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Teaching Mathematics to
Children
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ILLUMINATIONS WEBSITE
Improves the teaching and learning of mathematics
By Jim Hetherman
The Illuminations Website helps improve the teaching and learning of mathematics for all students by providing lesson plans for teachers based on the principles and standards for school mathematics as identified by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
Two lesson plans that help demonstrate how the Website accomplishes its goals are High Temperature and Plastic Packaging. In the Illuminations Website fashion, both these lessons plans are built around familiar activities and circumstances of daily life, and linked to the relevant NCTM standards.
High Temperature
The High Temperature lesson focuses on the application of mathematics to a real-world situation. Students must deal with data to complete an organized chart for the purpose of transferring information to a graph. The data are either the high or low temperature for ten cities.
Following a rule of thumb that is given to add 18 degrees to the temperature at 6:00 A.M. to find the high temperature for the day, students complete the temperature chart by either adding or subtracting 18 degrees from the temperature given for each city depending on whether the chart gives the high or low temperature for the city. Students then plot these values on a graph using blue dots for the low temperatures and red dots for the high temperatures.
In an extension of this lesson, students lookup the high temperatures for ten major cities from their local newspaper, figure the low temperature using the rule of thumb, and list the cities from the lowest temperature to the highest.
This is a particularly good lesson plan because it helps students:
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communicate using the tools and language of mathematics
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recognize and actually use connections among mathematical ideas
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build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving
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collect, organize, and display relevant data for analysis and for answering questions.
The High Temperature lesson should help students learn to use the tools and concepts of mathematics in their everyday lives.
Plastic Packaging
The Plastic Packaging lesson not only focuses on the application of mathematics to a real-world situation, but also involves a project where students could use math information to actually help improve the environment. In preparing students for the project, teachers explain the recycling number system: Numbers run from 1 to 7; the lower the number, the easier the item is to recycle.
Students and their families collect ten plastic containers. First they predict how many containers will have a symbol that indicates it can be recycled. They then examine the containers and sort them by the recycling number shown on the container from one to seven. Containers without a marking are placed in a separate category as well. Each student then fills-in a horizontal bar graph that shows the number of containers with each specific marking or with no marking. On the basis of the graph results, each student predicts whether the next plastic item that he or she picks up will have a recycling number, and if it will have a number, what that number will be.
Students use the information they collect as a basis for a discussion about what they and their families can do to improve the environment not only by using products with recyclable containers, but also by using products with containers that are easier to recycle. Continuing to keep track of and plot on a graph their family's recycling efforts will provide the student and their families with a visual representation of how well they are doing.
Reflection
The communications and connections aspects of the Illuminations lesson plans are especially valuable. Mathematics becomes a learning activity not just reserved for the brainy elite, but a process that is part and parcel of everyone's life. I highly recommend this website as a resource for teachers, students and their parents from preschool thru twelfth grade.
The Illuminations website URL is http://illuminations.nctm.org
Jim Hetherman is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. You may send comments about this article to Jim@Burbank.com. Please include the phrase BURBANK ILLUMINATIONS ARTICLE in the subject of your email.
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