FAYETTEVILLE : Student videos portray everyday uses for math
Posted on Tuesday, May 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/224906/
FAYETTEVILLE — During her daily yoga routine, Dana Krementz briefly lost focus on the twinge of pain in the stretched muscles in her back and legs.
As she extended her arms and bent her knee, sliding into a warrior pose, the Fayetteville High School sophomore noticed the remote interior and exterior angles created by the position of her legs.
These weren’t typical thoughts during her slow, focused exercise, Krementz said, but new ideas suggested by a teacher.
Math teachers throughout Fayetteville School District challenged students last month to find math applications in daily activities. The assignment nested in the back of Krementz’ mind as she found herself measuring angles and drafting algebraic equations while driving, cooking and spending time with friends.
“It made me definitely appreciate math a lot more,” Krementz said.
Small groups of classes at Fayetteville High School, along with Ramay and Woodland junior highs, created three-minute videos demonstrating real-life math applications as part of a pilot “Real World Math” con- test sponsored by Texas Instruments.
Fayetteville is the only district competing in the first year of the contest. The videos will be posted on TeacherTube, an educational Web site, for use in lesson plans around the country. The winning group’s teacher will get $ 10, 000 of technological equipment.
Internet users can vote on the videos to determine semi-finalists, which will be announced Friday. A panel of educators will then select a winner in the high school and junior high categories.
“Our students can really see how they’re going to take this out of the classroom,” math teacher Dona Brady said. “It’s very student-driven.”
After end-of-year Benchmark tests, it’s rewarding to see students apply knowledge they’ve learned throughout the year, she said.
In one submission, students demonstrated how to use the harmonic mean, a type of average, to calculate pleasant chord progressions on a guitar. In another, students used algebraic expressions to calculate gas mileage and distance to plan an environmentally friendly camping trip.
Sophomore Paco Gallardo, 17, teamed with two other football players to demonstrate the angles associated with common passes.
“We all thought we’d do something we could relate to,” he said.
Some of the student videos may be placed on an educational DVD, said Linda Beheler, senior director of educational technology for Texas Instruments.
The company selected Fayetteville as a test district for the contest, which may be expanded to other schools.
“Educators tell us they are always looking for new and fun ways to teach math and keep their students engaged,” Beheler said.
