Kathleen+Culhan

Unit Plan Link

This May I will graduate with a degree in Secondary Mathematics, and I am looking forward to teaching in a public high school next year. My dream is to move to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and be close to the ocean while having the privilege of watching young adults become understand-ers of math and not just do-ers.

Everything You Need to Know About Conics This video reviews all the conics covered in a high school math class. The students in the video show how the shape of each conic is created based on the center and foci points in the creative way of using their bodies to become points of each conic. They then also reveal the unique formula for each conic and mention the critical points used in its construction and translations. This video could be shown in class as a useful review of a section on conics, and it is a great idea for a project to have students in my own class do as well. (If using this in a classroom, I would skip the first minute) media type="youtube" key="ivz8f_g29CE" height="344" width="425"

Concept Lesson Grade 6-9 Content: Polyhedrons, Surface Area, Volume, Algebra This lesson is set up for each student to work individually on a computer, but could be modified for class-wide presentation. Using Google Earth, the lesson takes the student to famous buildings and architectural sites all over the world where the student will calculate the surface area and volume given the dimensions and access to view the site from all sides. I think this is a great site for students to practice finding surface area and volume while seeing real-world connections. However, I would not use it as an introduction to surface area or volume because there is no meaningful mathematical thinking involved. I would want students to understand and discover the how's and why's of surface area and volume before I had them practice the processes with formulas. With this in mind, I would also not use every example that Google Earth presents, but instead spend most of a class time on tasks that engage students in more meaningful mathematical thinking. Even so, this activity allows students to be engaged and be able to visually see models that they are working with, which is extremely beneficial in coming to a better understanding of mathematical skills and processes.
 * Volume of Solids**

Google Sketch Up in the Math Classroom Reflecting on how Google Sketch Up could be useful in my classroom, I think there are a lot of benefits for me as the teacher. I do not know that I would ever have my students go to a computer lab to use Sketch Up since there are so many other computer programs created particularly for high school mathematics that would be more academically challenging and productive. However, I think that Sketch Up is a great tool for me to use to create examples, problems, and activities. I found a lot of value being able to create a picture myself to fit the specific problem I want the students to complete. This is especially helpful when planning and creating lessons when the curriculum or the text book does not have adequate examples, which surprisingly happens fairly often.