Risk Taking Rubric

We like this one:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5FTxsu-S1CoUXZWQnozdFplT3c/view?usp=sharing

Risk Taking with What if

We are focusing on risk taking in the classroom. I am struggling with defining this in the math classroom, but I like the idea of using "what if" protocols, and I like this as an example (from xkcd):

https://what-if.xkcd.com/117/

Google Ad-ons

Form Ranger is exciting, it populates choices on forms from a spreadsheet:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/formranger/faepkjkcpnnghgdhiobglpppbfdnaehc?hl=en


Choice eliminator allows users to eliminate a choice they submitted in a form:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/choice-eliminator/mnhoinjhhhafgieggnhjekliaodnkigj?hl=en-US

California Drought Trends

This article in the New York Time offers a great chance to discuss graphs and trends with students:

http://nyti.ms/1FFYEBC

I would show the bare bones graph (minus numbers and data) first:

This would allow me to ask the low floor "what do you notice" question and then eventually lead to some specifics.

Doctopus, Goobric and Google Classroom...woa

Doctopus allows you to create personal files for all students will all types of parameters. Very awesome:



Goobric allows you to attach a rubric to a Doctopus Assignment. You can customize the rubric, add comments (including audio) and do great stuff like leave audio comments (and much much more):


These can also be integrated with Google Classroom:


Lots to think about and its all very exciting.

Great Google Drive Resource

http://cloudlab.newvisions.org/

Math can Illuminate a History of Racism

http://nyti.ms/1z35GIp

Entropy Anyone?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/this-is-what-happens-when-a-stadium-is-abandoned-for-years#.ywXlJG4p7

Linear Modeling with Flash Memory

Possible lesson in this (also a shocking look at early flash memory prices):

http://www.jcmit.com/flashprice.htm

http://www.themarysue.com/gigabyte-cost-over-years/



...more to come

Graph Stories

Every graph tells a story. I am thinking to show the graph of time vs. elevation without any context first. Something like this:

Then add in the context, piece by piece, until they see how the context sets the stage for meaning:

This might follow a discussion of the New York Times article from which I pulled this graphic:

http://nyti.ms/1GeuPXu

Filling up landfills with K-Cups

Illustration by John W. Tomac

This marketplace article gets me thinking about some powerful what-if questions:

What would happen if we continue consuming K-Cups at the same rate?

What would happen if we took all the K-Cups and put them side by side?

What if we stacked the K-Cups into a tower, how high would they go?

Here is a comprehensive article from the Atlantic:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/the-abominable-k-cup-coffee-pod-environment-problem/386501/

And then there is this:




A lot of the media buzz around K-Cups is based on this mother jones article, which claims that K-Cups could circle the Earth 10.5 times:

This calculation traces back to Murray Carpenter's book "Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us." 

Based on the height alone at 1.75 inches and production of 8.3e+9 K-Cups from Green Mountain along, we get 4,375,000,000 inches, about 9.2 times the circumference of the Earth. 

So this is perfect for a lesson centered on debate. Its time to find out which number is the most reasonable and why.