Website Portals

I reviewed these Five websites during TTL

         [math.com]  [nctm]  [math forum] [national Math Trail]

           URL WEBSITE:  http://school.discovery.com

            SITE TITLE: Math Help Discovery School.com

            AUTHOR OR SPONSOR: Discovery Channel

            GRADE AND CONTENT AREA:  Math K - 12

             STATE OR NATIONAL STANDARD:  There are many state standards that
             are covered at this site, one of which is solving problems using
             quadratic formula including graphic representation and analysis.

              PRIMARY USE:  The primary use of this site would be for math students
             to get help with their homework.  You can put in the problem and the
             site will give a step-by-step explanation of how to do the problem and
             then you can put in another problem and work it out and then check
             you answer.  It also has a teacher section with some lesson plans.
             There is also a parent’s section.

              DESCRIPTION OF EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF SITE: Sometimes it is good
             for a student to see how to do a problem.  This site does go through the
             process and doesn’t only give the answer like the answers like the
              back of the book.   It covered many math topics and topics from most
             every other subject area.  It also had lesson plans for teachers.

              STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF SITE:
               Strengths:  This site covered many different subjects.   It showed a
              step-by-step process for working out the problem and not just the
              answers.  It also gave another problem that the student could
              practice.  It had clip art logic puzzles, a brain busters section, a cyber
              safari, a quiz making tool for teachers, a library of creative curriculum,
              and a teacher’s store.

              Weaknesses: At times there was too much of an explanation and on
              graphing straight lines there wasn’t any explanation about how to get
              the points that were on the line.  There weren’t any choices under the
              library of curriculum resources for teachers.  The brain buster’s section
              was on hiatus until August 1.

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SITE TITLE: The World of Math Online

               AUTHOR OR SPONSOR:  Encore Software

               GRADE AND CONTENT AREA: Math k-12

               STATE OR NATIONAL STANDARD: There are many state
               standards covered at this site, one of which is mathematics
                instructional programs should know, use and derive
                formulas for and solve problems involving perimeter,
               circumference, area, volume, and surface area.

                DESCRIPTION OF EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF SITE: 
                This site has information for students, teachers, and
                parents.  For the student, it introduces the math concept,
                then goes into more depth, shows some examples, and
                then provides some opportunities for them to practice.
                There is even a practice quiz.
                The site provides resources for the teacher and links.
                These resources and links include lesson plans and
                commercial resources such as books, software, etc.
                There is also a section for parents and how they can use
                 this site to help their children improve their math skills and
                 abilities. 
                 In addition to these things there is a section called ask the
                 expert, another that has games, an online store, and
                 various calculators.

                  STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF SITE:
                  Strengths:   I think that this site is very good for both
                  students and teachers.  It was easy to navigate, as I was
                  able to find the items that I wanted.  It included standards
                  too.

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                   SITE TITLE: The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics  

                   URL WEBSITE:  http://standards.nctm.org

                   AUTHOR OR SPONSOR: The National Council of Teachers of
                   Mathematics

                   GRADE AND CONTENT AREA: K – 12 Mathematics

                   STATE OR NATIONAL STANDARD: This site covers all of the state
                   and national standards.  One standard that I particularly noticed as
                   I visited this site was to select transformations required to map
                   images of objects.

                   PRIMARY USE: Teachers would use this site to see the standards,
                   find lesson plans and to find some interactive activities that they can
                   have their students do.

                   DESCRIPTION OF EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF SITE:  This site has
                   great educational value for teachers of mathematics.  To begin with
                   it contains all of the mathematics standards of NCTM.  It has lesson
                   plans for teachers to draw from.  It also has interactive activities that
                   teachers can have students do that correlate with the standards.
                   There are also some good links to NCTM Illuminations and some
                   other good sites.

                   STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF SITE:

                   Strengths:  This is a really good site for both teachers and
                    students, but mostly for teachers.  Teachers can find lesson plans
                    that meet the NCTM standards and goals.

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                      SITE TITLE: The Math Forum

                    URL WEBSITE:  http://forum.swarthmore.edu/

                    AUTHOR OR SPONSOR:  Staff of Math Forum from Swathmore, PA

                    GRADE AND CONTENT AREA: Math K - College

                    STATE OR NATIONAL STANDARD:  There are many state standards
                    covered in this site, one of which is to determine equations for lines
                    meeting certain conditions.

                     PRIMARY USE: Can be used by both teachers and students

                     DESCRIPTION OF EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF SITE: There is a
                     Student Center with a problem of the week, an internet math hunt,
                     math magic, science fair math projects, student showcase, math
                     tips and tricks, and an undergraduate resource database.

                    In addition to this there is a chat for students to chat about math,
                    there are games and hobbies, internet activities and projects, and
                    software.

                   For the teachers there is a Teacher’s Place with an Ask DR. Math, a
                   teacher 2-teacher forum, web units, math camps and summer
                   programs, a list of interactive sites, and an internet mathematics
                   library.

                   STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF SITE: 

                   Strengths:  This site has a wealth of information for both students
                   and teachers.  The problems of the week are applicable and
                   challenging.  There are activities for students of all levels and all
                   ages.  It gives students a chance to see the work of students from
                   other schools.  Teachers can find lesson plans, see web units, and
                   visit a mathematics library.

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                  URL WEBSITE:  http://www.nationalmathtrail.org

                  AUTHOR OR SPONSOR: US Dept of Education, Star Schools
                  Program, The Satellite Education Resources Consortium (SERC) and
                  the Verizon Foundation

                  STATE OR NATIONAL STANDARD:  There are many state standards
                  covered at this site, one of which is to select geometric properties of
                  geometric figures to represent and solve problems.

                   PRIMARY USE: Students find a math problem from their community
                   or neighborhood and then send it in.  Teachers can then use some
                   of these problems for their students or have their students go to the
                   website try some of the problems.

                    DESCRIPTION OF EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF SITE:  The process of
                    going into the community and finding something to make a math
                    problem about has value in itself.  The knowledge gained by then
                    posting that problem onto a website or submitting it to be posted is
                    also valuable. However, the greatest value this site has is that it
                    contains so real problems from all over the nation where a teacher
                    can go to find problems or a student can go to work some
                    problems.

                   STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF SITE:

                   Strengths:  This site has problems for all levels of math and on any
                   topic K - 12. It has a question of the week teacher forum.  It contains
                   the NCTM standards with links.  It was once voted education
                   technology site of the week by e-school news.

                  Weaknesses:  One of the problems with this site is that it is
                   relatively new.  At least I believe that it is relatively new because
                   there are quite a few states that don’t have any submissions. 
                   Some more populated states only have a few sites posted.  There
                   is a need to inform teachers of this site and opportunity.

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