BHNmath

NEWSLETTER | ISSUE 4 | OCTOBER 13, 2020

Written by Adam Gesjorskyj

A TIME TO SHINE

If you walk outside and look upward this evening, you’ll easily see Mars dominating the sky. The red planet is in opposition tonight, meaning it’s an ideal time to view our closest superior planetary neighbour. Positioned directly opposite the sun in Earth’s sky, Mars is near its closest point to Earth, appearing bigger and brighter than usual. I can’t help but think of how BHNmath is also preparing to shine its brightest (please excuse the cheesy segue). In addition to its ongoing support of our mathematics community, BHNmath has already begun getting ready for the upcoming Grade 9 Mathematics curriculum revision. So little has been made known about the details of this update, but based on hints from the new elementary mathematics curriculum, a slew of BHNmath resources are being developed with the goal of easing the transition for teachers and meeting the diverse learning needs of students in the soon-to-be-de-streamed course. As more information becomes available about the revision, these resources will be updated and organized accordingly. Phrases such as “it’s in the works” and “coming soon” are being used far too often and far too late these days in education. My aim is that when September 2021 arrives, BHNmath will be using phrases like “here you go” and “ready to rock.”

MINOR UPDATES

Over the past few months, a variety of minor updates have been applied to the BHNmath website and several of its resources. Along with increased security, numerous improvements have been made in terms of the site’s appearance.

A specific resource update worth mentioning applies to the Graph Tool and the Trig Tool. Both of these tools now feature an additional button to make the process of exporting an image to the clipboard more intuitive. The previous method of exporting (Ctrl-Shift-C) will still work. You can download the most recent versions of these tools here. In order to run them, you’ll need to have GeoGebra Classic 5 installed on your computer. It can be downloaded free of charge here. Be sure to download the Classic 5 version!

SUMMER OF GEOGEBRA

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to work alongside many top GeoGebra authors from all over the world. Specifically, we looked at the use of this free and incredibly powerful software as an assessment tool. Needless to say, the amount of knowledge that I gained from this project was massive! It was truly an inspirational experience to work with such a diverse group of brilliant mathematicians and teachers. I look forward to applying the skills that I developed during this time to the creation of future BHNmath resources. Furthermore, when restrictions and concerns surrounding social gatherings lessen, I hope to host some in-person sessions on the applications and features of GeoGebra. Stay tuned!

CATALOGUE UPDATE

One of the quickest ways to find BHNmath resources is to use the Catalogue

With this tool, the user types keywords into a search field to filter a list of matching topics. The search is even more refined when a course code is included. Once the desired topic has been found, the user can click the appropriate student, parent or teacher link to access the corresponding resources.

The Catalogue has recently been updated to include additional tags for an improved search experience.  For example, trying typing aviation in the search field. Notice that although this word does not appear explicitly in the search results, topics with resources related to aviation are listed.

WELCOME, GRADES 7 AND 8!

Due to delays in staffing the Virtual School in September, I was briefly given the responsibility of posting mathematics content for Grade 7 and Grade 8 remote learners. To further support these students, an Elementary Mathematics section was added to the Question and Answer Centre. Although I’m no longer providing Grade 7/8 programming, the corresponding Q&A pages will remain active for any students who wish to use them. 

Recently added resources

Here are the five resources most recently created for BHNmath (excluding Question and Answer Centre resources):

Course: 9 Academic (MPM1D1) and 9 Applied (MFM1P1) 
Topic: Cartesian Coordinates
Type: Game (Interactive Applet)
Target: Students
Location: Linear Relations (MPM1D1) / Relationships (MFM1P1)
Notes: Play the classic Battleship game against a computerized opponent using Cartesian coordinates! I’m not sure if I had more fun making this one or playing it! Best played on a desktop, laptop or tablet. 

Course: 9 Applied (MFM1P1)
Topic: Measuring Angles
Type: Interactive Applet
Target: Students
Location: Angles
Notes: Inspired by a discussion with a teacher. An applet to practice measuring angles with a protractor.

Course: 9 Applied (MFM1P1)
Topic: Connecting Representations of Linear Relations
Type: Video
Target: Students
Location: Linear Relations
Notes: Requested by a teacher. A look at the connections among tables of values, graphs, equations and word descriptions for linear relationships in aviation.

Course: 9 Applied (MFM1P1)
Topic: Connecting Representations of Linear Relations
Type: Understanding Check
Target: Students
Location: Linear Relations
Notes: Five questions to check understanding of the connections among tables of values, graphs, equations and word descriptions for linear relations.

Course: 9 Applied (MFM1P1)
Topic: Connecting Representations of Linear Relations
Type: Interactive Applet
Target: Teachers/Students
Location: Linear Relations
Notes: An applet to explore the connections among different representations of linear relations. 

WHAT'S NEXT FOR BHNmath?

  • Developing resources to support the upcoming Grade 9 de-streamed math curriculum.
  • Building a “pie tool” for easily creating custom fraction diagrams.
  • Creating an introductory video on parametric equations.

Have a great year and don’t hesitate to contact me any time!
– Adam