Number Systems, Counting, and Place Value

http://studenthome.nku.edu/%7Ewebquest/gabbard/

Audience: Upper elementary school and early middle school math students.

Summary: Students are faced with assisting space aliens who only have four fingers and need to have a system for counting and place values by using a “Base Four” operation.

My Opinion: This is a very simple math WebQuest and would be great for a beginning-of-the-year review and/or for remedial math learners. Kids will find it fun and non-threatening because it is akin to many fantasy video games. The names of the characters are cute and students will learn in an enjoyable situational genre.

A Pizza Family Reunion

http://www.angelfire.com/home/chas/WQ.html

Audience: Middle School Math Students

Summary: Students have several challenges in this WebQuest from utilizing technology via spreadsheets to multiplying fractions to summarizing data.

My Opinion: I like the idea of using recipes to compute the multiplication of fractions and the use of a spreadsheet to list and summarize data. This is a real-world situation to which kids can relate.

Triangle/Geometry WebQuest

http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/dlawton/contents.htm

Audience: 6^th Grade/Middle School Math Students

Summary: This WebQuest is a total exploration of triangles and includes mathematics standards as well. Students have a camera activity as well as activities having to do with every type of triangle for this grade and ability level.

My Opinion: This is the quintessential triangle lesson! It covers everything from the basic K-W-L, activities, summary, and standards. It’s an excellent way to cover everything you want to know about triangles (…but were afraid to ask)!

Fractal/Geometry WebQuest

http://www.manteno5.org/webquest/middle/Math/Fractals/fractalquest.htm#Artist

Audience: 6^th and 7^th Grade/Middle School Math Students

Summary: This WebQuest confidently tells students that they will play various roles by completing it: Mathematician, Historian, Application Expert and Artist. Fractals are an integral part of Geometry and explore the works of Escher and others while enabling students to create their own.

My Opinion: Kids love to draw and create so this WebQuest is an awesome way for them to see and make fractals that are not only geometrically correct but pleasing to the eye as well.

Live from the Ballpark: A Statistics WebQuest

http://www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/lasalle/murphy/Webquest/LivefromtheBallpark/index.html

Audience: 6^th , 7^th , and 8^th Grade/Middle School Math Students

Summary: Using the great American pastime as it applies to statistics and graphing is the theme of this WebQuest. Students have the task of tracking stats and then inputting them into a spread sheet as well as sharing their findings with other students. There is also a very good rubric against which students can compare the differences between a stellar project and a mediocre one.

My Opinion: Statistics and sports go together so this is a great way to bring math into the real world; it’s something to which kids can relate. It’s also a great way to introduce the utilization of Microsoftâ Excelâ or another spreadsheet program as a means of the integration of technology into the curriculum. Students can also hone their communication/presentation skills when they present their findings to their classmates.

3D Geometry in the Real World

http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/rturner/geometry/index.html

Audience: 5^th Grade Math Students

Summary: Students are to find and record 3D geometric figures found in everyday life and present them to classmates.

My Opinion: Any project that can tie classroom math into everyday life is a “thumbs up” for me. I have noticed that kids seem to have difficulties many times in associating what they learn in the classroom to what they see all around them outside of school. They see these kinds of things every day but more on a subconscious level than a conscious one. This project takes kids to a level of consciousness that ties it all together.