Math for Elementary Teachers - Math306

Professor Ross Roehl

Course Description, Aims, and Objectives

Math 306, Math for Elementary Teachers, is a three credit course for those intending to become teachers. The course reviews the concepts and skills that are normally taught at the elementary, middle, and junior high school levels. The course emphasizes understanding of mathematical concepts, matching the concepts to the appropriate skills, and applying those concepts and skills to problem solving. Numerous activities using manipulatives will be used in the course to illustrate the concepts. Most activities will come from Mathematics for Elementary Teachers, A Activities Approach, by Bennett and Nelson. These activities will help to demonstrate how students come to understand mathematical concepts and also to give ideas of how a classroom teacher may one day present these concepts to students. This course is a continuation of Math305. That course covers the first part of the book.

Textbook & Materials
bulletMathematics for Elementary Teachers, A Conceptual Approach, third edition by Bennett and Nelson.

 

bulletYou should also have available the following:
bulletscientific calculator
bulletscissors
bulletnotebook or folder for use with the assigned problems from the textbook
bulletsome method to keep all class materials

Course Content

bulletMath306 will work with material found in Chapters 7-10, 12 of the text. The topics include the following:
bulletPlane Figures
bulletPolygons and Tesselations
bulletSpace Figures
bulletSymmetric Figures
bulletIntroduction to Logo
bulletSystems of Measurement
bulletArea and Perimeter
bulletVolume and Surface Area
bulletIntroductions to Algebra
bulletFunctions and Coordinate Geometry
bulletCongruence and Constructions
bulletCongruence Mappings
bulletSimilarity Mappings
bulletTopological Mappings
bulletSingle Stage Experiments
bulletMultistage Experiments

Correspondence Components

bulletAssignments will be posted online at www.ilc.edu or emailed to student(s).
bulletHomework assignments should be completed and mailed or emailed to the instructor and received by him within two weeks of due date.
bulletA discussion forum is available and should be used regularly, both asking and answering questions and posting any comments you may have.

Grading

 

The semester grade will be determined as follows:

bulletWritten Tests (60%) Tests will cover material assigned to read and material covered in classroom lectures and activities. Written tests will generally be given after each chapter. Some chapters may be combined for testing purposes.

bulletActivities (20%) Activities are similar to laboratory experiments in science class. Grades for activities will be based upon the finished product.
 
bulletSemester Exam (10%) This will be a comprehensive semester exam.

 

bulletParticipation in Discussion Forum (10%)

 

bulletLetter grades will be assigned according to the following per cents:
 
Percentage Letter Grade Percentage Letter Grade
96-100 A 78-80 C
93-95 A- 75-77 C-
90-92 B+ 72-74 D+
87-89 B 69-71 D
84-86 B- 66-68 D-
81-83 C+ 0-65 F


Assignments

Assignment Due Date
Read pages 298-311
Do pages 314-317, problems 2-3,5-10,12a,13,14,20

1/13
Read pages 317-325
Do pages 326-329, problems 2-6,8-17,20

1/20
Read pages 330-340
Do pages 340-345, problems 1-7,13-17,24

1/27
Read pages 346-354
Do pages 354-358, problems 1-5,7-14,16-17

2/3