Internet project ideas
Marylu Tyndell (tyndell@worldnet.att.net)
Fri, 09 Oct 1998 17:54:54 +0000
Marylu Tyndell wrote:
>
> Judy Ann Brown wrote:
> >
> >
> > I think that a lot of us would be happy to have a summary of all the ideas
> > that you gather concerning using spreadsheets.
> >
>
> Thanks for the suggestion! I actually have been compiling all the
> great ideas into one file so that I can share it with my colleagues at
> our department meeting on Monday ( yes, we have school on Columbus Day!)
> Unfortunately, I do not have all the names to credit each person for these great ideas
> in this file. But, I do thank you ALL for your help with this!
>
> Here's the list to date:
>
> I usually have my students average their grades on the spreadsheet. The
> more complicated your grading system is, the more sophisticated problem
> they have. It's applicable and of interest to all students.
>
> Yes, there are may algebraic spreadsheet applications. So the natural
> would be to study fractal geometry. As students examine growth
> patterns, they are communicating their findings geometrically and
> algebraically. Another twist, although I'm sure not the intent, is to
> create fractals on the spreadsheet. Additionally students can put
> pascal's triangle on the spreadsheet and make some guesses about which
> cells will be positive and negative when the digits in the cell are too
> big to fit into the space. Thus, the discovery of Sierpinski's triangle.
>
> The Koch snowflake would be another nice one to see on the spreadsheet
> as you examine both the growth of the perimeter and area. A nice
> challenge would be to find the function that represents the holes in the
> cantor set.
>
> Try http://forum.swarthmore.edu/web.units.html for some ideas, you
> need to browse a little there. (Ethel)
>
> We put together a web unit that I think you might find useful:
> http://forum.swarthmore.edu/workshops/usi/dataproject/
> Good Luck
> Judy
>
> An interesting project would be to go to the National Weather Service
> (listed on this page http://www.noaa.gov/) and compile weather
> statistics on whatever state(s) or countries you may want them to. They
> could then use a spreadsheet to compile the statistics and then average
> them over a period of day(s). Some of them might want to go a bit
> further and prognosticate like our own weather service on what the
> future weather might be and then compare their guesses with the experts!
> Elaine
>
> Do a chart on the Angles of a Regular Polygon... Let them discover that
> as the number of sides of a polygon increases, the sum of the angles
> increases by 180 degrees,(an extension of the sum of the angles of a
> triangle, by making diagonals) then find each interior angle of a
> regular or equiangular polygon, then each exterior angle of a regular
> polygon, athen the sum of the exterior angles (one at each vertex).
> They will first "discover" the iterative method, but someone will figure
> out the explicit formulas (ex. exterior angle of a regular polygon =
> 360/ number of sides) They then could graph the resulting formulas.
> This is an old chart I've had the students do by hand for many years,
> but it could be applied to a spreadsheet.
>
> Dear Marylu,
> I have my students create a spreadsheet to determine how long it would
> take to save the money to buy a car. They research savings plans (we
> have alwasy used the newspaper but internet would work)and then create
> a spreadsheet that compounds the interest depending: on the period,
> the deposit per period and the original deposit. My students use a
> recursive formula. But you could also compare to an explicit formula.
> I start with $2000 deposit, and $200 monthly savings to keep it simple
> for my 8th graders but you could make it much more personal in the
> high school.
> Diane
>
> Dear Marylu,
>
> I think there is a site that tells about every finding possible in
> polls. I don't remember the exact URL, it might actually be polls.com.
> This might be a starting point with some of your students. It has
> statistics on every imaginable poll possible.
>
> As ever,
> Ethel
>
> _______________
> Since our dept. meeting isn't until Monday, any other ideas will be more
> than welcome!
>
> I thank you again, one and all !!!
>
> Marylu