I have a lesson plan instead of an article today:
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/lessons/BP_T97/SlopeSketchpad.html
and
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/lessons/BP_T97/mr97.html
This is a lesson for using Geometer's Sketchpad to help students visualize and determine slopes of lines. For this particular lesson, it's assumed students know what slope is and how to find it. The sketchpad is used to draw lines and calculate slopes, and students get to "discover" what happens with the slope of parallel and perpendicular lines. It is really neat that this program does the computation for the students, so they're not focused on the arithmetic. Instead, they get to focus on the properties.
Now, I've written before about a similar lesson in my post on "wireless laptops in education." However, this lesson doesn't need to use wireless computers. Instead, it can be done in the lab or even on home computers. I've never used Geometer's Sketchpad before, and so I'm interested in what else this program has to offer...that's why I'm posting about this lesson. I'll try to find out more about the program for my next post.
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1 comment:
I think anytime you can add a visual dimension that goes beyond simple pencil and paper, it only adds to the depth of learning that the lesson can bring. We learned to use "Inspiration" a couple of classes ago and the visual component of that particular software was amazing.
"Inspiration" is not math-specific per se, but it relates to what your lesson's objective is and the "Inspiration" site has some good info related to visual learning, especially with the creation of diagrams. It can be found at:
http://www.inspiration.com/vlearning/index.cfm
It also has a free trial that I would recommend, but probably after this class has concluded and you have some time to look.
For me personally, the visual aspect of geometry was what made it so much easier for me to grasp than algebra. I appreciate your thought process!
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