WHERETO

Here is my WHERETO.
W- In this unit, we will identify what matrices are and why they are beneficial to organizing and studying complex data. Matrices are used by programmers for encoding, geologists when studying seismic surveys, and economists and business owners to determine business efficiency.
H- Students will watch a video pertaining to cryptography and decoding secret messages. Students will discuss when it would be beneficial to be able to use a decoding system in the real world as well as in their own lives.
Students will also discuss factors that influence business success as well as various costs and expenses.
E- Students will learn about matrices, basic matrix operations, matrix multiplication, determinants, and inverses.
R- Students will work in groups to brainstorm and determine possible ways to use matrices to create a cryptogram using the content we have covered.
Students will work in groups to brainstorm and determine possible businesses to investigate that would benefit from using matrices to maximize their profits.
E- Students will complete a project where they will create a cryptogram using an encoder, alphabet, and secret message.
Students will also evaluate data for a business and determine the maximum profit.
T-Students will chose their own method of presenting the data found in the project, write a personalized cryptogram with an alphabet and encoder, and investigate a business that is of interest to them.
O- Students will have an opportunity to decode each others cryptograms and be creative in their presentation and use of technology and/or media.

Annotated Bibliography

Completed my annotated bibliography this weekend. I got a lot of great ideas about technology in the mathematics classroom.

Essential Questions

And update to my essential questions...

What are matrices?

How and why do we use matrices to organize and present data?

How can matrices be used to solve systems of equations?

What is cryptography?

Analyze and critique why matrix multiplication is an effective way to create a cryptogram.

Identifying Learner Characteristics

After a lot of searching, I found several interesting quizzes/questionnaires about learner characteristics.

What’s Your Learning Style
http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/

Learning Style Self-Assessment
http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test.html

Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

Assessment: Find Your Strengths
http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html

Learning Style Quiz
http://www.knowledgeessentials.com/index.php?id=623

Multiply Intelligences Inventory
http://surfaquarium.com/MI/inventory.htm

What’s Your Learning Style
http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz

Learning Styles and Personality
http://people.usd.edu/~ssanto/styles.html

Memletics Learning Style Questionnaire
http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory/questions.asp?cookieset=y

Learning Style Quiz
http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/836-learning-styles-quiz


Hopefully, I can use these to properly analyze my students and the way they learn.

Essential Questions

Here are my essential questions...so far anyway! They are definitely a work in progress...



What are matrices?
How do we use matrices to organize and present data?
How can matrices be used to solve systems of equations?
What is cryptography?
How can we apply matrix multiplication to create a cryptogram?