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Engaging in mathematical investigations yourself will help you be a better mathematics teacher! National, state, and local curriculum requirements and recommendations increasingly emphasize active student involvement in exploratory investigations. Teachers now face new demands when they field unexpected student discoveries, determine when some open-ended activity has played out its usefulness or is just on the verge of paying off in a major way, and judge which student-initiated directions are likely to lead to development of important mathematical ideas and which are dead ends. These pedagogical judgments depend heavily on deep mathematical knowledge. Ways to Think About Mathematics uses immersion experiences in algebra, geometry, and statistics to help mathematics teachers improve their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. By experiencing open-ended problems, making and checking conjectures, and evaluating problem solving strategies, every math teacher can become better prepared to deal with day-to-day classroom decisions. Funded by the National Science Foundation and successfully field-tested in a wide variety of professional development and preservice settings, the materials in this book integrate mathematical thinking, effective teaching practices, and explicit connections to exemplary curricula. Because it is aligned with the principles and standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics but is not fixed to any single curriculum, the materials in this book can be aligned with any state or district standards. Emphasizing all components of mathematical investigation, this accessible volume focuses on: Mathematical ways of thinking Discovering connections between mathematical ideas Posing and analyzing problems Making, modifying, testing, and proving conjectures Linking higher level mathematics to the content of grade 6-12 classrooms Ways to Think About Mathematics gives teachers the opportunity to grow as learners and teachers of mathematics by including problems for teachers to explore as well as selected "Problems for the Classroom" for the classes they teach.

Engaging in mathematical investigations yourself will help you be a better mathematics teacher! National, state, and local curriculum requirements and recommendations increasingly emphasize active student involvement in exploratory investigations. Teachers now face new demands when they field unexpected student discoveries, determine when some open-ended activity has played out its usefulness or is just on the verge of paying off in a major way, and judge which student-initiated directions are likely to lead to development of important mathematical ideas and which are dead ends. These pedagogical judgments depend heavily on deep mathematical knowledge. Ways to Think About Mathematics uses immersion experiences in algebra, geometry, and statistics to help mathematics teachers improve their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. By experiencing open-ended problems, making and checking conjectures, and evaluating problem solving strategies, every math teacher can become better prepared to deal with day-to-day classroom decisions. Funded by the National Science Foundation and successfully field-tested in a wide variety of professional development and preservice settings, the materials in this book integrate mathematical thinking, effective teaching practices, and explicit connections to exemplary curricula. Because it is aligned with the principles and standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics but is not fixed to any single curriculum, the materials in this book can be aligned with any state or district standards. Emphasizing all components of mathematical investigation, this accessible volume focuses on: Mathematical ways of thinking Discovering connections between mathematical ideas Posing and analyzing problems Making, modifying, testing, and proving conjectures Linking higher level mathematics to the content of grade 6-12 classrooms Ways to Think About Mathematics gives teachers the opportunity to grow as learners and teachers of mathematics by including problems for teachers to explore as well as selected "Problems for the Classroom" for the classes they teach.

Designed for precollege teachers by a collaborative of teachers, educators, and mathematicians, Applications of Algebra and Geometry to the Work of Teaching is based on a course offered in the Summer School Teacher Program at the Park City Mathematics Institute. But this book isn't a ``course'' in the traditional sense. It consists of a carefully sequenced collection of problem sets designed to develop several interconnected mathematical themes, and one of the goals of the problem sets is for readers to uncover these themes for themselves. The specific theme developed in Applications of Algebra and Geometry to the Work of Teaching is the use of complex numbers-especially the arithmetic of Gaussian and Eisenstein integers-to investigate some questions that are at the intersection of algebra and geometry, like the classification of Pythagorean triples and the number of representations of an integer as the sum of two squares. Applications of Algebra and Geometry to the Work of Teaching is a volume of the book series IAS/PCMI-The Teacher Program Series published by the American Mathematical Society. Each volume in that series covers the content of one Summer School Teacher Program year and is independent of the rest.

