Math 46
Spring 2010 Home Page
Green Sheet

Class 16, Thursday, June 3, 2010
Take home exams turned in. We also learned how to play the game "frac-jack" and practiced using manipulatives of two colors to do arithmetic with positive and negative numbers.

We began working on decimals and percentages, and did some group work on those concepts. Here's George Vaccaro's post about the overcharge by Verizon, that we discussed. You'll also find interesting comments by a variety of readers, as well as Vaccaro's recording of his conversation with the Verizon representative, which is ... entertaining in a way.

We will finish chapter 7 next Thursday, and during that class, in relation to the concept of proportion, we will do the "Barbie activity." Please bring any Barbie or Ken or similar dolls you might have access to next Thursday - thanks!

Do homework through section 7.2. Chapter 6 homework will be due on Tuesday.

Class 15, Thursday, May 27, 2010
We worked on take-home exams, and did more of the fraction problems. Also learned about Egyptian fractions.

Class 14, Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Class 13, Thu., May 20, 2010
We went over new material on fractions. Do homework through section 6.2.

You will have the take home exam emailed to you. If you did not receive it let me know right away.

Class 12, Tue., May 18, 2010
We went over groiup problems, and also chapter 5.

Class 11, Thu., May 13, 2010
We heard reports, and went over some of the next section on error-detectiing codes which use modular arithmetic.

Class 10, Tue., May 11, 2010
We went over group problems. They will be due next Tuesday (the presentation portion!)

Class 9, Th., May 6, 2010
We went over material from sections 4.1 and 4.2. We also assigned group problems for chapter 4. Do homework for section 4.1 and 4.2, and turn in chapter 3 homework on Tuesday. Your papers are due next Thursday.

Here are the PEMDAS replacements class members created:
Princess Esther Made David A Song – Swetlana Velazquez
Pizza-Eating Monsters Don’t Always Share – Jillian Garcia
Pie Eating Makes Dad Act Silly – Jillian Garcia
Principles Eat Microwave Dinners After School – Jillian Garcia
Purple Elephants Might Drive Absolutely Sillily – Meri Roscher
Please Eat Many Doughnuts At Shootouts – David Nguyen
Paranoid Extraterrestrials Make Destructive Alien Stunguns – Xathryn Choo
Placebo Effect May Damage All Statistics – Xathryn Choo
Peanuts Eggs my doughnuts and salami – Yesenia Esquivel
Politely Excuse My Dad And Sister – Yesenia Esquivel
Polly Eats Milk Duds And Snickers – Ermalinda Peralez
Paid Executives May Divert Accounts Soon – Matthew Lubinsky
Please Excuse My Damn Arithmetic System – Jackelyn Lewis

	A	B	C	D	E
4.1 10,17	Kate	Brian	William	Aline	Hirad
4.1 18,19	Xathryn	Yesenia	Arjun	Nicole	Ermalinda
4.1 25,30	Meri	Marc	Avantika	David	Jung Eun
4.2 9,11	Mathew	Jackelyn	Niki	Ying	Svetlana
4.3 19, 20	Yi
4.4 13,15	Jessica	Jillian	Stevem	Kevin	Sammy

 

Class 8, Tue., May. 4, 2010
We learned about the Brazil street math study and went over homework problems. We also went over sections 3.5 and 3.6 on estimation/mental arithmetic and calculator usage. Please find your own memory phrase for PEMDAS and bring to class on Thursday. Here is a link to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which I mentioned in class.

Chapter 3 is due next Tuesday, the paper is due next Thursday, May 13. do homework through end of chapter 3.

Class 7, Th., Apr. 29, 2010
We went over exam 1 and sections 3.3. and 3.4.
Please bring a calculator to class on Tuesday, as we will go over use of calculators. It should be a scientific or graphing calculator.

You have a short paper on a subject related to the course that catches your interest due iat the end of next week (Thursday, Feb. 11) and worth 5% of your grade. Due date Tuesday, May. 11. Here's the description of the essay:
Report on an article or chapter from a popular book about mathematics or math education. The report will be one to two pages long, typewritten, (it must be at least 600 words), and will cover the mathematics from one to several chapters of a book from the following list; other books or sources may also be used. You must use published material, not just web sites, unless you get permission from the instructor, and you MUST cite your sources. (A citation should include title, author, publisher, and publication date.) A short oral report to the class will also be required.
You should include in what you write and talk about:
(1) why you chose this topic,
(2) what you learned, and
(3) what you think about the subject in question.

Examples of books with mathematical content:
The Mathematical Tourist and Islands of Truth, by Ivars Peterson.
Any of the books of Martin Gardner on mathematics (over 15 titles).
Game, Set, Math and Does God Play Dice by Ian Stewart, or other titles on math by Stewart.
The Mathematical Experience by Davis and Hersh.
A Number For Your Thoughts and Numbers At Work and At Play by Stephen P. Richards.
Tilings and Patterns by Grunbaum and Shepard.
Mathematical Snapshots by Steinhaus.
Mathematics: The New Golden Age by Keith Devlin, or other titles by Devlin.
The Emperor's New Mind by Roger Penrose.
The Mathematics of Games by John Beasley.
Archimedes' Revenge by Paul Hoffman
What is Happening in the Mathematical Sciences, ed. by Barry Cipra, Vols 1-5 (on reserve in campus library)

Examples of books with cultural content:
Ethnomathematics by Marcia Ascher.
You can also consult this Multicultural Mathematics Bibliography. Many of the references are in our library, and the bibliography contains call numbers for those that are in the library.
A number of Martin Gardner's books are in the library.

Class 6, Tue., Apr. 27, 2010
We went over section 3.1 and 3.2, and had exam 1.

Class 5, Th., Apr. 22, 2010
We did the "Sorting Junk" activity. Here's a handout on Sorting Junk.

Exam 1 is on Tuesday. It will require a scantron. Here's a study guide for the first exam. Include problem 16 in the study guide, which is from section 3.1, but not problem 17. Here's another old exam 1 for you to look at. Have your homework through the end of chapter 2, and have your portfolio and journal entries current on Tuesday. Also turn in Patterns and Modular Arithmetic. But work on homework through the end of section 3.2, and we will discuss on Tuesday.

Class 4, Tue., Apr. 20, 2010
We went over modular arithmetic, also material on arithmetic operations, and some other problems from chapter 1.
First exam is rescheduled for Tuesday, Apr. 27, bring a scantron.
Do homework through section 2.4.

Class 3, Tue., April 13, 2010
We went over modular arithmetic and the Fibonacci numbers. Chapter 1 and the Fibonacci assignment due Tuesday.

Class 2, Thu., April 8, 2010
We played the "take-away" game with 1,2, and 3 objects per turn, and used it as an introduction to modular arithmetic.
We also saw connections between several sequences of numbers: Fibonacci numbers, squares, triangular numbers, and the elements of the "Pascal" triangle, and learned about the history of these concepts.
We saw how the pigeonhole principle explains a "mind-reading" magic trick.
Do homework through section 1.3.
Turn in your math autobiography on Tuesday.
Work on Patterns and Modular Arithmetic, be ready to turn it in next Thursday.

Class 1, Tue., April 6, 2010
(1) Get your textbook! (See green sheet.)
(2) Assignment: Ch. 1.1 (see problems below).
(3) We worked on the pattern game and associated problems.
(4) We worked on the "frogs on a log" puzzle. Continue to work on this, see below.
(5) Put together your portfolio, a looseleaf notebook with these sections: