Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School

• Developing a Meaningful Understanding of the MEAN
  This article describes ways teachers can use seven properties of the mean to choose problem situations and lead classroom discussions that will help students develop a conceptual understanding of the arithmetic mean.
  Reflection Guide: Use this article for professional development.
• March Math Madness: The Mathematics of the NCAA Basketball Tournament
  This article explores the mathematics involved in the NCAA basketball tournament, including data analysis, basic probability, expected value, and the multiplication principle.
• Teachers Grow Mathematically Together: A Case Study from Data Analysis
  This article describes a collaborative effort among a group of middle-school mathematics teachers focused on improving statistics instruction. Data analysis activities from monthly work sessions are used to highlight mathematical issues that arose during the course of collaboration.
• Students' Interpretations of Misleading Graphs
  This article discusses the possible ways that students can misinterpret graphs, due to inappropriate scaling. Graphs are analyzed for significance and skewness.

ON-Math

• Real Life Traffic Data: A Vehicle for Statistical Exploration
  This article examines the mathematics that can result from having students gather and examine real-time data. It also presents ideas for research projects that use real-time data.
  Reflection Guide: Use this article for professional development.
  

Online Activities:

• State Names
  This Illuminations lesson prompts students to use multiple representations to analyze the frequency of letters that occur in the names of all 50 states.
• Bar Grapher
  This Illuminations applet allows the user to either create a customized bar graph from a personal data set or display a graph from a pre-made data set.
• Box Plotter
  This Illuminations applet allows the user to either create a customized box plot from a personal data set or display a box plot from a pre-made data set.
• Circle Grapher
  This Illuminations applet allows the user to either create a customized circle graph from a personal data set or display a circle graph from a pre-made data set.
• Histogram Tool
  This Illuminations applet allows the user to either create a customized histogram from a personal data set or display a histogram from a pre-made data set.

Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School

• Probability Games from Diverse Cultures
  This article introduces and explains probability games from various cultures. Activities are described, and teacher-ready materials are included.
• The Number of Trials Does Matter
  This article uses action research items to help students develop the concept of the importance of sample size in statistical analyses.
• Mathematics Detective: The Case of the Culinary Counting Clues & Conditions
  This article provides an investigation of combinatorics in an examination of meal combinations.
• Harry Potter and the Magic of Mathematics
  This article illustrates how teachers can use the Harry Potter book series to teach linear modeling and probability to their students.
• March Math Madness: The Mathematics of the NCAA Basketball Tournament
  This article explores the mathematics involved in the NCAA basketball tournament, including data analysis, basic probability, expected value, and the multiplication principle.

ON-Math

• Gambling Does Not Pay
  This article provides activities for student exploration into the odds, or probability, of winning the lottery.
  

Online Activities:

• Game of SKUNK
  This Illuminations lesson boosts students’ decision-making skills and understanding of choice versus chance while building a foundation of mathematics probability.
• Sticks and Stones
  This Illuminations lesson allows students to investigate probability via collection of data, examination of likelihood of various moves, and use of basic ideas of expected value to determine the average number of moves needed to win a game.
• Adjustable Spinner
  This Illuminations applet allows the user to create a spinner and examine the experimental and theoretical outcomes for a specified number of spins.
• Random Drawing Tool - Independent Trials
  This Illuminations applet allows the user to explore the relationship between theoretical and experimental probabilities.
• Random Drawing Tool - Sampling Distribution
  This Illuminations applet allows the user to explore sampling distributions by drawing multiple numbers many times.