An activity is an interactive computer application designed to teach students about a
concept through hands-on experimentation. Activities usually present good opportunities for
group work as well as individual investigation. Support materials, which include handouts,
tables, worksheets, etc., are available for many of these activities and can be accessed
from the "Why" page for that activity.
A discussion is background material written in the form of a dialogue. Each discussion is
devoted to one concept, or more rarely, several closely related concepts. Some discussions
are based on activities, some are independent. Discussions lead learners to concepts,
introduce vocabulary, and help to develop important formulas and structure.
A lesson is an overview of how sets of activities and discussions might be used together to
introduce a concept. Included are lists of prerequisites and suggested outlines. Links to
individual activities and discussions are included.
A tool is an activity that can be used with many topics due to its generic nature. Included
here are general-purpose graphing utilities, random number generators, fraction-decimal
converters, etc. These "tool activities" are also included in the larger list of activities
mentioned above.
The dictionary contains brief definitions of important mathematical terms found in the
discussions. Links between discussions and the dictionary make finding uses of the terms in
context easy.
Descriptions of the standards for middle school mathematics from several groups are included
here: Department of Defense Dependents Schools, the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, and the National Center on Education and the Economy.
Hyperlinked tables of contents from several standard texts to our lesson plans have been
included. These pages link concepts from the texts directly into the interactivate lessons.