Search Tips
When browsing for a particular online activity in the Maths Internet Guide, it is recommended to begin from the top of the six search strategies (by topics and levels) and follow the order till you find what you want.
The six categories are on the Menu page:
By Topics and Levels: Websites are sorted out by curriculum topics and by grade levels.
By Topics Only: Websites are sorted out by several curriculum topics (e.g., algebra, arithmetic, geometry).
By Levels Only: Websites are sorted out by several grade levels (e.g. Grade 5-6, Year 8-9).
By Single Topic/Theme: Activities are sorted within one topic/theme only (e.g. Prime factors, Ambigrams).
By General Sites: Interesting activities that do not follow any specific arrangement.
By MegaSites: Big collections of activities that can be interactive and/or non-interactive.
I recommend the Topics and Levels section first. These are comprehensive websites with well-designed learning objects organised by content and grade. I particularly recommend the websites created by Cambridge University (www.nrich.maths.org), the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (http://illuminations.nctm.org; standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples), York University (www.counton.org), the Shodor Foundation (www.shodor.org) and the Scootle (www.scootle.edu.au). Their online resources are more pedagogically oriented, interactive, and arranged by grade level and curriculum topics. Other examples in this category include: the BBC Schools service (www.bbc.co.uk/schools) and the Freudenthal Institute for Secondary Education (www.fi.uu.nl/wisweb/welcome_en.html), Waldo’s Interactive Maths Pages (www.waldomaths.com) and MathCats (www.mathcats.com).
The Topics Only section should be your next step. There you will find websites where activities are arranged by curriculum topics. Some websites are designed in terms of broad strands such as arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, or in more specific terms like linear functions, patterns or symmetry. The next search strategy is Levels Only. Use this strategy when you focus is on pre-school, primary maths, secondary maths or even calculus resources. For some reason, the Single Topic/Theme category is very popular among teachers. Here you will find a broad range of very specific curriculum topics ready to be explored by your fingertips. You may find, for example, online resources linked to abacus, aeronautics, coin flipping, Egyptian maths, financial calculators, maths dictionaries, maths songs and arts, Origami, tessellations, Pythagoras’ puzzles, women mathematicians, among many others. You will also find a Tsunami simulation. General Sites is the fifth and last search category which mostly includes interactive maths mazes, puzzles and instructional games.
Note that that these six search categories are mutually exclusive, that is, websites are not listed twice across these categories. Sometimes the classification criteria across search categories are a bit shadowy as some websites deserve to be in more than one category. You’ll soon learn that the WWW is an unclassifiable place, so be patient in your search and try more than one category.
The websites in the MegaSites section are big collections of activities which can be both interactive and non-interactive. The section is useful to explore the wealth of online resources that do not necessarily appear in an interactive format. They may include lesson plans, ideas for investigations, graphical galleries, or new thoughts for teaching a particular topic. A visit to this section is also worth it.
The Maths Internet Guide also hosts an amusing Maths Humour section.
Site designed and maintained by Boris Handal at: borishandal @ gmail.com
https://borishandal.wordpress.com
The six categories are on the Menu page:
By Topics and Levels: Websites are sorted out by curriculum topics and by grade levels.
By Topics Only: Websites are sorted out by several curriculum topics (e.g., algebra, arithmetic, geometry).
By Levels Only: Websites are sorted out by several grade levels (e.g. Grade 5-6, Year 8-9).
By Single Topic/Theme: Activities are sorted within one topic/theme only (e.g. Prime factors, Ambigrams).
By General Sites: Interesting activities that do not follow any specific arrangement.
By MegaSites: Big collections of activities that can be interactive and/or non-interactive.
I recommend the Topics and Levels section first. These are comprehensive websites with well-designed learning objects organised by content and grade. I particularly recommend the websites created by Cambridge University (www.nrich.maths.org), the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (http://illuminations.nctm.org; standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples), York University (www.counton.org), the Shodor Foundation (www.shodor.org) and the Scootle (www.scootle.edu.au). Their online resources are more pedagogically oriented, interactive, and arranged by grade level and curriculum topics. Other examples in this category include: the BBC Schools service (www.bbc.co.uk/schools) and the Freudenthal Institute for Secondary Education (www.fi.uu.nl/wisweb/welcome_en.html), Waldo’s Interactive Maths Pages (www.waldomaths.com) and MathCats (www.mathcats.com).
The Topics Only section should be your next step. There you will find websites where activities are arranged by curriculum topics. Some websites are designed in terms of broad strands such as arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, or in more specific terms like linear functions, patterns or symmetry. The next search strategy is Levels Only. Use this strategy when you focus is on pre-school, primary maths, secondary maths or even calculus resources. For some reason, the Single Topic/Theme category is very popular among teachers. Here you will find a broad range of very specific curriculum topics ready to be explored by your fingertips. You may find, for example, online resources linked to abacus, aeronautics, coin flipping, Egyptian maths, financial calculators, maths dictionaries, maths songs and arts, Origami, tessellations, Pythagoras’ puzzles, women mathematicians, among many others. You will also find a Tsunami simulation. General Sites is the fifth and last search category which mostly includes interactive maths mazes, puzzles and instructional games.
Note that that these six search categories are mutually exclusive, that is, websites are not listed twice across these categories. Sometimes the classification criteria across search categories are a bit shadowy as some websites deserve to be in more than one category. You’ll soon learn that the WWW is an unclassifiable place, so be patient in your search and try more than one category.
The websites in the MegaSites section are big collections of activities which can be both interactive and non-interactive. The section is useful to explore the wealth of online resources that do not necessarily appear in an interactive format. They may include lesson plans, ideas for investigations, graphical galleries, or new thoughts for teaching a particular topic. A visit to this section is also worth it.
The Maths Internet Guide also hosts an amusing Maths Humour section.
Site designed and maintained by Boris Handal at: borishandal @ gmail.com
https://borishandal.wordpress.com