The author looks at the image of the triangle and provides suggestions for teachers to expand children's perception of this geometric form. Studies have shown that when most children are asked to identify shapes, in particular triangles, they identify the equilateral triangle as the "true triangle." This article provides an overview of…

Modern geometry teaching in schools in Japan was modeled on the pedagogies of western countries. However, the core ideas of these pedagogies were often radically changed in the process of adaptation, resulting in teaching differing fundamentally from the original models. This paper discusses the radical changes the pedagogy of a German mathematics…

"Saxon Math" focuses on fundamental mathematics skills, targeting children from kindergarten through grade 12. This report focuses on middle school math, defined as grades 6 through 9. The 6th grade curriculum covers simplifying expressions containing parentheses, graphing functions, and understanding ratios and proportions. The 7th…

Background: Research is proposed for preservice secondary mathematics teachers to develop and use reading strategies in math classrooms. Purpose: to determine if increased instruction on using specific reading strategies in secondary mathematics classrooms significantly impacts a) the type of reading-specific instructional strategies used, b)…

"Transition Mathematics" aims to increase 7th- through 12th-grade students' skills in applied arithmetic, pre-algebra, and pre-geometry. This one-year curriculum also addresses general application to different wordings of problems, types of numbers, and contexts for problems and aims to promote mathematical reading skills. The curriculum…

This report presents highlights of the results for fourth-and eighth-grade students in Puerto Rico for the 2003 and 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. The NAEP mathematics assessment was administered to public school students in Puerto Rico for the first time in 2003. Although NAEP had previously administered…

Background: There is much support for using cooperative methods, since important instructional aspects, such as elaboration of new information, can easily be realized by methods like "jigsaw." However, the impact of providing students with additional help like a questioning training and potential limitations of the method concerning the (minimum)…

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) "Special Education at a Glance," which includes a copy of the "Guide to Planning and Assessing School-Based Special Education Programs," provides in a single document, information about the special education population at each Montgomery County (Maryland public school, including…

Presents 5 activities for the K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8 grade levels and for in the home in which students explore the concept of triangle through cooperative open-ended investigations. Provides related reproducible worksheets. (MDH)

These excerpts from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards support the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Resource Kit by offering some context for discussing the teaching of algebra and geometry seen in the videotapes that are also part of the kit. The Standards describe the mathematics content…

The main focus of the study was to describe how students of various ages established the truth of their ideas in school geometry. Thirty-two students in grades 2, 5, 7, and in a high school geometry class were interviewed. Formal proof was used in less than 1% of the student arguments. Second and 5th graders were most likely to convince themselves…

This document lists mathematics objectives for Boston high school students. All objectives are presented in two columns. The left-hand column states each objective in general terms and gives an idea of its scope. The right-hand column gives a specific example of what students should be able to do when the objective is achieved. Objectives are…

Using license plates to generate random number pairs, students can calculate an approximate value for pi. The author views this approach as easier to understand than Buffon's needle. (SD)

An activity involving comparison of boxes constructed is described. (SD)

Describes a theory concerning the formation of soap films which enables this technique to be applied to problems requiring the minimization of the surface area between fixed boundaries. (Author/CP)