math and science activities
TRANSCRIPT
Mathematics activities Science activities
Comenius 2003/2006 Nobel projectComenius 2007/2009 SMILE project
Scuola Media Luigi StefaniniTeacher Graziano Scotto di Clemente GP Moroldo F. Tronchin
Geometrical activitiesThe geometrical image of the world
From drawing in pencil to 3D CAD A research on polyhedra (from Platon
to Euler) and the Internet resources An hypertext
The strands Give a variety of challenges and tools (physical objects,
pen, ruler and compass, DGS), to take account of the pupils’ different attitudes and learning styles( challenge, technology, support)
Stimulate interest, curiosity, motivation ( fun, motivation)
apply mathematical knowledge to real world situations ( real world)
Invite children to develop their own projects and to share each other ideas and knowledge (self guided learning, cooperation)
We have worked on: Drawings in axonometric projection many common solids:
prisms, pyramids, cones, cylinders…
Designing with a simple 3D CAD the same solids and some objects
Exploring the Internet resources to search interactive applications and informations about some particular polyhedra
Studying the geometrical properties of these polyhedra until to find the Euler’s rule
Solving traditional problems on volumes, area….
Solid geometry and “traditional aspects” in the Italian curriculum Volume, surfaces, area and other geometrical
properties (apothem…..and so on..)
The three-dimensional representation: the axonometric projection
Solid geometry and ICT: We are testing a simple 3D CAD to design polyedra and virtual objects.
The pupils have:1. To fix the shape of solid base2. To extrude the height3. To define the kind of material4. To choose the plane (x,y,z) of representation5. ….
Solid geometry and ICT
Some resources from Internet to display better the third dimension
• WRL animations• CABRI animations• Java animations• Two simple free software: Cartesio (CAD from Venice University) and Poly
Some stages in the history of geometry The Platonic solids: cube, tetrahedron,
octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron
The 13 Archimedean solids
The Euler’s rule (f = faces number; v= vertices number; s = edges
number)
To stimulate interest, curiosity, motivation: some links between geometry and art
Art and geometry during the Italian Renaissance
Escher Some images in the next slide
All these things are present in our hypertext, synthetically.
Leonardo da Vinci Giulia Escher
Dynamic geometry Search geometry in the real world
(for pupils 11-12 years old)
Using LOGO Using Cabri II Plus
Dynamic geometry and LOGO
Free Software: Logo for Microsoft Windows, Softronics Inc,
www.softronix.com
The Turtle’s motion and the construction of shapes:
Some cognitive aims - To be able to:
• build a sequence from a starting point to a foreseen result
• compare the concept of angle as change in direction with the Euclidean concept of angle as space between two lines starting from a common point
• compare the trace left by the turtle with the Euclidean concept of edge
• compare the idea of circle as “the limit” of regular polygons with the Euclidean definition of circle as set of all points in the plane at a given distance from a fixed point
Geometrical activitiesThe geometrical image of the world
Renew the “ancient” Calculemus by Leibniz and replace it by the new one Modelemus (J.M. Laborde cit. in Cabri2004 – Rome, September)
Using Cabri II Plus for analysing real objects
Motivation…Taking account of the pupils’ different attitudes and learning styles with a variety of challenges and tools ( the rule of technology ….)
