preclectic.com

Educators and students are visiting the CDC’s  2009 H1N1 Flu website for frequent updates. They’re using technology to enrich their understanding of the disease. That’s fortunate. Why? Science Daily and other sources report that computer models indicate a rapid vaccine rollout is effective in reducing infection rates; however, frustrating shortages of the H1N1 vaccine make the quick and thorough vaccination of the population unlikely. Help your pupils make better health-related choices. Teach them how to use FluTracker to keep up with the spread of the disease.

Related links:

• For timely news about major epidemics and outbreaks, visit the World Health Organization’s informative Disease Outbreak News Center.
• It’s a good time to revisit Peter Haggett’s insightful book, the Geographic Structure of Epidemics. Interested? If so, some of the text of Haggett’s work is available via Google Book Search. Hagget’s work explores concepts such as diffusion waves, what epidemics are, and how we can construct practical models of the ways in which epidemics spread.
• Put social networking to good use. Mashable’s How To Use Social Media for Better Health is a must-read guide for individuals who want to use technology to avoid illness.

math, numbers disease, epidemics, graph, health

Mathematics involves much, much more than adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Math has the potential to be an intensely engaging study of patterns and relationships. Math can be a doorway to exciting new ways of thinking and seeing the world around us. We just have to awaken a desire within our students to recognize and embrace what math has to offer. A great place to start is art and design.

Some art and design resonates with order and internal consistency. Greg Egan is a science fiction author and computer programmer. When programming, Greg uses math to create impressive products. His engaging work is an excellent example of how the simplicity and complexity of math can be combined to create stunning works of art that foster higher level thinking. His site contains an amazing applets gallery full of math-powered images. For example, have students take a look at his applet called Escher. Ask them one or more of the following questions:

• Have you ever seen anything like this? If so, where? Was it in a video game, an advertisement, a design on clothing, on a building, or something that occurs in nature?
  
• Is there a pattern in the image below? How can you prove that your answer is correct?
• If we want to make a copy of this image, what resources offline or online might we use to accomplish the task? What are the steps we’d have to make?
• Assuming it was your job to generate designs like this one, how much money would you charge someone who asked you to create a similar design? Would you charge a high fee because it’s difficult to replicate such a design or would you charge a low fee because it’s easy to replicate such a design? What supports your answer?
  

In Greg’s words, this applet is “inspired by the conflicting orientation cues that are used throughout the artwork of M.C. Escher. The technique of projecting selected faces from hypercubes is adapted from deBruijn’s method for quasiperiodic tilings.” The topic of (geometric) tiling is an excellent springboard for mathematical thinking. Opening students’ eyes to the world of tiling is a powerful means of helping them become cognizant of the beauty and logic of mathematics.

Related links:

• Need an introduction to tiling? You’re in luck. The Geometry Center at Science U has what you need.
• It’s conceivable that your students might be able to identify the 17 plane symmetry groups.
• Do you keep up with Math in the Media? You might want to start exploring this nifty site.  For starters, read a story about Medieval Islamic quasi-periodic tilings.
• Dr. Steffen Weber has a number of JAVA-powered, wireframe crystallographic polyhedra that students will enjoy exploring. He also has a number of other math-related JAVA applets as well.

numbers, visualization

If you’re teaching students about the beauty of mathematics and haven’t heard of Murray Bourne, allow me to introduce you to this wonderful fellow! He’s the impetus behind a site called Interactive Mathematics. Enjoy!

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numbers

If you teach elementary mathematics, stop what you’re doing and drop by the flash-powered Ptolemy Primitives page. You’ll be glad you did. Designed by Alec McEachran, a math teacher/software developer, this impressive web-based resource gives students an engaging means of visualizing the structure of numbers, in the context of their prime factors. For even more mathematical musings, read Alec’s blog.

numbers interactive, math, mathematics

Here’s a nifty way to practice using interactive whiteboards such as GTCO, Promethean, and SMARTBoard : use the board’s drawing tools to construct a labyrinth. Doing so gives innovative educators and eager students an engaging means of exploring art, mathematics (see Tony Phillips amazing–pun intended–Mazes and Mathematics, for example), and History. Take the plunge. Use your interactive whiteboard to follow a few simple directions and see if you can draw a labyrinth.

Related resources:

• How to Draw Mazes is an excellent site to visit if labyrinths appeal to your pupils. Note, however, that labyrinths are not mazes.
• AllThingsLabyrinth is worth a visit, especially the creative, animated explanation for drawing a Chartres Labyrinth. Any teacher who can replicate the animated illustration using an interactive whiteboard’s screen-capture feature is on the way to becoming well-versed in using the device’s tools and resources.
• The Maricopa Learning eXchange (MLX), a site that shares a wealth of ideas, examples, and resources, has a nifty How to Draw a Labyrinth “packing slip” that’s sure to please.

art, numbers

I teach a class at a university near my home. Recently, one my students told me about about an assignment in one of the other classes she’s taking. As part of her assignment she’s expected to describe and explain information contained within spreadsheets. She noted how tedious it was to sit through spreadsheet-dominated presentations from her peers and opined that there had to be a more engaging way to get the essential information locked within the confines of all those rows and columns.

I agreed.

“Why don’t you and your classmates liberate that data and make it easier for your audience understand it?” I asked. I suggested that she pay a visit to a few of my favorite data visualizations resourecs:

• 73 Free Designer Quality Excel Chart Templates courtesy of the wildly witty Pointy Haired Dilbert over Chandoo.org,
• the juicy answer to analysis paralysis over at Chart Chooser and,
• a certifiably spiffy site known as Verifiable.

I’m betting that things are a little more interesting in her class these days.

numbers data, productivity, visualization

WallStats.com has an impressive visual guide to how Federal tax dollars are spent. The image was constructed by Jess Bachman, a freelance graphic designer who lives in Burlington, Vermont.

Note: It’s possible that tons of people are going to be hitting WallStats.com so visitors may have to try looking at the image over at HistoryShots.

numbers, visualization data, finance, money, politics

Hmmm. It’s déjà vu all over again. We had a Friday the 13th last month. Well, since you’re looking, why not read 13 facts about Friday the 13th?

numbers humor, number, numbers, odd