Designed for precollege teachers by a collaborative of teachers, educators, and mathematicians, Probability through Algebra is based on a course offered in the Summer School Teacher Program at the Park City Mathematics Institute. But this book isn't a ``course'' in the traditional sense. It consists of a carefully sequenced collection of problem sets designed to develop several interconnected mathematical themes, and one of the goals of the problem sets is for readers to uncover these themes for themselves. The specific themes developed in Probability through Algebra introduce readers to the algebraic properties of expected value and variance through analysis of games, to the use of generating functions and formal algebra as combinatorial tools, and to some applications of these ideas to questions in probabilistic number theory. Probability through Algebra is a volume of the book series IAS/PCMI-The Teacher Program Series published by the American Mathematical Society. Each volume in that series covers the content of one Summer School Teacher Program year and is independent of the rest.

Designed for precollege teachers by a collaborative of teachers, educators, and mathematicians, Famous Functions in Number Theory is based on a course offered in the Summer School Teacher Program at the Park City Mathematics Institute. But this book isn't a ``course'' in the traditional sense. It consists of a carefully sequenced collection of problem sets designed to develop several interconnected mathematical themes, and one of the goals of the problem sets is for readers to uncover these themes for themselves. Famous Functions in Number Theory introduces readers to the use of formal algebra in number theory. Through numerical experiments, participants learn how to use polynomial algebra as a bookkeeping mechanism that allows them to count divisors, build multiplicative functions, and compile multiplicative functions in a certain way that produces new ones. One capstone of the investigations is a beautiful result attributed to Fermat that determines the number of ways a positive integer can be written as a sum of two perfect squares. Famous Functions in Number Theory is a volume of the book series IAS/PCMI-The Teacher Program Series published by the American Mathematical Society. Each volume in that series covers the content of one Summer School Teacher Program year and is independent of the rest.

Designed for precollege teachers by a collaborative of teachers, educators, and mathematicians, Some Applications of Geometric Thinking is based on a course offered in the Summer School Teacher Program at the Park City Mathematics Institute. But this book isn't a ``course'' in the traditional sense. It consists of a carefully sequenced collection of problem sets designed to develop several interconnected mathematical themes, and one of the goals of the problem sets is for readers to uncover these themes for themselves. The goal of Some Applications of Geometric Thinking is to help teachers see that geometric ideas can be used throughout the secondary school curriculum, both as a hub that connects ideas from all parts of secondary school and beyond-algebra, number theory, arithmetic, and data analysis-and as a locus for applications of results and methods from these fields. Some Applications of Geometric Thinking is a volume of the book series IAS/PCMI-The Teacher Program Series' published by the American Mathematical Society. Each volume in this series covers the content of one Summer School Teacher Program year and is independent of the rest.

Designed for precollege teachers by a collaborative of teachers, educators, and mathematicians, Moving Things Around is based on a course offered in the Summer School Teacher Program at the Park City Mathematics Institute. But this book isn't a ``course'' in the traditional sense. It consists of a carefully sequenced collection of problem sets designed to develop several interconnected mathematical themes, and one of the goals of the problem sets is for readers to uncover these themes for themselves. The goal of Moving Things Around is to help participants make what might seem to be surprising connections among seemingly different areas: permutation groups, number theory, and expansions for rational numbers in various bases, all starting from the analysis of card shuffles. Another goal is to use these connections to bring some coherence to several ideas that run throughout school mathematics-rational number arithmetic, different representations for rational numbers, geometric transformations, and combinatorics. The theme of seeking structural similarities is developed slowly, leading, near the end of the course, to an informal treatment of isomorphism. Moving Things Around is a volume of the book series IAS/PCMI-The Teacher Program Series published by the American Mathematical Society. Each volume in this series covers the content of one Summer School Teacher Program year and is independent of the rest.

Designed for precollege teachers by a collaborative of teachers, educators, and mathematicians, Probability and Games is based on a course offered in the Summer School Teacher Program at the Park City Mathematics Institute.This course leads participants through an introduction to probability and statistics, with particular focus on conditional probability, hypothesis testing, and the mathematics of election analysis. These ideas are tied together through low-threshold entry points including work with real and fake coin-flipping data, short games that lead to key concepts, and inroads to connecting the topics to number theory and algebra.But this book isn't a "course" in the traditional sense. It consists of a carefully sequenced collection of problem sets designed to develop several interconnected mathematical themes. These materials provide participants with the opportunity for authentic mathematical discovery-participants build mathematical structures by investigating patterns, use reasoning to test and formalize their ideas, offer and negotiate mathematical definitions, and apply their theories and mathematical machinery to solve problems.Probability and Games is a volume of the book series IAS/PCMI-The Teacher Program Series' published by the American Mathematical Society. Each volume in this series covers the content of one Summer School Teacher Program year and is independent of the rest.

