This metasite "collects various areas in which ideas from discrete and computational geometry (meaning mainly low-dimensional Euclidean geometry) meet some real world applications," according to the site's provider, Dr. David Eppstein of the University of California at Irvine. Categories available include Geometric References and Techniques, Design and Manufacturing, Graphics and Visualization,...
Just about everyone has wondered: "How does this button work?" They may not have been thinking of the world of dynamic geometry, but Chris Sangwin of the University of Birmingham has been thinking about just this subject. He recently contributed an interactive learning resource to the Journal of Online Mathematics and its Applications, and his work will no doubt command the attention of...
To some the word Illuminations may bring to mind Walter Benjamin’s classic work, and still others may imagine those manuscripts that were a product of the medieval intellect and imagination. In this case, the illuminations in question are a set of mathematical teaching and learning tools designed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Their website was redesigned in early 2006, and is...
With the kind support of the National Science Foundation, the Shodor Education Foundation continues to provide a wide set of resources designed to assist educators with the formidable task of teaching young people about math and science. Since 1994, they have been responsible for the Interactivate website, which is designed to create, collect, and disseminate Java-based courseware for exploration...
Designed for educators, the Interactivate website provides numerous high quality resources that assist with the “creation, collection, evaluation, and dissemination of interactive courseware for exploration in science and mathematics.” The What's New area provides interested parties with new and updated activities that are quite compelling. One of the more recent additions is Function Revolution,...
Created by Alexander Bogomolny, this site is a clearinghouse of fun and engaging mathematics exercises, puzzles, and other such activities that teachers can utilize in their classrooms. Of course, students might happen across the site and they might become math converts along the way. First-time visitors might wish to read Bogomolny's "manifesto" for the site, and then they can dive right into the...
How much liquid can that glass hold? What are the dimensions of that package that's heading off to a friend overseas? Answers to both of those questions (and many more) can be found in this lovely interactive feature on 3D shapes created by experts at the Annenberg Media group. Visitors to this site will learn about three-dimensional geometric shapes by examining a number of objects through a...
With funding from the National Science Foundation, the Learning & Performance Support Laboratory at the University of Georgia has created this website for mathematics educators. Their primary focus is to build teachers’ mathematical content knowledge through mathematical investigations, and the resources presented here reflect this commitment. The primary mathematical fields covered here include...
Johannes Kepler is known for his many mathematical discoveries, and he was quite keen on calculating areas and volumes. This interest stemmed from an incident that occurred when he married for the second time in Austria. He had purchased a barrel of wine for his wedding, and was angered by the wine merchant's method for measuring the volume. Inspired by this exchange, Kepler began his study of how...
How did people learn geometry in Georgian England? It was different than in our own time, to be sure. This feature from Loci, the online publication of the MAA Mathematical Sciences Digital Library offers a bit of detail on the matter, courtesy of the geometry copybook of a boy named Thomas Porcher. This particular feature was written by Benjamin Wardhaugh from the University of Oxford. In the...