Addresses the desirability of retaining good ideas from previous curricula when updating a mathematics program and cautions against neglecting the structure of mathematics in attempts to swing toward the applied mathematics mandated by the Standards document. Emphasizes that the final product in mathematics is deductive proof, which is what…

The Data Driven Mathematics Curriculum Project has produced 11 modules for use in grades 8-12. The modules integrate data analysis using real applications into the teaching of traditional mathematics topics. The data-analysis skills build connections between mathematics and other subjects and also outside the classroom. (AIM)

Compares a function to a mail carrier, with each letter, or domain value, placed in exactly one mailbox, or range value. Continues the mail carrier analogy for a constant function, a one-to-one function, and an onto function. (AIM)

Two lessons, 1 dealing with Social Security taxes and the other with the Dow Jones industrial average, are presented along with 10 questions and answers designed to demonstrate to students that mathematics is useful, current, and newsworthy. (AIM)

A problem-solving lesson is described, with a worksheet involving the gauges on a car's instrument panel. (MNS)

A three-digit number is chosen, the digits reversed, and the smaller is subtracted from the larger. The difference is a page number in the textbook; the teacher tells the last word on that page. The learning begins when the class uses algebra to prove why the teacher's trick works. (KM)

The notion that the area of an inscribed n-sided polygon approaches the area of a circle as n approaches infinity leads to some interesting limits involving trigonometric functions. (MP)

Several results are explored which stem from the theorem stating that the line joining the midpoints of two sides of a triangle is parallel to and one-half of the third side. (DT)

Six different methods for bisecting a line segment are illustrated and explained. (DT)

Describes a mathematical approach to systematically creating stalemates in the game Quarto! (MKR)

Uses a graphing calculator to demonstrate that dividing by a fraction is the same as multiplying by the reciprocal. Students graph a division problem and an equivalent problem, multiplying by the reciprocal. They find that the graphs are the same. (SKS)

Data collection and analysis is often missing from the new curriculum reform textbooks. This article gives directions for data collection and data analysis for the Stroop Test and for a human-chain wrist experiment. (AIM)

Traces the historical exclusion of women from mathematics and science, cites attempts to support their involvement, assesses their current status, and highlights some programs that encourage young women to enter the profession. (KHR)

Presents a generalization to the classic prisoner problem, which is inherently interesting and has a solution within the reach of most high school mathematics students. Suggests the problem as a way to emphasize to students the final step in a problem-solver's tool kit, considering possible generalizations when a particular problem has been…