Equations – Jon Oaks

13 Aug

Matching Activity using Hot Potatoes

By Jon OaksUncategorizedActivity, Equations, Graphs

This week I was asked about an easy way to make an interactive activity in which students would be able to match equations with graphs or descriptions with graphs. I knew that there had to be an easy way to do this that didn’t involve having to know anything about java or any other type of code. My first thought was to use Sharendipity. However, that didn’t work out because I couldn’t figure out how to build a game from scratch in which I would be able to upload my own images of graphs and equations. After a week-long search,…

10 Mar

Games, Activities, and Useful Web Tools.

By Jon OaksUncategorizedActivity, Cell Phone, Desktop Sharing, Equations, Finance, Games, History, I Have Who Has, Integers, Links, Measurement, Proportion, QR Codes, Ratio, Video, Wolfram|Alpha, Worksheets

Here's a rundown of some of the games and activities that I've recently used in the classroom, along with various other useful links that I can see being applicable to learning and education. 1. Ed On Your Own Crossword Puzzles - This particular link from Ed on Your Own has a list of free printable math crossword puzzles for the classroom. Recently I used the One Step Equation Crossword Puzzle and the Two Step Equation Crossword Puzzle with my students. Even the students who were not doing so well with solving equations seem to be doing significantly better after doing these…

03 Mar

Rotten Tomatoes, Linear Equations, Ratio and Proportion

By Jon OaksUncategorizedApplication, Equations, Money, Proportion, Ratio

This problem came about because I was talking about solving the equation 4x + y = - 14 for y and there was a little confusion about how I could subtract 4x from - 14. Although this was really a problem with combining like terms, I figured that now was as good of a time as ever to reinforce the idea of combining like terms. "Yaletta bought an unknown number of tomatoes at $4 each, but when she got home, she found out that all of the tomatoes were rotten. In addition, she checked her receipt and realized that the…

19 Jan

Miscellaneous Links

By Jon OaksUncategorizedActivity, Assessment, Calculator, Equations, Online, Worksheets

After a recent afternoon meeting about statistics, I needed to find a few old links that I had buried away. Well, here are a few odds and ends I found while looking: 1. Virtual Math Lab at Texas A&M - This is a very good resource for College Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, and Beginning Algebra. When I opened my link, it actually opened on 'Absolute Value Equations', which means that's probably what my students were struggling with when I initially discovered this website back in 2009. 2. Quick-and-Dirty Guide to the TI-83, TI-83+, TI-84, and TI-84+ - Although it seems like it would…

08 Jan

Cities as Math Equations

By Jon OaksUncategorizedEquations, Maps

I must have an insane mind or something. I just found out that Posterous will embed Google Maps right into my posts, like this: View Larger Map But then, I started searching around to see if there is actually a city named 'Math' anywhere in the world. I couldn't find one. If I'm wrong, please correct me, as it would be really awesome to live in a place like, 'Math, Michigan'. However, the whole search wasn't a total loss, as I found an interesting article about Cities as Math Equations.

14 Dec

Teaching Equations to Pre-Algebra Students

By Jon OaksUncategorizedEquations, Fractions

I got in a heated discussion the other day with a couple of colleagues about how to teach equation solving to pre-algebra students. The equation x + (1/2) = (3/4) came to mind because generally I start a discussion of equations by showing examples of one-step equations. However, this equation (or most equations with fractions for that matter) is special because the quickest way to solve it may not always be the easiest way to solve it. This can cause a dilemma if I am discussing one-step equations, but NEED to show the students two step equations in order to…

08 Dec

Pre-Algebra and Algebra Resources

By Jon OaksUncategorizedDecimals, Equations, Fractions, Geometry, Order of Operations, Percent, Statistics

A few months ago I had students in my Basic College Math class create a game about fractions. One student created "Fraction Bingo". I decided to search the web to see if there were printable bingo sheets available. Well, there were, along with some other activities that I found on the same website from Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. And below is a list of a few of my favorite ones, appropriate for college-level basic math classes (organized by topic): Operations on Numbers Zero Sum Card Game Adding Whole Numbers Tic-Tac-Toe Order of Operations "24" Fraction Bingo Fractions, Decimals, Percents Fraction/Decimal/Percent…

08 Dec

Factoring Activities and More

By Jon OaksUncategorizedAlgebra, Equations, Factoring, Logarithms, Slope, Statistics, Systems of Equations, Trigonometry

A few weeks ago a colleague of mine was in need of an activity for Factoring. He was ahead of his pacing chart and wanted something to fill up some class time with. I referred him towww.ilovemath.org, which has hundreds of free activities to download. Here is a list of a few that I have successfully used the in the classroom:Solving Equations Writing AssignmentTwo-Step Equation Concentration Partner Problems SlopeLinear Relationships Sudoku Wartime Battle (Solving Systems of Equations)MATHO! Logarithm Game Cutout - FactoringPowers of i (This is a student favorite) Unit Circle Trigonometry (Follow the White Rabbit)The Game of Greed (Basic Statistics)