Spring 2008 Assignments
Information on "The Prescribed
Format for Lesson Plans" can be found by following the
link below.
The
Prescribed Format for Lesson Plans
Go Directly to:
1) Be sure you can log on to
the campus computer network. Access your Groupwise e-mail account and send an e-mail message to your instructor.
If you have another e-mail account that you prefer to use, go through the steps
to have your SU Groupwise e-mail forwarded to that preferred account.
2) Access the internet and do the following:
a. Access your instructor's web
page. Find the home page for this course.
b. Follow the appropriate links and read the "Tentative
Course Syllabus" and the "Instructors'
Policies."
c. Explore some of the links for this course at http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~dccathcart/MathReasoning/ReasoningLinks.html
3) Carefully review Polya's
four-step problem solving process. Look at the link
http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~dccathcart/MathReasoning/Polya.html.
4) Write up an illustration of Polya's four-step process in addressing the "Counting Triangles Problem" stated at http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~dccathcart/MathReasoning/ClassSessions/session_2.pdf.
5) Follow the link NCTM Standards for Reasoning and Proof to the NCTM's standards for reasoning and proof. Click on the "6-8" tab to view the "Reasoning and Proof Standard for Grades 6-8." Click on the "Access Full Document" link at the bottom of the page and read the full text of the standard. Write a brief, one paragraph, reaction to the commentary for the strandard.
Assignment #2 - Due on Wednesday, February 13
1. Read the article Twenty Questions about Mathematical Reasoning by following the link http://www.stolaf.edu/people/steen/Papers/reason.html. Write a brief reaction or response to one of the questions.
2. Explore the sequence of hexagonal numbers or the sequences on the handout "Sequences, Method of Finite Differences, Method of Ratios, Functional Equations."
Assignment #3 - Due on Wednesday, February 20
1. Work through the handout "Some Notes on Reasoning, Logic, and Proof" completing as many of the exercises as you can. In particular, see what you can do with the "Challenge Exercise" on the last page.
2. Follow the link http://mdk12.org/assessments/vsc/index.html and review the School Improvement in Maryland School Standards for Pk-8 mathematics. In particular look at the mathematics standards for 5-8. Comment on any standards that may be relevant for our work in this course.
3. Try working through the on-line tutorial on logic.
Assignment #4 - Due on Wednesday, February 27
1. Read the segment "What should be the teacher's role in developing reasoning and proof in grades 6 through 8?"
2. On the web sit for "School Improvement in Maryland," visit the page for "Goal 1 Functions and Algebra." Consider Indicators 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 and review the sample lesson plan for those indicators. Develop a sample lesson plan of your own to address a non-linear aspect of the indicator 1.1.1 or 1.1.2.
3. Consider the "Challenge Exercise" in the "Notes on Reasoning Logic and Proof." Can you argue the truth or falsity of the given claim?
Assignment #5 - Due on Wednesday, March 5
1. Chapter 1 The Mathematics of Voting.
2. Try some Chapter 1 Exercises: 1, 3, 17, 27, 37, 41, 45
3. Take a look at some teacher-created lessons on "Election Theory" produced for the Discrete Mathematics Project at the University of Colorado.
Assignment #6 - Due on Wednesday, March 12
1. Chapter 5 Euler Circuits
2. Try some Chapter 5 Exercises: 1, 5, 11, 17, 21, 23, 27, 41a, 43a, 64
3. Take a look at some teacher-created lessons on "Graph Theory" produced for the Discrete Mathematics Project at the University of Colorado.
Assignment #7 - Due on Wednesday, March 26
1. Chapter 6 The Traveling Salesman Problem
2. Try some Chapter 6 Exercises: 29, 33, 39, 45
Assignment #8 - Due on Wednesday, April 2
1. Chapter 9 Spiral Growth in Nature
2. Try some Chapter 9 Exercises: 3, 7, 9, 13, 15, 17, 27, 29, 31, 33, 65, 66, 68
Assignment #9 - Due on Wednesday, April 23
1. Chapter 10 The Mathematics of Population Growth
2. Try some Chapter 10 Exercises: 5, 9, 19, 23, 24, 35, 38, 45, 47, 75
Assignment #10 - Due on Wednesday, April 30
1. Chapter 11 Symmetry
2. Try some Chapter 11 Exercises: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 15, 19, 21, 23, 28, 31, 35, 37, 39, 41, 57, 73
Assignment #11 - Due on Wednesday, May 7
1. Chapter 13 Descriptive Statistics
2. Try some Chapter 13 Exercises: 5, 6, 29, 30, 37, 43, 45, 46