Orthographic Projection with Merge Cube

Merge Cube has been a hit with stores like Walmart offering the simple flexible cubes for a dollar a piece. Merge cube is a simple way to get students using augmented reality in a QR code way. Students scan the Merge Cube with an app and a magical world appears.

One of my favorite apps using the Merge Cube is Dig!

Using the app changes a simple cube with a bunch of symbols looking like hieroglyphics into another world. You can build and deconstruct the cube that looks almost exactly like Minecraft. The reason I like this app the most is that students can build using the app.

My students at the beginning of the year struggle with this concept of orthographic projection and being able to correctly sketch the block layout. Having students use the Merge Cube students can grasp that conceptual understanding that they don't get from a sketch.  Last year I borrowed some of the wooden blocks our construction teacher uses and it was a great way for some of the students to see the finished product. The app allows students to see around each object looking at it from the sides and from the top.

What I would like to see is have students create their own and have stations at each group where students correctly draw the orthographic projection of their groups creation. 

                                 

TIP: If you can't get a Merge Cube for each student, there is a shortcut. I printed a picture of one side of the Merge Cube and you can't rotate it like a Merge Cube showing each side, but students can use that one side to create especially using the Dig! app.

Cutting Geometric Solids with Crafty Cut

I knew there was a better way to teach what cutting geometric solids looked like and wanted it to be more hands-on and visual. I felt the normal stand-up lecture or worksheet wasn't enough for students to learn. The first thought I had was a hands on activity with Play-Doh and forming shapes. Then I stumbled across Crafty Cut.

(P.S. Make sure to use the link above or get the one with the P in the bottom right hand corner.)

Crafty Cut is a gamified version of cutting geometric solids. There are a bunch of different modes, but the free "unlocked" version only gives you Cut Mode (Most Important), Combine, and a Create Mode.

The way I did it was 1st day students played all the way through Cut Mode on their own or if they got stuck they could ask their neighbors. If they finished early they could work on combine mode, which is a little more difficult to get all 3 stars. But in Cut Mode they are given different 3D shapes and have to make different 2D shapes cutting it. Students liked the problem solving in the app.

One of the first ones you get in Easy Mode is to cut a rectangle from a Cylinder, here are some screenshots from the game.

It was a different app that let students explore cutting geometric solids instead of the typical lesson.

Is it Linear? With Fidget Spinners

Fidget spinners are all the rage right now. At my school I would say maybe 10% have them, one thing with fidget spinners that my students are using right now is an app called Finger Spinner. The point of the game is you get 5 tries to reach the highest number of spins. With each number of spins you get certain coins which you can upgrade your fidget spinner such as increasing speed or greasing the wheels.

Introduce the topic is by having out an actual fidget spinner and spin it twice and ask the students were there the same amount of spins both times? Some will say yes since it is the same fidget spinner and some will say no, because it determines how hard you spin it.

Then do the same thing with the app, projecting it on the whiteboard. Spin it once and then twice. Since it counts the number of spins it will be easier to ask if they were the same.

The next question is how many times would I have to spin it to get to 100 spins?

 

I have been using this handout from Estimation180: http://www.estimation180.com/blog/estimation-180-handout to have students record their answers in one place.

I want students to look at the data and see that each one is about the same in number of spins and looks linear. Using the whiteboard I want to project some student work start from the basic ones to the student work where they have a linear graph sketched (w/ average). Then have the student explain the processes they went through.

The last part is to get students using the app. My question to them is once you upgrade a part of the fidget spinner does it stay linear? What if you keep upgrading? What if you alternate upgrading? How does it effect the number of spins?

My goal next year is to incorporate more modeling and more hands-on uses of math concepts.

Curious Ruler

There is a new app for finding the measurements of things with the iPad, called Curious Ruler.  There is a paid app that costs .99$ or there is a free one, which works just as well.  This ruler uses reference objects such as a dime, penny, lego brick, CD, or an iPhone 5s.  With these it uses a proportion tool to find the height of the reference object then finds the length of the object.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ruler-a-curious-tool/id895167573?mt=8

Here are some things I measured from my iPhone 5s.

