During their middle and early high school years, students generally finalise their attitude towards mathematics and their perception of themselves as students of mathematics, in terms of aptitude, motivation, interest, and competence. Therefore, giving them varied opportunities to foster a positive and successful approach to the study of…

Educational games provide a fun introduction to new material and a review of mathematical algorithms. Specifically, games can be designed to assist students in developing mathematical skills as an incidental consequence of the game-playing process. The programs presented in this article are adaptations of board games or television shows that…

Building physical models relative to a concept can be an important activity to help students develop and manipulate abstract ideas and mental models that often prove difficult to grasp. One such concept is "time". A method for helping students understand the cyclical nature of time involves the construction of a Time Zone Calculator through a…

Described is the calculator's place in the classroom and its potential for reshaping our computationally oriented curriculum. Activities are suggested for ways calculators can effectively be used to develop four types of mathematical thought. (Author/DS)

This article details an exploration of exponential decay and growth relationships using M&M's and dice. Students collect data for mathematical models and use graphing calculators to make sense of the general form of the exponential functions. (Contains 10 figures and 2 tables.)

This article describes a classroom activity in which a solar eclipse is simulated and a mathematical model is developed to explain the data. Students use manipulative devices and graphing calculators to carry out the experiment and then compare their results to those collected in Koolymilka, Australia, during the 2002 eclipse.

This article presents several activities (some involving graphing calculators) designed to guide students to discover several interesting properties of Fibonacci numbers. Then, we explore interesting connections between Fibonacci numbers and matrices; using this connection and induction we prove divisibility properties of Fibonacci numbers.

This article addresses some important issues in mathematics instruction at the middle and secondary levels, including the structuring of a district's mathematics program; the choice of textbooks and use of calculators in the classroom; the need for more rigorous lesson planning practices; and the dangers of teaching to standardized tests rather…