Do bigger hands have larger angles between the fingers? Have your students
use math to figure it out.
The *Figure This! Math Challenge for Families* is a series of real-world
questions aimed at middle school students, who will need to use math to
find the solutions. The program is designed to introduce students earlier
to
higher-level math operations involving angles, volumes, number patterns,
and finding the surface areas of irregular shapes.
The questions are presented within the context of everyday subjects that
interest students, so they will be motivated to find the answer, and at the
same time become aware of how useful math is to them outside the classroom
(an example--Mark McGuire's 70th home run ball sold for $3 million in 1999.
If Babe Ruth's 60th home run ball was worth $3,000 in 1927, and doubles its
value every 7 years, which would be worth more today?).
The first 15 challenges are available online now at
http://www.figurethis.org . A total of 80 challenges will be posted over
the next two years.
*Figure This* is a joint project of the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, the National Action Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the
National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, the Widmeyer-Baker
Group, and the Learning First Alliance with support from the National
Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education.
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