Featured Topic: Searching the Mathwire.com site

There are currently five different ways to search the Mathwire.com site for specific topics or activities:

1. Search Box: Type a word or phrase in the Search box at the top of the Home or New page to do a Google Search of the site on that word/phrase
2. Alphabetical Listing: Select A-Z at the top of the Home or New page to go to an alphabetical listing of Mathwire.com activities and topics. So, select W to find the Who Has? cards, for instance, or G to find more information on Glyphs. Under S, you'll find Seasonal Math Activities which will take you to a menu for all of the fall and winter math activity collections.
3. Math Standards: Select Math Standards at the top of the Home or New page for a listing of Mathwire.com activities and topics by NCTM Math Standard. Note that this list is still under development, but it's a good place to start looking for activities to address the different standards.
4. Math Topics: Select Math Topics at the top of the Home or New page for a quick reference page to major topics on the site, such as Seasonal Math or Who Has? Activities.
5. Mathwire Archives: Check through the Mathwire Archives to see past issues of the Home pages and past issues of the New pages, organized by month. This small Archives icon is available on both the Home and New pages.

Eventually, the first four search options will appear at the top of each Mathwire page. For now, the Home page is a good place to start any search. Hopefully, these different options will allow users to easily locate information on specific topics.

New to Mathwire.com? The Alphabetical List (A-Z) and the Mathwire Archives are good places for new visitors to start surfing through the site as they present an ordered tour through the activities and topics on the site.

Recent Additions to Mathwire.com

Added on November 12, 2007: Project Euler

Project Euler is a problem-solving site that offers challenging mathematical problems that may be solved by pencil and paper, spreadsheet or using computer programming. Participants must register for the site, and they may then elect to do any of the problems in any order. After solving a problem, the participant enters the answer and receives immediate feedback on whether or not the answer is correct. If the answer is correct, the participant is granted permission to see how others solved the problem. This feature allows participants to view the problem from different perspectives and may increase problem-solving strategies for future problems.

Although designed for adults, this site is appropriate for gifted and talented students who need enrichment within the regular curriculum. Teachers should select some starting problems that guarantee student success. After that, students should be allowed to select their own problems to solve. The free website ensures that students are able to access these problems from home or school.

Many students would also benefit from a small-group approach to solving some of these problems, if that is possible. Thinking about the underlying math concepts and discussing possible approaches would enhance student understanding and improve the likelihood of a successful solution. Students should be encouraged to peruse the list of alternate solutions, as a strategy to enhance their own repertoire of successful problem-solving strategies.

Added on November 11, 2007: Math Activity Themes: Gingerbread Man

This latest addition to the Math Activity Themes series is a collection of Gingerbread Man Math Activities which include Mathwire.com activities from the Winter 2005 and Winter 2006 collections: links to gingerbread man glyphs, math-literature connections and links to gingerbread man collections on the web. The collection also includes several new Mathwire activities: measurement activities, gingerbread man math mats, gingerbread man graphing ideas, two new gingerbread man games and some new gingerbread man problem solving tasks.

Check out the new Gingerbread Man Math Activity Collection for activities and games to enrich your classroom celebrations of gingerbread men and gingerbread houses.

Remember to include the Gingerbread House coordinate graphing activity from the Winter 2005 collection for seasonal practice of graphing skills.

Added on November 10, 2007: Roll a Turkey Game

Little Giraffe's Roll a Turkey Game uses the probability of a single die to complete a turkey. To extend the probability concept, first ask students to predict how many times they will have to toss the die to get all of the turkey parts. Then have students keep a tally of how many times they toss the die to complete their turkey. Lead a class discussion comparing the predictions and actual data to develop students' understanding of the probability of this one-die toss game. Students may use a predotted turkey head and body, if desired.