On Sunday May 9th Math Club will be lead by Ithaca College Math Professor Dani Novak and will be devoted to GeoGebra, the free geometry/algebra software that bridges the gap between "School Math" and "Fun Math". Dani will give an introduction to the software during the first part of the meeting, followed by a discussion of the Geogebra Conference being hosted by Ithaca College this summer. Those of you who have enjoyed Family Math's annual Math Camp will be interested to note that the Math Camp will be integrated with the Geogebra Conference this year. The Math Camp and Conference are scheduled for July 26th to 28th (though we're not yet taking camp registrations). If you're planning to sign up for the Math Camp, this Math Club Meeting will give you an advance introduction to GeoGebra and an opportunity to have some input about Math Camp.
More about Geogebra
Many kids who study Math in school do not like it because it has no meaning for them. Using GeoGebra students learn to make use of Math in a meaningful way. The name GeoGebra is a hybrid between Geometry and AlGebra. Using GeoGebra it is easy to simulate "real life scenarios". We will be using the work developed by Linda Stojanovska from Macedonia who is becoming one of the world experts in simulation design for education. Linda's web page http://math247.pbworks.com/ has a rich collection of simulations that can be used by students and homeschoolers to learn Math. After some brief introduction to GeoGebra we will focus on the "Boat Landing Problem" that Linda developed:
http://www.mathcasts.org/mtwiki/Gq/CalculusBoatLandin
-Larry
-----
The Family Math Club meets most Sundays from 2pm to 3:30pm on the third floor of Williams Hall on the Ithaca College Campus. Meetings are free and open to everyone. Both kids and adults report enjoying the club. To get to the club travel to South Hill on 96B. Turn into the Ithaca College main entrance. Go three fourths around the circle and then along a straight stretch. Take the first right (a sign here says "admissions"). Williams Hall is the second building on your left. There is usually parking nearby. Enter either the front or the back and take either the stairs or the elevator to the third floor.