Beat the Heat: Meander Through These Books

The absence of jarring school bells and clocks that dictate one’s every move is a refreshing, relaxing break that summer usually awards most teachers (as well as students). Calming summer sounds are accompanied by nature’s elements in all their glory, be they in lush, blooming gardens or at cool sandy beaches. During these summer days we cherish the time to slow down and recharge, in part, by communing with nature.

A mathematics (or interdisciplinary) teacher might particularly be inclined to examine the elements of nature to inspire creative lesson planning. If, perchance, by the seaside, one might meditate upon how to best visually represent the spiral of a nautilus shell. Shall we use a logarithmic, Archimedean, or Theodorus spiral? How might we transform parabolic shape and the equation for water that streams from a hose? In a wild English, roadside garden one could stop and examine the infinite sequences within the towering, golden sunflowers or echinacea purpurea seedheads. Studying the waves in a lake or ocean, one could imagine a periodic function that could be used to describe the foamy tides.  Near a local river or pond, one might contemplate the necessary planning needed to collaborate on a water-testing unit with a science teacher, where the data is examined using formal statistical methods. At night, one might count the chirps of a lonesome field cricket to estimate the temperature.

And then there are always those books we like to take with us to the pool or during a hike; ones that we like to flip through again and again. So as the dog-days of summer whiz by, here are some interdisciplinary books, most with a mathematical focus, to meander through.  I hope they inspire you as well. (They are in no particular order).

1. "PBL Started Kit: To-the-point Advice, Tools, and Tips for Your First Project in Middle or High School" by John Larmer is a great introduction in all subject areas related to problem- based learning. From how to create a driving question to how to connect educational standards to your project, this guide is sure to help you formulate exciting “PBL,”  This was the text used at a recent PBL workshop I attended held by WAY Program Director Beth Baker.

2. "Fascinating Fibonaccis: Mystery and Magic in Numbers" by Trudi Hammel Garland discusses the magical sequence in nature, art, architecture, music, poetry, science, and technology.

3. "A Watched Cup Never Cools: Lab Activities for Calculus and & Precalculus" by Ellen Kamischke includes exploring the rate of change of the volume of a sphere by sucking on a Tootsie Roll Pop, examining the mathematics of a cup of hot liquid as it cools, and using a topographical map to determine how a pollutant can be eliminated from a body of water.

4. "Connecting Mathematics Across The Curriculum" edited by Peggy A. House and Arthur F. Coxford includes articles that connect literature, quilting, and multiculturalism to mathematics, just to name a few connections. Coxford (now deceased) was my mathematics teaching certificate advisor as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He motivated me to earn my mathematics teaching certificate after being in the School of Engineering for four years. He was also a huge shaper of the Core-Plus movement. Coxford’s “mathematics for all” philosophy shines through in this compilation.

5. "The Multicultural Math Classroom: Bringing In The World" by Claudia Zaslavsky. My favorite chapter in the book is “Data Analysis & the Culture of Community.” In it Zaslavsky touches upon ways that genealogy, the environment, demographics, and health may be connected to mathematics.

6. "Beyond Formulas in Mathematics and Teaching: Dynamics of the High School Algebra Classroom" by Daniel Chazan. This book was required reading for me in a graduate class by Dr. Jason Silverman through Drexel University. It is a compassionate, thoughtful book, in part, about ways to teach algebra in a meaningful, process oriented manner to students who might not normally want to learn algebra.

7. "Mathematics & Economics: Connections For Life" published by the National Council on Economic Education. The director of the Northern Michigan University Center of Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Tawni Ferrarini introduced this book to me for a fellowship I received. It contains practical supply and demand schedules, along with other data that connects algebra to basic economics principals.

8. "Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers" edited by Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson. This book includes ideas, lesson plans, and articles that help connect mathematics with social problems.

9. "Math and Music: Harmonious Connections" by Trudi Hammel Garland and Charity Vaughan Kahn. This book explains how we can use math to understand rhythm, sound waves, musical tones, and compositions.

10. "Through Mathematical Eyes: Exploring Functional Relationships in Math and Science" edited by Ron Ritchhart. Describes ways students may relate math and science in concrete ways such as exploring the effect of smoking on lung capacity, the phenomenon of sleeping fish, and the properties of magnets.

11. "Math, Culture, and Popular Media: Activities to Engage Middle School Students Through Film, Literature, and the Internet" by Michaele F. Chappell and Denisse R. Thompson.