Beginning from pupils’ curiosities and interestsOr
Beginning from real world situations
Developing their own projects and sharing each other ideas and knowledge (self guided learning, cooperation)
We are working on:•Looking around with a digital camera
•Modelling with Cabri: polygons, regular polygons, geometric transformations (symmetries, translations, rotations…)
Examples
•Searching the geometry inside real objects
What we expect The shift from a static knowledge to a
dynamic one
A better integration between perceptive-motor aspects and symbolic-representative aspects
A good training of geometric guessing
Geometrical constructions in triangles(Orthocenter, Centroid, Incenter and Circumcircle)
Teacher F Tronchin
Dynamic Geometry versus by Hand Geometry
PUPILS INVOLVED 45 pupils in their 7th school year (2^ Media) in autumn42 pupils in their 6th school year (1^ Media) in spring
BY HAND
Objectives:
1. To develop manual ability by using simple school tools
2. To improve precision in geometrical drawing
3. To reinforce the knowledge of some basic geometric concepts like those of altitude of a triangle, angle bisector, midpoint of a segment and perpendicular bisector
BY USING THE COMPUTER WITH CABRI (Dynamic geometry)
Objectives1. To acquire the ability of using this software and its
specific terminology
2. To reinforce more dynamically the way to find the orthocenter, centroid, incenter and circumcircle of a triangle
3. To develop the ability of evaluating the correctness of the learned procedures
CONSIDERATIONS
The two methods develop different abilities. We don’t want to demonstrate which one is better or if we have to substitute the traditional geometry with an interactive software. By using both we want to develop complementary abilities and reinforce the knowledge of some geometric concepts.
In particular by using Cabri, because it gives the possibility to build, correct and modify figures rapidly, pupils have a more relaxed approach to geometry and their geometrical awareness probably increases as well
CHEKS
1. A systematic noting of pupils’ impressions of and reactions on the didactic activities
2. A final questionnaire to evaluate the pupils experience and highlight positive and negative aspects of the two learnng procedures
3. Possible final teachers’ remarks about the effectiveness of the learned methodology
Geometrical constructions in triangles (Orthocenter, Centroid, Incenter and Circumcircle)
By hand versus Cabri
At the end of the activity the pupils have been asked to answer 15 questions, among them the following:
Which ones are the best Cabri features? � It is fun: 17 � It is fast: 15 �It allows me to move geometrical shapes and to understand how points do move: 16 �It makes me aware of what I am doing: 6
And the worse? �It is automatic and does not make me think: 7 �It is boring: 1 �It is automatic and the next time I don’t remember how I have got there: 9 �There is nothing wrong with it: 5
Which ones are the best things about the manual work? �The pleasure of building shapes a little at the time: 9 �The pleasure of working with pencil and manual tools: 6 �Because it is slow it makes me think how I am building it: 12 �None: 3
And the worse? �It is too slow: 6 �It makes me insecure because if I make a mistake I need to start all over: 13 �The drawing is never perfect: 7 �No particular defects:3
Between the best Cabri features, the pupils talked the most about how fun, fast and dynamic it is, while just few think that Cabri makes them more aware of what they are doing. This agrees with the main defect they found in the software i.e. that it is too mechanical.
Of the manual work it is appreciated most the fact that because it is slow it allows you to think about what you are doing. But in the same time it is difficult to correct the mistakes and it is imprecise.
TEACHER’S CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT CABRI
1. Without any doubts all the pupils have fun with it and this reflects positively on the teaching and learning process
2. None of the pupils back off: i.e. the possibility this software gives to correct easily and fast the mistakes make all the students to give it a try. While in the manual work pupils who have difficulties may have hard time and get stuck right from the beginning
3. The fact that the software is “dynamic” betters the awareness especially among those that already works in a methodical way. But pupils who find it difficult to draw, or work in a mechanical way did not change much their way of working using the software
4. It was a must for me to reduce the mechanical side of the software. In order to do so, I constantly went over and over the basis of geometry, I made the pupils reflect on why to choose one way instead of another. I invited them to take measures of angles and sides to verify the validity of their supposition.
5. The dynamic look of the software does not have any equivalent in any hand made drawing and gives a big help in the learning process of the basis of geometry which are better imprinted in the memory of the pupils exactly thanks to the dynamic and visual look of it.
In CONCLUSION …
In agreement with the early statements and what the pupils say (almost all think the methodologies are both good even if some of them would have liked to work more with Cabri), it is my opinion that Cabri can not substitute the traditional geometry. Anyway especially thanks to its dynamic feature it represents an excellent tool to integrate the theoretical knowledge of geometry and its practical aspects. And because it allows the students to try several times it gives teacher the chances to have confrontations over the mistakes they make.
