Shapedoku is a new type of puzzle that combines logic and spatial reasoning with understanding of basic geometric concepts such as slope, parallelism, perpendicularity, and properties of shapes. Shapedoku can be solved by individuals and, as demonstrated here, can form the basis of a review for geometry students as they create their own. In this…

When confronted with a challenging problem, many solvers may at first think that not enough information has been provided. If, however, they suspect that the problem is solvable, this feeling typically influences them to persevere as well as monitor and reflect on their efforts. In this article the authors present four nonroutine tasks that they…

Composition of functions is one of the five big ideas identified in NCTM's "Developing Essential Understanding of Functions, Grades 9-12" (Cooney, Beckmann, and Lloyd 2010). Through multiple representations (another big idea) and the use of The Geometer's Sketchpad[R] (GSP), students can directly manipulate variables and thus see dynamic visual…

A well-known optimization problem is the Popcorn Box investigation, which involves a movie theater snack container. The problem has been tailored for classroom investigations by the Ontario Association for Mathematics Education. The exploration was designed for students in grades 9 through 12. A common strategy proposed for algebra students is to…

The most common question the author's students ask is, "When will I ever use this in real life?" To address this question in her geometry classes, the author sought to create a project that would incorporate a real-world business situation with their lesson series on the surface area and volume of three-dimensional objects--specifically, prisms,…

Pairs of students are looking at rows of pennies--laughing, talking, kidding one another about who is winning and who is making smart moves. The game, a simple game for two players, is One or Two?. The game begins with a player removing any one penny. Players then take turns, removing either a single penny or a pair of pennies from adjacent…

The kinematics teaching strategy is a teaching method that stimulates kinesthetic intelligence and thus offers students an unconventional approach for exploring mathematical ideas through movement. This article describes how to use the kinesthetic approach to introduce radian measure. The article includes detailed descriptions of easy-to-use…

This article examines some of the various judgmental errors and rationales that high school students make when attempting to solve basic probability exercises. Many of these errors allow the students to arrive at a correct answer and, thus, need to be examined more closely. (Contains 4 tables.)