Help

1. About Making Mathematics
2. Finding Resources on the Web Site
3. Technical Requirements
4. Joining the Making Mathematics Program

About Making Mathematics

The goal of Making Mathematics is to provide high school students and teachers with the materials and mentorship necessary for engaging in a mathematical research experience. Mathematical research can be described as the process through which an open-ended mathematical problem is investigated. It can be fun, stimulating, rewarding, and quite challenging. At Making Mathematics, students and teachers are paired with professional research mathematicians who guide the research process. Our open-ended, mentored projects provide a very different experience than the school projects students are most often asked to participate in. We encourage teachers, parents, mentors, and students to engage in this creative process. Through its ups and downs, we hope you'll learn not only about mathematics but also that persistence and engaging the challenge are their own reward.

Finding Resources on the Web Site

During summer 2000, the Making Mathematics Web site contains a limited number of prototype materials. During autumn 2000, we will be pilot testing and refining these materials, as well as adding additional resources. Our summer 2000 offerings include one complete project, The Simplex Lock. The project provides warm-up exercises, hints, teaching notes, resources, extensions, and results so that students, teachers, and mentors can peruse a full spectrum of materials. We have also included a sample of student work for this project. (While results and student work are available to all Web site visitors during summer 2000, in the future these materials will be visible only to teachers and mentors who register with our site. Registration will be initiated during autumn 2000.)

In addition to Simplex Lock, you’ll find three additional project descriptions - Inspi, Patterns in Pascal’s Triangle, and Marion Walter’s Theorem. For these projects, we will add hints, resources, teaching notes, and other materials during autumn 2000.

In coming months, we will also offer general teaching advice and lesson plans. These curricular materials can be used to create a strand on doing research within a standard secondary mathematics course. They can also be used as an elective devoted to mathematical research, or as stand-alone materials for working individually.

Technical Requirements

Cookies

The Making Mathematics Web site requires that your Web browser allow the use of "cookies". A "cookie" is a marker that is shared between your computer and our Web site so that we can present automated features to you. (For example, our menus and application forms depend upon cookies to display appropriate options for you.) Our cookies are perfectly safe, and they are erased from your computer when you close or quit your Web browser. If you see a request to "allow cookies" when you access our Web site, please click "yes" to enjoy the full resources of Making Mathematics.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

We offer many materials on our Web site in two formats:

• HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
  You can see these documents directly in your Web browser. (They are "plain" Web documents.)

• PDF (Portable Document Format)
  To see these documents, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. PDF documents display and print mathematics more crisply than HTML documents, and they include pagination. If you want to create handouts, use the PDF version of our documents.
  Adobe Acrobat Reader is free, and installing and using the software is relatively easy. Many new computers come with Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed. You can read more about Adobe Acrobat Reader and download it if necessary at the following Adobe Web sites.
  Macintosh users: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/acrmac.htm
  Windows users: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/acrwin.htm

Joining the Making Mathematics Program

Students

If you are a student who wishes to participate in Making Mathematics, you have several alternatives.

• You can speak to your mathematics teacher and ask to include Making Mathematics research projects as part of your classroom work. If your teacher agrees to participate, he or she can contact us at the addresses below.

• Alternatively, if you are a student who wishes to work with us directly (no teacher involved), you can also contact us at the same addresses. You should note, however that if you are under 13 years of age, your parents must send a separate email or letter approving of your participation. We will contact you parents to verify their consent.

Teachers & Parents

If you are a teacher or parent who would like to include Making Mathematics projects in your child’s mathematics curriculum, please contact us at the addresses below. You should also read our Children’s Privacy Policy to understand your obligations for children under the age of 13.

Mentors

• If you are a prospective mentor, please read our Mentor: Just Getting Started materials.
• Then complete our mentor application. Once we receive the application, we will contact you with additional information.

Contact Information