Try and errorAn introduction to “Equations”
For 11-12 years old pupils
Try and error in a closed setAdditive pairs
x + y = N
N {0, 1, 2, 3….., N}
Which are the correct pairs ?
Try and error in a closed setMultiplicative pairs
x * y = N
N {0, 1, 2, 3….., N}
Which are the correct pairs ?
Try and error An introduction to “Equations”
For 13-14 years old pupils
Try and error: algebraic equationsStudy an equation with a single variable
as:
ax+ p = bx +q
where (a,b,p,q) are real numbers
Try and error: algebraic equations
Search the solution of the equation with
Cabri II plus
Science: hand–on activities We live in a “technological sea”: searching an initial
situation (from a problem in the daily life)
Questions… Prior ideas
Selection of questions
Science: hand–on activitiesInvestigations
Direct experimentations conceived and realised by children
Material realisation (search for a technical solution)
Direct or instrument-aided observation, with or without measurement
Science: hand–on activitiesDocumentary research and divulgation
Pupils like teachers
Construction of know-how, knowledge and cultural benchmarks
Science, hands–on activities
Investigations
Direct experimentations conceived and realised by children
Material realisation (search for a technical solution)
Direct or instrument-aided observation, with or without measurement
How a pile generates electricity
Science: hands–on activities
1. Which couples of metals ….
Some questions during the hands-on activity:
2. Acid or basic or neutral environment…..3. How to connect the circuit….
….trying and checking different hypothesis….
Science: hands–on activitiesAt the end of activities……the best solution.
Science: hands–on activitiesAims
1. to stimulate and raise pupils' curiosity about the technological world
2. to develop process skills, such as observing, questioning, hypothesizing, predicting, investigating, interpreting, and communicating, that play an essential role in helping children develop a scientific way of thinking
3. to promote a direct, active participation of the pupils4. to improve the children’s ability to work independently 5. to take account of the pupils’ different attitudes and learning
styles 6. to create a positive effect on the attitudes the pupils have for
science
Science: hand–on activitiesFrom the mobile – battery
To the lemon/tomato – batteries
An example of activity
Science: hand–on activities and mathematics
Slowbicycle race
Too slow!
This is an activity in which students (11-13 years old) compute the speed at which they rode a bicycle.
Objectives:In this activity students will:
work in teams ride a bicycle as slowly as possible use a stopwatch to measure time record data use multiplication and addition to determine team’s total distance and time use division to calculate team’s average speed compare average speed with other teams to determine which team was the slowest create a bar graph to depict each team’s average speed
Questions to Ask:
1. What was the most difficult part about riding the bike?2. What happens to the speed as the time increases?3. What happens to the speed as the time decreases?
Travel Book Activities: Writing About a Trip
Slowbicycle race
Science activitiesSome experiences on: Electrostatic Elementary electric
circuits Elementary
electromagnetism
With the use of everyday materials
Science activities
Practical executions with:1. A representation, either
schematic or axonometric 2. A design with the proper
dimensions, writing a list of the necessary materials…..
At last the construction and the testing
Science activitiesUsing of ICT to communicate the results to
other pupils:
Short videos hypertext
Dynamic Geometry versus by Hand Geometry
Teacher F. Tronchin
Science: Hands-on Activities in Physics
Teacher GP Moroldo
What factors (mass, length, angle
of oscillation, shape…) affect the
period T of oscillation of a
pendulum?
THE PENDULUM
To answer this question it was important to...
1) …conduct tests always on
small oscillations;2) …use heavy and dense objects
in order to make friction and resistance negligible;
3) …vary one factor at a time.
Pendula with different masses
but the same shape and the
same length have allowed us to
exclude that the mass is a significant variable in
determining T.
The sample weights for scales were o.k.
... but lead fishing weights were our favorites!
We easily verified that length is the most important variable: the change of T is evident!
