| There are many interdisciplinary projects that
involve math and other subject areas. It is just a matter of finding the ideas that work
for you and your students. From my experience, most students are
very motivated about connecting
math to other topics. Here are some of my ideas that you may find useful for grades 4
through 8. |
|
Math and Science:
The math teacher can teach students about
exponential notation. Once students become proficient in reading and writing numbers in
exponential form, and in converting numbers between exponential form, factor form, and
standard form, they can apply this knowledge to topics in science. For example, they can
write the distance between the sun and each planet using scientific notation. For advanced
students, you can teach them about negative exponents and then look at the half-life of
certain radioactive elements, or at the size of bacteria and viruses. |
| Click
here for our interactive lesson on Exponents. |
|
Math and Social Studies:
After teaching a unit on how to read, interpret,
and draw graphs, you can have your students apply these skills to topics in Social
Studies. For example, they can draw bar graphs to compare the Population, Per Capita
Income, and Population Density of various countries. |
| For other connections between math and social
studies, try our interactive
lessons on Integers.
|
|
Math and Writing:
One of the things stressed by standardized tests
is the ability to answer open-ended questions. Typically, students are asked to provide
written explanations. This assesses their ability to express their mathematical ideas in
written form. To help them prepare for these types of questions, I do a math project that
involves writing. I ask students to answer several open-ended questions using full
sentences. The Math Teacher can grade students based on the mathematical correctness of
their responses. The Language Arts or English Teacher can grade them on spelling and
grammar. Some sample questions are provided below from topics in Number Theory and
Percent. |
- Is 27 prime or composite? Explain your answer.
- Is 25 the same as 2 x 5? Explain why or why not.
- Name 4 numbers that are factors of 24. Explain your answer.
- Is 25% of 80 the same as 80% of 25? Explain your answer.
- If 29 equals 512, then find 210 with only one multiplication.
Explain your answer.
|
| Click here for interactive
lessons on Number
Theory. |
| Try our interactive lessons on
Percent. |
|
Math and Sports:
Students can compute the percent win-loss of games
played by their favorite sports teams. They can find data on teams in their school, or
they can find data for professional teams online and in the newspapers. You can bring this
activity into the computer lab by placing all the data in a spreadsheet. A formula can be
used to compute the percent win-loss. Try our interactive lessons on
Percent. |
|
|
Students can play Integer
Football, our unique game that integrates integer addition
with the plays of a football game. |
|
Math and The History of Computers:
Students can examine the binary number system.
They can look at the relationship between base 2 numbers and how computer circuitry was
developed. The history of computers can be studied from the invention of the ENIAC through
today's wireless devices. |
Visit these sites on the History of
Math:
The
MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
History of
Mathematics |
|
Math and Technology: Round-Off Error
If you divide the numerator of a fraction by its
denominator, and the result is a repeating decimal, your calculator will not
display the results with 100% accuracy. This is because repeating
decimals have an infinite number of digits and calculators can only
compute to a finite number of digits. This phenomenon, known as round-off
error, also applies to computers. You can use this topic to integrate math and technology in your
classroom. Students will marvel at the way different calculators and
computers display varying results when they
experiment with fractions such as 2/3, 5/6 or 8/9. |
|
Find more interdisciplinary
project ideas on The Math Goodies CD!
|