miercuri, 14 septembrie 2011

MATH TO OUR LIVES, PROJECT DESCRIPTION

1. Name of Project: Connecting Mathematics to Our Lives - "Conectando las matematicas a la vida" (in Spanish)

2. Brief one-sentence description of project: In this project students are invited to a) explore how math is used in their families and communities; and b) use math skills to investigate community or social concerns and then take action to promote greater equity in the world around them.

3. Full description of project: (see sample activities listed below)

4. Age/level of project participants: All, including parent and community groups.

5. Timetable: October-November, 2011 and March-May, 2012.

6. Possible project/classroom activities: a) "What Math Means to Me" (Product: A math collage to share with a partner class) b) "Everyday Math in My Community" (Product: Report describing an interview. Or alternatively, student-written math story problems based on the ways their families use math.) c) Statistics and Society (Product: Analysis of a graph or chart showing statistical or numeric data on a social, political, scientific, or environmental issue. Or a critical analysis of the way numbers and statistics are used in the media.) d) Promoting Equity at Our School Site or Service Learning in Our Community (Product: Report on the actions students have taken in their communities or schools to promote greater equity, including a brief summary of the data and analysis on which those actions were based.) e) Global Data Collection Activities (Product: International data set resulting from student-created surveys, or student investigations of social, economic, or environmental concerns.) f) Virtual Gallery of Mathematics and Culture (Product: A photograph, drawing, or other artistic expression of some aspect of your culture that you would like others to know about, along with a text describing the item you have chosen and its connection to the world of mathematics.) g) An Idea of Your Own to Connect Math to Your Day-to-Day Lives, to the Broader Society, and to Issues of Equity

7. Expected outcomes/products: Participating groups contribute a report of their local project activities to the "Connecting Math to Our Lives" web pages. Joint creation of a data base on an issue of global importance. Data is collected and analyzed by classes around the world. Collaborative development of a set of images to serve as a resource on culturally relevant teaching for math educators globally.

8. Project contribution to others and the planet: Usual curricular divisions in schools link math with science in isolation from the social studies and language arts curriculum. When mathematics is instead taught "across the curriculum,” multiple opportunities arise to use math to uncover stereotypes, understand history, and examine issues of inequality.

9. Project language(s): All are welcome. We facilitate the project in English and Spanish. Other classes work in their native languages locally and send summaries in English. The facilitators are bilingual in Spanish and English and can help translate.

10. Curriculum Area: Mathematics, language arts, social sciences, environmental sciences, arts. Teachers of all content areas are invited to participate in this multi-disciplinary project.

12-13. Name and e-mail addresses of facilitator(s):

Kristin Brown, iEARN-Orillas, krbrown@igc.org

Enid Figueroa, iEARN Orillas, efigueroa_orillas@comcast.net

Patricia Andrea Pietrovzki, iEARN-Argentina, patrypie@gmail.com

To reach all the facilitators: orillas-math@igc.org

14. iEARN Forum where it will take place: iearn-math (for exchanges in English); iearn-matematicas (for exchanges in Spanish)

15. WWW page of project: http://www.orillas.org/math

luni, 5 septembrie 2011