Website

National Debt and Wars 10-12 Grade Statistics/Advanced Algebra This is a lesson that deals with the exponential curve and its characteristics. Students will use information gathered here to construct graphical representations and formulate a model that represents the national debt over the course of given time periods. They will use graphing calculators as well as computer graphing utilities to show display the information and come up with functions that describe the national debt. It deals with different details of modeling exponential graphs such as the scale, the percent change and the deviation of data from an exponential curve. It also reinforces the students data display skills using excel or other computer programs. I really like the questions it provides as well as the assessments. The extensions are also a great attribute to this lesson because it brings more relevan time frames such as presidential terms which the students will be more familair with.

Ideas that Lead to Probability 9-12 Statistics/Algebra This is a great introductory lesson that provides students with the background of probability and a great knowledge base to expand on in future lessons.Probability will be introduced, defined and analyzed in this lesson. Students will learn what it means to have a fair chance at any outcome as well as the difference between theorhetical and experimental probability. They will also be using a random number generator for the first time. They will do this while playing a race car game applet using dice and deciding if they really have a fair chance of winning depending on the numbers they choose or how many numbers they can choose. They can also run experiments to see how many trials would need to be run in order to reach a certian percentage and if it is even possible at times. There is room for expansion in this lesson as they can be introduced to the Law of Large Numbers. This lesson does a great job of providing assessment worksheets along with supplemental lessons and discussions for preparation for upcoming lessons.

Track the Trends 9-12 Statistics/Algebra This lesson is a great lesson that ties in many different aspects of statistics, algebra, technology and research. I believe that research is often overlooked in math even though it is the basis for conjecture (experience helps us the most with making predicitions.) This lesson is more of a project with many different parts that the students will be required to tie together. The math involved is exponential functions (growth or decay). It asks the students to explain outside effects variables and limits that may not always follow the trend of the model. The students will use excel and graphing calculators to create the graphs and the exponential regression models. After all this is completed, the students need to find as much information from the data they collected and organize it for a project. They have three choices for the project: a slideshow, a newsletter or a wiki, all of which use some form of technology. Doing this project and presenting it to the class will force students to critically think about the information they have found and use it to make predicitons and find values. I really like how in depth this lesson is and how it focuses on every aspect of data collection and statistics.