This paper is the sixth in a series designed to supplement the statistics training of students. The intended audience is social science undergraduate and graduate students studying applied statistics. The purpose of the applied statistics monographs is to provide selected proofs and derivations of important relationships or formulas that students…

Presents activities in which students study exponential growth and decay by collecting data, constructing graphs, and discovering algebraic formulas. (MKR)

Presents a mathematics investigation in which students discover number patterns in physical structures and express their generalizations algebraically. (MKR)

The sign-chart method is often used to solve polynomial inequalities involving products or quotients. Presented are examples that extend this method to solve higher-degree polynomial, radical, exponential, logarithmic, absolute-value, and trigonometric inequalities and whose graphic representations lead to intuitive discussions of continuity. (MDH)

Much constructive computer and programable calculator activity can be stimulated by BASIC programs that are only three or four lines in length. This article illustrates several ideas with accompanying BASIC program, particularly related to the learning of algebraic concepts, that can be explored with both elementary and secondary mathematics…

Presented is a lesson in which the patterns that occur within and between sequences of polygonal numbers present an opportunity for students to analyze, represent, and generalize relationships. Materials, objectives, levels, and directions for this activity are discussed. Worksheets to accompany the activities are provided. (CW)

Presents three hands-on, discovery geometry lessons based on the use of special pieces called Polydrons by a fifth-grade class to build and investigate special properties of polyhedra and to stimulate students to think geometrically. Includes reproducible student worksheets. (MKR)

Presents lesson plans for activities to introduce recursive sequences of polygons: golden triangles, regular pentagons, and pentagrams. The resulting number patterns involve Fibonacci sequences. Includes reproducible student worksheets. (MKR)

Presents an alternative method to teaching percent problems which uses a 10x10 grid to help students visualize percents. Offers a means of representing information and suggests different approaches for finding solutions. Includes reproducible student worksheet. (MKR)

Presents a series of 5 reproducible worksheets for grade levels 5-10 that provide hands-on activities to help develop the concept of slope. (MDH)

Presents an account of the historical evolution of the definition of variable and the way the concept is currently treated in textbooks. Shares activities to promote student discussion on the use of variables as constants, as quantities that vary, and as parameters. Provides a reproducible worksheet. (MDH)