It is a quick and easy tool to find measurements on the iPad.  Will definitely be downloaded as one of the apps I use most for next year.  Finding the measurement of objects has been a hassle, because rulers are becoming more obsolete with more companies going to laser measurements for exact results.

#6: Voxer Chat and Buncee

It is becoming more and more difficult to find Things to Try in 2016, since I have already done things like 3D printing in my classroom last year in 2015, I won't make my students do it twice unless I can think of a really cool project.  So this week was suppose to participate in Voxer Chat.

If you haven't heard of Voxer you need to.  It is an amazing tool that allows you to communication with your voice, with text, or with pictures to one or a group of people.  I recently have gotten more involved in BreakOutEDU and designing more puzzles, but the Voxer Chat helps a tremendous amount with getting feedback instantly from a group of knowledgeable people. 

It would be interesting to get something started with a class where students can instantly communicate in your classroom or have wide staff development where they use Voxer instead of getting 25 emails a day from your colleagues. 

       

Second part of this is Buncee.

https://www.edu.buncee.com/

You can create them for your class, I used one for a bell-ringer and it really simple.  You can also have your students create them, we used them for a different lesson and used them as exit tickets.

It is really easy to use this tool with drag and drop directions.  The best part is you can include YouTube videos and make it very simple to flip your lessons if you send it to all of your students.

Here are a few of my bell-ringer examples:

The last one had a YouTube video embeded and makes it easy to push to students and have them watch a quick YouTube video explaining, in this example, square roots and have them coming to class with previous knowledge of what square roots are.

Below I had students create a Buncee for an exit ticket where students had to one for three things they learned about discriminants.

They are quick and easy for students to put together, disregarding downloading time, it took about 5 minutes for students to get use to the tool and send it to me.

Great tool and app for classroom purposes!!

Using Instagram in Math Class

Instagram is a free, fun, and simple way to make and share photos on the iPhone and iPad.  Students pick from one of several filtered effects to breathe new life into mobile photos.  Students can transform everyday moments in the classroom in see and to works of art.  Students can show photos in a simple photo stream with friends, classmates, teachers, and family.


There are some examples below where you can use Instagram in the classroom:

Problem Solving
Turn a dry subject with numbers and formulas, and connect it to art through visual expression. Younger students can capture mathematical concepts through visual problem solving re-enactments (like word problems) or even snapping photos of complex formulas designed on poster board.

Classroom Account
Every month, take a few photos of the student’s progress. Families can follow the classroom account and keep up with what their child is learning and doing.


Teacher Photos
Parents and community members love to know about the teachers who work in the schools. Have the kids interview all the teachers in a school, writing up a bio of each instructor and tagging a photo of them on Instagram. The filters make even the poorest photos look professional! You can take pictures of homework questions or even some of the answers to the problems.


Math in the Real World
Similar to digital storytelling, this would allow students to explore issues in their world through a visual medium. I want them to engage in citizen journalism. Students can use the mobile devices to express their social voice and find math in the real world by tying together photos of math concepts and definitions.

Math Prompts
Last year, I found photographs and created writing prompts. Sometimes, they were geared toward poetry or narrative while other times they were persuasive or informational. I will encourage students to develop their own photo prompts using Instagram.  Having photos where students come up with their own math story problems by a photo.  

Metaphors in Math
I will give students concepts from any of the subject areas and ask students to find a metaphor that fits the concept. They will use Instagram to find the metaphor and then describe it in the comments section. 

What ways can you think of where you could use Instagram in your classroom?  What other types of iPad applications do you use in the math classroom?

Check out two sites that offer educational ways of incorporating Instagram into the classroom below:
10 Instagram Ideas
Creative Ways of using Instagram

Download the app here: Instagram