Manipulation Resources

http://www.webgraphing.com/graphing_advanced.jsp

This web site can be used for graphing, analyzing and comparing equations. This program also shows where graphs are increasing and decreasing. This application will allow students to visualize the equation they are working with and provide a geometric perspective to their algebra work. While the program requires membership for the full benefits, it is free to sign up and use for students and teachers.

http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000592.shtml

This website has an entire collection of manipulation activities. The activities range for grades 6,7,8. Students will get work with fractions, decimals, graphs, tessalations, and many other things. While this may seem inappropriate for many secondary teachers, the activites can be modified to fit courses of appropriate level. For example, the problem of the spinner can relate directly to work with probability. Also, some of the links provide material on lessons for an entire class period and some lessons encouraged the use of technology like the Smartboard.

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/

Again, this is a massive list of interactive lessons that can be used by teachers. The subject matter varies and there are multiple activities per subject. In particular, students direct a robot through a mine field laid out the cartesian plane. Its a list of fun activities that allow students to visualize the math they are working with.

All of these are about engagement and keeping the student invloved and focused. These are all great activities that will be useful for all of us.

And for the standards, manipulation can apply to anything and everything. All of these activites are supplements to actual lesson and there is a lesson for everything. The manipulation activities are here for students to reinforce their learning. Their learning comes from the standards, so its hard to inculde working with manipulations in the standards.