…the fa
stest
→
…the slowest →
The shortest…
The longest…
MAIN DIFFICULTIES:
1. It’s hard to catch the initial and final time of an oscillation
2. When the length of the pendulum is short, the period is too brief to observe!
SOLUTIONS: time several consecutive oscillations (usually 10) five or six people perform the same test in order to
make an average of the times (possibly discarding “wild” data).
Andrea: 2.61Alex: 2.60Sara: 2.63Luca: 2.59
Francesk: 2.64Gucci: 2.66
G.Paolo: 2.81(discarded)
The arithmetic mean of acceptable values is
2.62 s and it will be used in subsuquent data
processing…
For example, when L = 1,70 m we timed (s)
RESULTS The results of our experiments are shown in the table on the right.
It’s clear that when L increases, T also increases… but which mathematical function can represent this growth? For example, can we predict the period of a pendulum 3.5 m long? (our ceilings are not high enough!)
L (m) T (s)0.00 0.00
0.10 0.71
0.16 0.81
0.18 0.83
0.21 0.93
0.23 0.97
0.32 1.12
0.53 1.45
0.78 1.78
0.86 1.84
1.09 2.08
1.14 2.16
1.39 2.36
1.70 2.62
1.72 2.63
1.79 2.71
1.91 2.77
1.94 2.78
2.08 2.89
2.20 2.98
2.42 3.14
2.76 3.30
3.00 3.46
The pair (0, 0) was actually added by us becouse on
decreasing of the length the period T becomes
smaller and smaller…
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.50
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
L (m)
T (s)
The couples (L ;T) have been analyzed by an appropriate
software(*) which recognises the mathematical function that
represents growth. (3.5 m ; 3.7 s)
(*) Graph 4.3 http://www.padowan.dk/graph/
We can forecast, for example, that a pendulum 3.5 m long will have a period T of about 3.7 s
L (m) T2 (s2)0.00 0.000.10 0.500.16 0.660.18 0.690.21 0.860.23 0.940.32 1.250.53 2.100.78 3.170.86 3.391.09 4.331.14 4.671.39 5.571.70 6.861.72 6.921.79 7.341.91 7.671.94 7.732.08 8.352.20 8.882.42 9.862.76 10.893.00 11.97
We obtained a line that describes how T changes when L changes.
We are used to study mainly straigth lines, some examples of hyperbola and of parabola… but this is so different!
… we had a nice surprise when
we tried to discover how the length determins
the squared period!
0 1 2 30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
L (m)
T2
We finally found something familiar: we recognised that T2
is directly proportional to L and the constant of proportionality
is 4 T2 = 4.L
(0 ; 0)
(1 ; 4)
(2 ; 8)
(3 ; 12)
(0.5 ; 2)
(1.5 ; 6)
Our work concerned only a small part of what pendulum
studies can suggest…
SOME IDEA ABOUT WORKING WITH PENDULUM…
Science: CO2 – an environtmental problemWhat can we study about CO2 in a
school lab, and how?
CO2 and living beings CO2 and rocks
CO2 and human activities
How these different points are linked between them?
Science: CO2 – and living beings
Experiences on:
respirations fermentations
photosyntesis
Verifying the production or the consume of CO2 in different living beings:•Human beings•Yeasts•Green plants
Beer yeasts, used for home pizza
Science: CO2 – and rocksExperiences on the
natural deposits of CO2:
From the gas to the rock
From the rock to the gas
Science: CO2 – and human activities The chemistry of combustion
Global warming – greenhouse effects – CO2……a ” carbon footprint calculator “
A website to analyse our CO2 emissions
http://www.safeclimate.net/calculator/index.php
The first input
The second input about our home transportation
The answer by the CO2 calculator for an input
1. Is it possible to use the CO2 calculator in different classes?
2. What is the perception of the climate changing in the families (interviewing old people, collecting old photos…)
3. What are the data on the climate changing in the different countries?
Science: CO2 – and human activities
An hypothesis of cooperation between classes:
using a Skype conference to describe their researches to another class.
Science: CO2 – and human activities