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Math Playground: Alien Angles

 

Curator: Chris Enders

 

Name & Link to Tech Tool or Tool homepage: Math Playground - Alien Angles http://www.mathplayground.com/alienangles.html

 

Brief Description of Tech Tool: This tool is a game that challenges students to create angles at given angle measurements.

 

Technical & Cost considerations: The game is free to play and runs on Java

 

EVALUATION

 

Description of Learning Activity

I would likely use this tool as a way for students to practice creating angles. This could be used either before or after introducing the concepts of acute, right and obtuse angles. Either students could use this as a basis to build knowledge off of as an activity before a unit. It might be used after the fact by having them play this game to help them shore up their skills - perhaps by visualizing how a 50 degree angle differs from a 30 degree one. After, we could discuss strategies that students developed in order to draw the angle. For example, knowing what a right angle looks like might be able to lead to how to draw a 45 degree angle by visualizing where the ray would go to make half of a right angle. From this you could expand upon many other types of measurements using similar tricks.

 

1. Learning Activity Types

  • LA-Practice - practicing for fluencyStudents are practicing creating angles

  • LA-Explore - exploring/investigating mathematical ideasStudents could explore different methods for being able to draw particular angle measurements

  • LA-Apply - applying mathematics to problems and situationsStudents need to be able to use concepts such as a right angle or angle addition and apply their knowledge of what certain angles look like to create a new angle

 

2. What mathematics is being learned?

 

NCTM Standards

  • Geometry - Analyze

  • Geometry - Visualization

 

VA SOL Strand

  • 8.6 b - The student will measure angles of less than 360 degrees

 

Proficiency Strands

  • PS-conceptual understanding - students can build upon their understanding of angles by visualizing various angle measures

  • PS-procedural fluency - the game allows students to practice creating angle measures

  • PS-adaptive reasoning - students need to visually reason out where to place an angle (to draw a 150 degree angle, you might visualize drawing a 30 degree angle away from a straight (180 degree) angle

 

3. How is the mathematics represented?

The technology represents the mathematics by allowing students to use it as a virtual manipulative. The tool captures the concept of being able to visualize and draw angles at various degree measures. It limits the angles to be under 180 degrees

 

4. What role does technology play?

The main advantage here is that it is a fun way for students to practice drawing angles. It leads students to think about how they could visualize unknown angles based on known angles. Depending on level of the students, students could also be allowed to use a protractor to 'draw' their angle and use this tool as a way to assess their accuracy.

 

A couple disadvantages lie in the way that the angles are represented. First, only angles less than 180 degrees are used. Also, the initial ray always starts in the same spot which could lead students to assume that every other angle must start that way. Perhaps it could create a more concrete picture if the initial ray begins facing different directions.

 

Affordances of Technology for Supporting Learning

  • Representing Ideas & Thinking - the tool allows students to represent the idea of a particular angle measure visually. It could also lead to a discussion about how they could combine different known angles to represent a new angle

  • Capturing & Creating - the tool allows students to create various angle measures through use of a slider

 

5. How does the technology fit or interact with the social context of learning?

The tool itself is only single player and I think it is too simple to have a group of students using it at the same time. It does keeps track of your score over 10 tries which could be shared with other students. This could very easily be adapted into competition to encourage a social aspect of learning.

 

6. What do teachers and learners need to know?

Very little knowledge is required to be able to use this tool. I think that it would be helpful, but not necessary for students to have some picture of common angle measures before using this. Students could use it without any concept of obtuse, right and acute angles and use it as an investigation into what certain angle measures look like.

 

7.  How could the resource support/facilitate PBL?

This resource can be used to supplement PBL.  It can be an introduction to angles and using a protractor.

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