Whether you are a teacher looking for a fancy resource to spice up your lesson, a pupil looking for a different way to understand a topic, or a parent wanting to get involved in your child's learning of maths, then hopefully this website will have something for you!

Features:
Teachers: A collection of free resources and general help to hopefully make the teaching of maths that bit easier! It has teaching resources, software tutorials, review of maths products and links to the best maths websites in the world

Pupils: In the two notes and examples sections you will find notes and examples written in a simple way. The podcast section provides links to some amazing video and audio podcasts available for free on the net. It also offer some tips about revision and exams, links to some brilliant websites and also a little section that tries to answer the question “What use is this in the real world?"

Parents: In this section the following features are available - Notes and examples - key stage 3 and 4, free resources, podcast, recommended learning materials, excellent websites.

Just for fun: This section contains features like fun maths, maths games, classic maths jokes, funny exam answers.

Books: Mathematics

Title: Maths wonders to inspire teachers and students
Author: Alfred S Posamentier

Here is an interesting book that shows the beauty of mathematics and how you can inspire your children if used appropriately. The book covers several simple activities suitable for school children. The topics touch number sense, problem solving, logical reasoning, amusements and paradoxes among other things. Some sudden and unexpected results are bound to amuse the reader and develop love for mathematics.

The possible uses are:
Mathematics projects
Mathematics festival
Introduction to a lesson
Holiday homework
Quick learners in the class

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Online School Textbooks - CBSE Board (NCERT)

ut7.in/sandbox/ncert_textbooks/
NCERT books

Just amazing!
Simple yet very comprehensive to access and download NCERT books.




Online School Textbooks - CBSE Board



ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm


NCERT Online Textbooks


To view and download


Please follow the steps, 1, 2, 3 & 4 (as mentioned on the picture, right side) to view and download the chapters.


About the books


National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has initiated the step towards making school textbooks available on the Internet for students and teachers. We hope through this endeavour a variety of pedagogical possibilities would open up for students and teachers throughout the country. We also hope that this effort will lead to a situation where teachers begin to adopt a more modular approach, rather than a sequential approach to teaching and learning, through access to a variety of teaching and reference material.


These Textbooks are based on National Curriculum Framework 2005. You can locate this framework at: ncert.nic.in/sites/publication/schoolcurriculum/ncfr%202005/ncfr_final/prelims.pdf

www.slideshare.net - Slides for teaching

www.slideshare.net
SlideShare is the world's largest community for sharing presentations.
  • Individuals & organizations upload presentations to share their ideas, connect with others, and generate leads for their businesses (in case of teachers, it is teaching!).
  • Anyone can find presentations on topics that interest them. They can tag, download, or embed presentations into their own blogs & websites.
  • SlideShare is the best way to get your slides out there on the web, so your ideas can be found and shared by a wide audience. Do you want to get the word out about your product or service? Do you want your slides to reach people who could not make it to your talk? Are you a teacher looking to share your lesson plans? It only takes a moment - start uploading now, and let your slides do the talking!

Features of SlideShare:

  • Download the original PowerPoint / Pdf file (with a SEARCH option on the TOP RIGHT CORNER)
  • Embed slideshows into your own blog or website.Share slideshows publicly or privately. There are several ways to share privately.
  • Synch audio to your slides.
  • Market your event on slideshare.
  • Join groups to connect with SlideShare members who share your interest

Site is maintained by – the company
The SlideShare team is based in Mountain View, (California, USA) & New Delhi (India). It says, “We are passionate about creating compelling web experiences and think that small teams with fire in their eyes can do big things”.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Websites for Science Learning and Teaching

www.tifr.res.in/~outreach/websites/index.html
Interesting Websites on Science (General science, physics, Chemistry, biology and biographies of various scientists)

This particular website is maintained by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay. This particular site has links to following subject specific websites that are of immense use for students and teachers.

General Science Websites
Scientific American Website
PBS Websites have some excellent programs suitable for high school students and may provide very good teaching aids for science teachers.

National Geographic Website
This site is also a very helpful resource for locating information on current scientific work; it also contains information on earlier scientists.

Discovery Website

Nobel Website
The Nobel Prize Internet Archive Lists the winners of the Nobel prizes in all fields with some brief information on each. Also has them subcategorized by women. The site is linked to the Amazon.com site, so books on any of the prize-winners will come up.

Biology Websites

Chemistry Websites

Math Websites

Physics Websites

General Physics

Physics and Sports

Physics of Space Travel

Astronomy Sites

Astronomy resources

Astrochemistry

Astrobiology

Nanotechnology

Teacher's Resources
An excellent site that provides abstracts of movies and information about their usefulness, their ratings, and where to find them. This is an excellent site for someone who wants a more personal view of many scientists and/or their discoveries. It has website links to a variety of sources for teaching aids in biology and chemistry.

Scientists Biographies

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

www.ams.org/mathweb - maths website for teachers

www.ams.org/mathweb/

American Mathematical Society
Interesting sections are mathematical moments, mathematics imagery and nice printable posters. Please don't visit this site to download tons of activities but to get info and insight on the nature of mathematics and mathematics teaching - something very critical and is completely missing from our curriculum.

Description:
Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, the American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.

Selected features:
Maths awareness: The AMS Public Awareness Office works with the media, scientific societies, institutes, universities, and museums to promote awareness of mathematics and to publicize meetings, events, prizes, and AMS activities.
The Mathematical Moments program promotes appreciation and understanding of the role mathematics plays in science, nature, technology, and human culture. You can download this series of pdf files to use as teaching resources and to promote awareness of mathematics to students, colleagues, and attendees at meetings and special events.
Math Imagery : Images of Chaim Goodman-Strauss (University of Arkansas), many from The Symmetries of Things by John H. Conway, Heidi Burgiel, and Goodman-Straus (AK Peters, 2008), have been added to the Mathematical Imagery page.
AMS Printable Posters: The American Mathematical Society provides downloadable pdf files of posters promoting awareness of mathematics and of programs and services to post in common areas, in classrooms and offices. The pdfs print on 8.5 x 11" and A4-size paper. Some are available upon request in printed poster size approximately 18 x 22".