Designed for precollege teachers by a collaborative of teachers, educators, and mathematicians, Fractions, Tilings, and Geometry is based on a course offered in the Summer School Teacher Program at the Park City Mathematics Institute.The overall goal of the course is an introduction to non-periodic tilings in two dimensions and space-filling polyhedra. While the course does not address quasicrystals, it provides the underlying mathematics that is used in their study. Because of this goal, the course explores Penrose tilings, the irrationality of the golden ratio, the connections between tessellations and packing problems, and Voronoi diagrams in 2 and 3 dimensions. These topics all connect to precollege mathematics, either as core ideas (irrational numbers) or enrichment for standard topics in geometry (polygons, angles, and constructions).But this book isn't a ``course'' in the traditional sense. It consists of a carefully sequenced collection of problem sets designed to develop several interconnected mathematical themes. These materials provide participants with the opportunity for authentic mathematical discovery--participants build mathematical structures by investigating patterns, use reasoning to test and formalize their ideas, offer and negotiate mathematical definitions, and apply their theories and mathematical machinery to solve problems.Fractions, Tilings, and Geometry is a volume of the book series IAS/PCMI--The Teacher Program Series published by the American Mathematical Society. Each volume in this series covers the content of one Summer School Teacher Program year and is independent of the rest.

Linear Algebra and Geometry is organized around carefully sequenced problems that help students build both the tools and the habits that provide a solid basis for further study in mathematics. Requiring only high school algebra, it uses elementary geometry to build the beautiful edifice of results and methods that make linear algebra such an important field. The materials in Linear Algebra and Geometry have been used, field tested, and refined for over two decades. It is aimed at preservice and practicing high school mathematics teachers and advanced high school students looking for an addition to or replacement for calculus. Secondary teachers will find the emphasis on developing effective habits of mind especially helpful. The book is written in a friendly, approachable voice and contains nearly a thousand problems.

This is the eighth book in the Teacher Program Series. Each book includes a full course in a mathematical focus topic. The topic for this book is the study of continued fractions, including important results involving the Euclidean algorithm, the golden ratio, and approximations to rational and irrational numbers. The course includes 14 problem sets designed for low-threshold, high-ceiling access to the topic, building on one another as the concepts are explored. The book also includes solutions for all the main problems and detailed facilitator notes for those wanting to use this book with students at any level. The course is based on one delivered at the Park City Math Institute in Summer 2018.

This textbook originates from a course taught by the late Ken Ireland in 1972. Designed to explore the theoretical underpinnings of undergraduate mathematics, the course focused on interrelationships and hands-on experience. Readers of this textbook will be taken on a modern rendering of Ireland’s path of discovery, consisting of excursions into number theory, algebra, and analysis. Replete with surprising connections, deep insights, and brilliantly curated invitations to try problems at just the right moment, this journey weaves a rich body of knowledge that is ideal for those going on to study or teach mathematics.A pool of 200 ‘Dialing In’ problems opens the book, providing fuel for active enquiry throughout a course. The following chapters develop theory to illuminate the observations and roadblocks encountered in the problems, situating them in the broader mathematical landscape. Topics cover polygons and modular arithmetic; the fundamental theorems of arithmetic and algebra; irrational, algebraic and transcendental numbers; and Fourier series and Gauss sums. A lively accompaniment of examples, exercises, historical anecdotes, and asides adds motivation and context to the theory. Return trips to the Dialing In problems are encouraged, offering opportunities to put theory into practice and make lasting connections along the way.Excursions in Number Theory, Algebra, and Analysis invites readers on a journey as important as the destination. Suitable for a senior capstone, professional development for practicing teachers, or independent reading, this textbook offers insights and skills valuable to math majors and high school teachers alike. A background in real analysis and abstract algebra is assumed, though the most important prerequisite is a willingness to put pen to paper and do some mathematics.