They fold over their square, along the horizontal fold, press and rub with their palm. When students open it, they describe what is represented. Students investigate slope by developing plans for increasing handicap access to buildings by investigating state and local codes for ramps and problems that occur in their construction. How It Looks in the Classroom Students in Ms. Rivers ninth grade class are studying many topics of mathematics combined with other disciplines through the study of tessellations. They explore the work of the Dutch artist M.C. Escher, and historical examples of tilings, such as the Islamic tiling found in the Alhambra.
Students use many different materials and media to arrive at and present their findings.
Some students write and use a Logo program, while others do their work on grid paper, and others build models and trace their results. As results are presented, new questions are raised regarding functional relationships, with students trying to find either an explicit or recursive expression for the relationships. They use graphing calculators to try to answer their questions. After the presentations, students play a computer game involving shapes made up of four squares with new understanding of the mathematical connections. Example of Student Learning Topology and networks are explored by means of a manipulative designed by the teacher.