This site is all about fresh ideas for teaching high school math. Apparently a lot of people agree that the traditional U.S. approach of algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, and calculus is not working. A lot of people seem to think data science is the answer. It sounds okay to me to start with interesting data and then work backward to math theory and systems concepts. I do use geometry pretty much daily in my work, at least concepts like areas and volumes. Are those geometry? I think I originally learned them in high school chemistry class. I almost never use calculus symbols, but I use calculus concepts like rate of change and accumulating and depleting stocks daily. I solve those numerically rather than symbolically. So maybe this is what we should be teaching in high school, then working our way to the symbols for people who really need it, for example the ones who are going to be programming the computers that the rest of us use to solve various problems. A little statistics and probability is a good idea, but even that can be more experiment based and less symbolic at first.
Category Archives: Online Tools / Apps / Data Sources
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They now have subscription services for plants. My favorite quote from this article is ” if pets are the new kids, plants are the new pets”.
#unblockbikelanes
Just following up on yesterday’s “paint and pray” post about ignorant, unsafe street designs killing people in New York City and Philadelphia. There is a Twitter hashtag called #unblockbikelanes. Maybe the Philadelphia Police and Philadelphia Parking Authority look at it on occasion. Maybe they don’t. Maybe the engineers at the Philadelphia Streets Department will be inspired to learn about safe street design. Maybe they won’t. Either way, it’s indisputable photographic evidence that may eventually have a variety of uses.
Resources for safe street design:
- Urban Bikeway Design Guide from the National Association of City Transportation Officials – probably the best the United States has to offer (and pretty good)
- Dutch Design Manual for Bicycle Traffic – probably the best the world has to offer
augmented reality on Google Street View
Google is rolling out some augmented reality features intended to assist pedestrians in Street View.
The feature overlays a live video feed on the map. Directional arrows and street names appear on the video feed to provide more intuitive navigation and give the user a sense of exactly where they are and where they need to go.
a Google Maps trick
Wired has a trick for downloading Google Maps to use offline. I haven’t tried this.
TO ACCESS ONE of Google Maps’ best hidden features, you have to know the magic word. Well, it’s a phrase, really, and that phrase is: “OK Maps.” Enter this phrase into the Google Maps app and the portion of the map that’s currently visible on your screen will be saved directly to your device. Once saved, you can access that map even without a data connection.
box plots!
One of my nerdy interests in box plots. And no, you can’t make great ones in Excel. Here is a blog about making fantastic ones in the R package ggplot2.
Google Lens
You can snap a picture of a plant or animal, and Google Lens can often tell you exactly what it is.
coastal inundation value at risk
Union of Concerned Scientists has tried to combine inundation mapping, property value estimates from Zillow, and property tax information to give an idea of property value and tax revenue at risk from rising sea levels. They chose a time horizon of around a 30-year mortgage. It seems a bit coarse to me, but it still illustrates that with available information, insurance companies, mortgage lenders, and real estate markets are going to start piecing this together and it is going to start showing up in buying decisions and prices.
Marion Brady
Marion Brady is a retired teacher who has written a book and provided a detailed curriculum online for teaching middle and high school students using general systems theory as an organizing principle.
Seek
This is pretty cool – a phone app to help you identify backyard plants and animals.
Drawing from millions of wildlife observations on iNaturalist, Seek shows you lists of commonly-recorded insects, birds, plants, amphibians, and more in your area. Use our maps and charts to determine what you want to look for and snap a photo when you think you’ve found it. Our image recognition software lets you know if you got it right and, if it’s a match, adds it to your collection. The more your collection grows, the more badges you’ll earn!
See something that’s not on the list? You can still take a photo of it and Seek will add it to your collection if it’s recognized!