Internet Resources

Here are some great online resources for math teachers:

• Purple Math is a great site because it contains links to dozens of other valuable and usable math resources. Links take you to worksheets, quizzes, math games and other fun applications, tests, and software you can purchase.
• Terry Husted's Homepage is a site by a twenty-six-year teacher who admits to not having all the answers, and that teaching is an "ongoing experience." That's an attitude everyone needs to have regarding education. The site has links to sites about classroom management, science sites, lesson plans, and graphing calculator sites. It's a very simple avenue for any math teacher to access great resources.
• PBS has always been one of my favorite providers of educational material, whether it's books or video. Their website also has fun activities for students, lesson plans for teachers, recommended websites, and advice for teachers.

Digital Story

My chemistry class was learning about gas laws, so I decided to create a story about a balloon that had to shrink his head in order to fit into his new helmet. The three gas laws involved were Boyle's Law, Charles's Law, and Avagadro's Law. The story map and script descibes that students learn how the effects of pressure, temperature, and the number of particles of a gas affect the volume it takes.

The story is narrated on youtube. The different specialists that the main character consults are named after the three gas laws above. They each give him advice on how to fit into his new helmet. The balloon, Red, finds a comfortable solution and uses it. The specialists' illustrations are the actual equations for each law, so students can relate the law to each character, as well as what each specialist prescribed.