Movie Proposal
Research mathematicians and choose someone with a slant that interests you (a poet, an artist, young, old, ethnicity, particular topic, etc.). Locate your mathematician with this index of biographies. Create a movie trailer and pitch your movie idea (using some sort of presentation tool) as if you are speaking to the top executives of a movie company.
Create a Facebook Page
Again, you can search mathematicians and choose someone with a slant that interests you (a poet, an artist, young, old, ethnicity, particular topic, etc.). Locate your mathematician with this index of biographies. What would their Facebook page look like? Who would be their friends? What conversations would they be having with their friends? What groups would they follow?
Click here for an example for Pascal, created by Ramy (Grade 10 class). Here is a link to a variety of templates.
Or, go you could go to this site and create an animated Fakebook page! Here is a gallery of fakebook pages to get an idea.
Twitter Feed, Instagram, etc.
Again, you can search mathematicians and choose someone with a slant that interests you (a poet, an artist, young, old, ethnicity, particular topic, etc.). Locate your mathematician with this index of biographies. What would their twitter account look like? Who would be following them and who would they follow? What conversations would they be having with their friends? What groups would they follow? What trends might you see? What might they put on their favourite list? What would their Instagram account look like? How about Snapchat? There are many sites on the internet, some use Power Point, some use Word, or another sort of program.
Puzzles, Games, and Paradoxes
Choose a topic about a mathematical puzzle, game, or paradox. A puzzle is a problem that does not have an obvious solution, a paradox is seemingly contradictory, and a game is a mathematical game. Here are some potential topics: Zeno’s paradox, Tower of Hanoi, Bridges of Konigsberg, Four Colour Map problems, three men and the missing dollar, Lewis Carroll, Prisoner’s Dilemma, Cantor’s Infinities
Mathematics in Nature
Illustrate how mathematics is evident in nature. Here are some potential topics: Crystals and 3D geometry, Kaleidoscope patters and diatoms, Honeybees, Starfish, Nautilus shells, pine cones, sunflowers, and the Fibonacci sequence, The Golden Mean, Snowflakes and Fractals
The Power of Numbers
Here are some potential topics: Types of numbers: fractals (Mandelbrot Sets, Sierpinski numbers), infinity, prime, perfect, modular, triangular, square, etc.), Special Numbers: e, i, φ, π, Classifying Numbers: UPC, ISBN, postal codes, SSN, credit card numbers, telephone numbers, Measurement Numbers: Richter Scale, decibel scale, temperature scales
Teach a Lesson
Create a lesson on a topic we have already studied, or better yet, one that we will be studying in the near future. This will require careful planning, so choose this option cautiously!
Research mathematicians and choose someone with a slant that interests you (a poet, an artist, young, old, ethnicity, particular topic, etc.). Locate your mathematician with this index of biographies. Create a movie trailer and pitch your movie idea (using some sort of presentation tool) as if you are speaking to the top executives of a movie company.
Create a Facebook Page
Again, you can search mathematicians and choose someone with a slant that interests you (a poet, an artist, young, old, ethnicity, particular topic, etc.). Locate your mathematician with this index of biographies. What would their Facebook page look like? Who would be their friends? What conversations would they be having with their friends? What groups would they follow?
Click here for an example for Pascal, created by Ramy (Grade 10 class). Here is a link to a variety of templates.
Or, go you could go to this site and create an animated Fakebook page! Here is a gallery of fakebook pages to get an idea.
Twitter Feed, Instagram, etc.
Again, you can search mathematicians and choose someone with a slant that interests you (a poet, an artist, young, old, ethnicity, particular topic, etc.). Locate your mathematician with this index of biographies. What would their twitter account look like? Who would be following them and who would they follow? What conversations would they be having with their friends? What groups would they follow? What trends might you see? What might they put on their favourite list? What would their Instagram account look like? How about Snapchat? There are many sites on the internet, some use Power Point, some use Word, or another sort of program.
Puzzles, Games, and Paradoxes
Choose a topic about a mathematical puzzle, game, or paradox. A puzzle is a problem that does not have an obvious solution, a paradox is seemingly contradictory, and a game is a mathematical game. Here are some potential topics: Zeno’s paradox, Tower of Hanoi, Bridges of Konigsberg, Four Colour Map problems, three men and the missing dollar, Lewis Carroll, Prisoner’s Dilemma, Cantor’s Infinities
Mathematics in Nature
Illustrate how mathematics is evident in nature. Here are some potential topics: Crystals and 3D geometry, Kaleidoscope patters and diatoms, Honeybees, Starfish, Nautilus shells, pine cones, sunflowers, and the Fibonacci sequence, The Golden Mean, Snowflakes and Fractals
The Power of Numbers
Here are some potential topics: Types of numbers: fractals (Mandelbrot Sets, Sierpinski numbers), infinity, prime, perfect, modular, triangular, square, etc.), Special Numbers: e, i, φ, π, Classifying Numbers: UPC, ISBN, postal codes, SSN, credit card numbers, telephone numbers, Measurement Numbers: Richter Scale, decibel scale, temperature scales
Teach a Lesson
Create a lesson on a topic we have already studied, or better yet, one that we will be studying in the near future. This will require careful planning, so choose this option cautiously!
Numberphile
Numberphile is a quirky exploration of the world of mathematics and numbers. Each video explores strange facts, properties and curious stories about different numbers - from zero to infinity (and a few outside this range). The films feature experts across a range of sciences and are produced by independent video journalist Brady Haran. You might find some inspiration here.
Numberphile is a quirky exploration of the world of mathematics and numbers. Each video explores strange facts, properties and curious stories about different numbers - from zero to infinity (and a few outside this range). The films feature experts across a range of sciences and are produced by independent video journalist Brady Haran. You might find some inspiration here.
These ideas have been collected by me over the years and the authors have become unknown. If any or part of this list originated with you, please contact me, as I would like to acknowledge your contributions to project based learning.