Noting that everyday creativity often requires imaginative insight, this book provides opportunities for children and adults to invent and problem solve by confronting puzzling scenarios that invite visual imagination. Each of the 71 activities in the book begins with a scenario that promotes speculative imagination. In the creative- and…

Reports investigation of the first phase of problem solving, i.e., the awareness of mental operations, which uses cognitive process instruction to focus student attention on their thinking processes. Evaluation of students' ability to recall componential operations involved in familiar tasks indicates improvement in problem solving is an…

Reviews current theories of language teaching and learning. Considers thinking and problem solving as the impetus to linguistic growth and change. Encourages teachers to devise genuine problem solving tasks for young children that begin by observing/examining and end in expression through writing. (RL)

Describes how to build a classroom museum developed by students to provide an ongoing learning experience. Offers tips on generating ideas through class discussion, assigning facilitating roles associated with museums, developing exhibits, including interpretation, and sharing the museum with others. Students who have created their own museum…

Describes a partnership project where each fourth and fifth grade classroom of an elementary school has a "buddy class" at a neighboring middle school. Elementary and middle school students work together in solving scientific or mathematical problems. Helps students at both schools improve their math and science skills as well as their…

All About Us is a statistical investigation that also involves social studies, language arts, problem solving, and mathematical communication. A fourth-grade class designed a short survey to solicit information from British pen pals to compare typical fourth-grade students in England with themselves. They collected and analyzed data, drew…

Presents activities which highlight major concepts of linear programming. Demonstrates how technology allows students to solve linear programming problems using exploration prior to learning algorithmic methods. (DDR)

Custom mapping, an experiential learning strategy used in adventure education, provides a general metaphoric activity and then requires the group to customize it into their own "meta-map." This approach encourages collaboration, gives the group a high degree of autonomy in developing creative solutions, and has the potential to generate…

Explores what is important when choosing a mathematics word problem and when modifying it to suit particular students' backgrounds and cultures. For example, potentially good problems have multiple entry and exit points which can have several right answers, blending of different mathematical ideas, linkages to problems in other situations, and…

Students investigate the concept of motion by making simple paper airplanes and flying them in the classroom. Students are introduced to conversion factors to calculate various speeds. Additional activities include rounding decimal numbers, estimating, finding averages, making bar graphs, and solving problems. Offers ideas for extension such as…

Listed are three activities that illustrate using a spreadsheet as a problem-solving tool and for developing an understanding of relationships between variables. Each activity includes objective, procedure, example spreadsheet, and extra challenges. (KR)

Described is a nonmajor mathematics course taught using computers and lab experiments. Included are the challenge, solution, description of the first class, problems, successes, the syllabus, student comments, and the conclusion. (KR)

An activity for grades 6-10 designed to allow students to explore a hundred chart to discover patterns is presented. Discussed are materials, objectives, and procedures. Three worksheets with answers are provided, and an extension activity is suggested. (CW)

Reported is whether and how mathematics has changed during the 75 years of the Mathematical Association of America's (MAA) existence. The progress of mathematics is organized into 9 concepts, 2 explosions, and 11 developments. (KR)

Presents the story of Linda Brown and the Supreme Court case of "Brown v. Board of Education" for a classroom activity on segregation and discrimination. Stimulates discussion and critical thinking, and provides a historical understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment and the segregation issue. (NL)