Fun Math

Fun Math is a math website by Cynthia Lanius from Rice University.  It has some very interesting  real life units.

For instance she has one called the Mathematics of Cartography or the math of maps.  She starts with what is a map, the history of map making and offers several math problems involving the use of maps from rate/time/distance to systems of equations.  She includes teacher lesson plans.

Another two activities use small mathematical tricks to use with calendars.  They are cool because Cynthia even provides the math to show why the tricks work.  I think its great because these tricks apply to any month you choose.

Another activity has to do with graphing stress as a rate of change.  The activity asks questions which help the  students interpret the graph.  I like that.   Too often, students do not get a chance to practice reading and understanding graphs.  Furthermore, there are three other graphs for students to practice these skills.  At the end, she shows the answers to the questions on the first graph.

Finally, she has a lovely fraction activity using pattern blocks both real and on-line.  Its cool because she is asking students to look for relationships among the various pattern blocks.  Although many students have fractions down pretty well, they are often weak in seeing relationships that exist between the math and reality.  This is a good way to help students develop the understanding.

Give it a look to see what materials can be used in your classroom to help create a better understanding of the materials.  Its a fun site.