Telecommunications Lesson

Grade Level: 5-8

Content Area: Mathematics/ Language Arts

Objectives:

To use the Internet to access information about a famous mathematician.

To learn about the life and contributions of a famous mathematician.

To complete an oral and written report on a famous mathematician.

SOLs:

NCTM Standards:

Standard 4 – Mathematical Connections – to value the role of mathematics in our culture and society.

1. Copy of the book, Mathematicians Are People, Too! by Reimer and Reimer, Dale Seymour Publications, 1990. (optional)
2. Computer with Internet access.
3. LCD Panel or television with computer hook-up.
4. List of Mathematicians.
5. Copy of Instructions/Expectations, 1 per student.
6. Copy of Mathematician Data Form, 1 per student.
7. Disk for each student.

Activities:

NOTE: #1 and #2 are optional, but make a nice lead-in to the lesson.

1. Read a story from the book, Mathematicians Are People, Too!

by Reimer and Reimer, Dale Seymour Publications, 1990.

(This book has short stories about the lives of 15 famous mathematicians.)

2. Discuss some of the following:

Interesting facts about the Mathematician.

Questions that answer: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

3. Explain that they will be researching to find out about who the people are who
   have made math what it is today.  Through this project, they will meet some of
   these mathematicians.

     4. Demonstrate, using the LCD panel or television screen connection, some of
         the web sites they will be using. (It may be a good idea to go through the
         research steps using the Mathematician read aloud earlier in class.)

      5. (optional) Demonstrate how to target the mathematician’s picture and save it
          to disk so that they can use it fir their visual.  Once saved to a disk, demonstrate
          how to save it to a word document and how to make it larger so that it can be
          printed out for their visual.

     6.  Pass out the Mathematician Data forms and assignment instructions.
          Assign each student a mathematician to research.
          Discuss questions.

     7.  Provide time in class to access the Internet to locate their data. (If computer
          space is limited, students who do not have Internet access at home get first choice
          on the computer.)

     8.  Students present their Mathematician to the class.

Evaluation:

Students will be graded on the following:

Following Directions

Oral Presentation – Content/Delivery/Eye Contact/Voice

1. Have students enter their data in a database for further research. They can use the "fields" from the Mathematician Data Form. Make sure their data form is checked for correct spelling and format before they enter their data.
2. Use the databases to make timelines, to answer questions such as:

What part of the world did most of the mathematicians come from?

What field of mathematics is most popular?

When were most of the mathematicians born?

Students can be encouraged to research other mathematicians and add them to their classes’ database.

3. Make a WebQuest or Internet Challenge using the information found.
4. Make a Web Page Project, where the different mathematicians are highlighted in
   easy-to-read elementary student language. Or create a class book with the information they have found.
5. Spotlight a different mathematician each week or each day.
6. If there is something the students do not understand, they can send the questions,
   via the Internet, to Ask Dr.Math at the Math Forum.

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/BiogIndex.html

http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/time.html

http://www.scottlan.edu/riddle/women/women.html

http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Mathematician/Mathmeticians.html

http://www.rialto.k12.ca.us/school/frisbie/coyote/math/worksheet.html

http://forum.swarthmore.edu/dr.math/