Math and Science Teachers should work together.

The math practices and science practices have a great deal of crossover. Math and science teachers should work toegether more in order to maximize the learning of the project and be efficie... See More

The math practices and science practices have a great deal of crossover. Math and science teachers should work toegether more in order to maximize the learning of the project and be efficient with time. I often hear that "there is not enough time to do that." What better way to solve that issue, than to come together on a project? This article is an example of how to get that starter in your district.

Scale using a spreadsheet

With the help of NASA, the authors developed a three-to-five day Unit on ratios, proportions, and scale, to address the difficult concept of extremely large and small numbers at the middle s... See More

With the help of NASA, the authors developed a three-to-five day Unit on ratios, proportions, and scale, to address the difficult concept of extremely large and small numbers at the middle school level. The objective of the Unit was to refresh students’ measurement skills, link those skills to the concepts of scale and proportion, and introduce the real world applications of these concepts by using modeling through a spreadsheet. By using a spreadsheet, students can explore scale without getting overwhelmed with manipulating the calculations and outcomes of the numbers involved in their explorations. They can repeat multiple number combinations, getting numerous outcomes without getting lost in the “math” and can then understand the big ideas. Several figures, used in the classroom, are discussed and several excellent website resources are listed. I recommend this article to any middle school math or science teacher that wants their students to have a more “whole picture” idea about scale and ratios. I especially liked the idea of using the spreadsheets to enhance and clarify the Unit about proportion and scale.