Turntable Trig

Today we experimented with using iPads in a math class.  We had 3 school-owned iPads as well as one brought in by a student.  Students used the Vernier Video Physics app in groups of two or three to review and investigate trig graphs.

[caption id="attachment_320" align="alignleft" width="222" caption="Turntable Graph"][/caption]

Ms. Flaherty first reviewed a couple of math concepts that the students had already  reviewed as part of their homework by watching a YouTube clip.  Then I demonstrated how to use the various tools built into the Video Physics app to plot the points of a sticky note as it travels around a Fisher Price Turntable, and to set the scale and change the location of the origin.  From there, we handed off the iPads to the students and away they went.

Once students plotted the path of the sticky note, and viewed the resulting graph, they then worked through the following prompts:

1.  Find the equation of your curve.


2. How does the equation change as you change the A.) origin, B.) scale?


3. By adjusting the position of the origin and the scale crate a graph that has:  A.) An amplitude of 5  B.) A wave axis of 10

Findings, Thoughts, Reflections:

• Students were engaged in the hands-on learning, and shared the device appropriately around the group so that everyone got a chance to manipulate the data.


• Students are really comfortable with iPads.  They took to the app quickly and were easily able to use the gestures to perform specific tasks within the app.


•  Investigative Math rocks.  I wish that when I was learning math I had had access to the tools that students have today.  Changing different variables and seeing how that affects the output helps students get a better understanding than just working out problems.


• Personal devices are better than school-owned devices.  When the teacher asked students to send her the files this became obvious.  The student who was using his own device easily emailed a few photos to the teacher because his email was already set up in the iPad's system.  Web versions of email (we tried gmail) don't allow attaching files from an iPad because they don't know how to navigate the iPad file system.  The work around is to either attach the ipad to a laptop and use iPhoto (or another photo app on a PC) to pull down the images, or have students enter their email info into the iPad system, send the files, then delete the account before the class ends and their email account and ipad are handed off to another student.

QR Codes in Maths Class

I've been working with a fantastic math teacher, Anne F., on how we might use QR codes in the classroom to engage students in a new way. It took her all of twelve seconds to come up with an idea:  Each group of math students has a problem to solve as an introduction to the mensuration, space and shape unit.  They solve the problem and post their answer to their blog.  Then, they create a QR code that will direct people to the blog post and we post that QR code in the hallway.  The hallway will be full of math questions like:



The next day, we'll send students around the halls with their mobile phones equipped with QR code readers. Their task will be to search for a question that interests or intrigues them, anticipate how the group may have solved it, view the group's blog post and then leave a comment.

Will QR codes improve student learning? In this case, we are anticipating that the novelty of it will at the very least engage them. Additionally, having the codes posted around the school will draw some attention to QR codes and hopefully might generate some interest among teachers in finding ways to leverage them for learning.

I'll write a post about how this activity works out later, but for now, here is the information that we will share with the students.

Order of Operations for students:

1. Solve the problem in your group and document your answer (text, audio, video, etc. or any combination of those).


2. Post your answer to your blog.


3. Find the url (web address) of this specific blog post (clicking on the title of your blog post will take you there)


4. Paste the url into Google's URL Shortner http://goo.gl/ (you have to have a Google account if you want create the code)


5. Then click on "details" to see your QR code


6. Save the image of your QR code to your desktop


7. Create a document including your problem, and your QR code (following the example above) for posting in the hallway.

QR Code Readers

There are a lot of readers for iPhone, Android etc.  Here is just a quick reference of links:

iPhone - I tried three and read the reviews of seven.  Red Laser is the free one I chose and it works well for me.

Android - try QuickMark (thanks, Jeff)

Other Phones - Try here: http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-software/

Mac OSX (and Windows and Linux) -Your Mac can read QR codes using the built-in iSight camera.   QReader is the only App that I found that isn't in Japanese (which I can't read).  You also have to have Adobe Air downloaded.