Doing, assessing and designing a math project

Group Member: Darshan, Prem, Rong The project we have chosen from the “Mathematical Magic” book is a variation of the Fibonacci sequence. As we all know, Fibonacci sequence has a lot of amazing properties. This game is a generalization of one of Fibonacci sequence’s property. In this game, some seemly unrelated numbers are actually related. By using mathematical analysis, we can find out the reason behind the magic. Students will be surprised that we can use just one number to predict the sum of the ten numbers. Students will benefit from the game by witness the power of math. However, this game has a lot of addition calculation, which we think is both strength and a weakness. We say it is strength because this gives students a lot of practice in doing addition fast and accurately. The weakness is that if students make only one small mistake, the result will not match the magician’s prediction. Therefore, we think it might be better for the students to play in groups of two. Each student picks one number to play. Luckily, this game can be modified for two students to play at the same time as it needs two numbers to start playing. When they are doing the calculation, one can do the addition and the other can check the calculation result. This will reduce the calculation mistakes to minimum and ensure the game to play smoothly. Another problem to this game is that the calculation time and accuracy will highly depend on the students’ math calculation skills. Therefore, for lower grade or less competent students, it might be better to allow them to use calculators if the game takes too long. The “Read Your Mind” Game The project we have created is for Grade 9 students. A major problem for many grade 9 students is that they regard math as a hard and boring subject. The project is intended to arouse students’ interest in learning math. Math can be challenging. Math can also be fun. In order to understand the theory behind the game, they have to understand polynomial addition, which is closely related to the topic of Ch 5 in “Math Links 9”. Therefore, this game is also a good activity for students to get a deeper understanding of polynomial addition. The detailed activities are described step by step on the poster. We create this game by ourselves. We also reference to the “Math Links 9” textbook and “Mathematical Magic”. The length of the game will take about 10-15 minutes. Students are required to create a key from the chosen number. During the game, the students are needed to take out their pens and paper. They need follow the magician’s guide to produce a key from each chosen secret number. Because this is supposed to be a fun activity for the students to participate, the students will not be marked on their performance. However, for those students who are actively participating in the game and solving the mystery behind it, some bonus marks will be given as a reward.