Mathematics on the web: It has the following options -such guides, oneline and offline, classified and organized materials, database of people, reference, servers and maths related information.

www.cleavebooks.co.uk/trol/atnotes.htm - website for a maths teacher / learner




www.cleavebooks.co.uk/trol/atnotes.htm
Teachers Resources Online

It is a very useful site for classroom teachers. It does not deal with any philosophical issues on mathematics education etc. but provides simple, easy-to-use and replicate downloadable resources for a typical mathematics teacher.
Description of the website: The purpose of these resources is to provide material which teachers of mathematics can use in their classrooms. All of the material can be viewed and assessed as to its suitability on the screen and, when something suitable has been found, can be printed out to serve as a master from which the necessary classroom copies can be made. The material is very wide-ranging in content and it will require the teacher to decide where, when and how any of it is to be used.
Features of the website: For convenience, the sheets have been grouped under headings which should convey some idea of what the sheets in the group are concerned with. Those headings are amplified here as a further help. Many, but not all, of the units contain notes and suggestions for the teacher. The headings of the topics are linked so that the material available for that topic can be called directly from these notes.
Basic Sheets
These are the staple requirements of any mathematics classroom. What is useful about this collection is the wide variety that can be made available at very short notice, and in small quantities. There is almost no storage problem.
Lined Grids
Dotted Grids
Coordinate Grids
Artefacts for Maths
Big Number Line
Thermometer Scale
Pi Strip
Height Measure
Number Squares
Answer Grids
Information Sheets
They are sheets which might be considered as suitable for students to have a copy of either, for one-off reference or, to keep in their own note-books.
Fact Sheets
Formula
Tables
Tables 2
Multiplication Methods
Word List
Mathematicians
Lottery Results

Exercises and Practice
In short, lots of work of the kind usually found in mathematics classrooms throughout the world, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex calculations
Arithmetic Practice
Trigonometry
Division
Calculator Exercises
Circles
Mensuration
Flow Diagrams
Coordinates
Missing Numbers
Graduated Problems
Miscellaneous

Other Activities
These are topics and ideas which usually find no real place in any mainstream course of mathematics - though some do get a peripheral mention. All of them can, at the appropriate point, perform a very useful service.
Counting Problems
Multiplication Bingo
Dominoes
The Dartboard
Flippin' Sums
Ordering by Numbers
Geometric Patterns
Tessellations
Dictionary Exercises
Dictionary Exercises 2
MisMaths
Vocabulary Exercises
Tangrams
Pentominoes
Shapes Bingo
Some Other Lessons
Su Doku

http://www.coxhoe.durham.sch.uk/Curriculum/Numeracy.htm - website for maths

www.coxhoe.durham.sch.uk/Curriculum/Numeracy.htm
Numeracy

Here is a useful website (set up by Coxhoe Primary School, Cornforth Lane, Coxhoe, Durham) with many activities for primary school maths. The site basically provides links some really useful sites and has separate sections for teachers and children. You can also play on-line games / activities and learn maths! It is an excellent resource and the team must have put in enormous effort to create this.

Following are the features present in the website:


Number Order
Number Names
Place value and partitioning
Order numbers
Comparing numbers
Estimation
Odd and Even
Rounding
Counting / Sequences


Addition and Subtraction
Addition
Subtraction
Money
Mixed Addition and Subtraction


Multiplication and Division
Multiplication
Division
Mixed Bag


Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
Fractions
Decimals
Percentages
Mixed Bag


Shape and Space
2-d Shape
3-d Shape
Symmetry
Coordinates and Direction
Angles
Transformations


Measures
Length
Weight
Time
Capacity
Area and Perimeter
Temperature


Data Handling
Graphs
Sorting Diagrams
Averages
Probability

www.cyffredin.co.uk - maths website of the week

http://www.cyffredin.co.uk/

William’s home page



This website provides a collection of activities to help enrich mathematical learning using simple materials.

Shapes and Patterns made from Paper Circles
  • Geometrical Activities with Magic Paper: This is the starting point for a range of practical activities that use a simple resource, paper. Use paper to explore mathematical concepts, develop creativity, and encourage deduction, problem solving and a delight in mathematical shapes.
  • Window Patterns with Geometrical Shapes: These pages show you how to make exciting mathematical patterns by overlapping colored paper shapes. When they are displayed on the window new geometrical shapes emerge. It is an excellent activity in creating, and exploring standard mathematical shapes. It is ideal for small groups or the whole class.
  • Where There Are No Instruments: In classrooms around the world the blackboard remains the major form of visual communication. . In many of these classrooms teachers have few if any geometrical instruments. Here are some ideas on drawing simple mathematical shapes and constructions using only what are available everywhere in the book.

Geometrical Activities with a piece of String: Using string figures in mathematics

  • A Simple Number Generating Device: Making a number roller from a strip of card
  • Multicultural Mathematics: Activities with closed loops such as rangavalli
  • Beadwork Mathematics: Can be used as a resource in teaching geometry, and number and relationships.
  • Match Mathematics: Puzzles, games and investigations with matches and matchboxes
  • Simple Calculator Activities: These could be the basis for activities in any classroom where there is only one calculator.
Activities with Squared Paper: Improve learning in mathematics in poorly resourced Classrooms using squared blackboards and squared paper.
  • Tangrami: A folding paper puzzle
  • Pebble Puzzles: Collection of thinking and reasoning puzzles