Teaching and Learning maths with middle schoolers

What I am writing to others in my school... I am again teaching statistics and would like my students to engage with real data collection and analysis. The Australian Bureau of Statistics runs the Census at School project that allows students to engage with real statistics about themselves and other Australian school students of their own age. I am seeking permission - ongoing permission- for participation in this project to be at the core of our statistics education program for middle school here at Carey Baptist College. You will find the necessary documentation required for us to go ahead.

These activities are free and cover a range of topics including how Australians use water, what sports are popular, and which countries did Australians who were not born here come from. You can view all the activities as webpages or download rich text files (RTF) and modify them to suit your needs. You can find more mathematic activities on the CensusAtSchool pages.

Playing with the kids' toys on the weekend, I came across this car and became interested by the relationship between pulling it back and how far it would travel. Was it a linear relationship or something else? I set up an experiment. The results are in the video below:

"Looking around, there are lots of activities for collecting and analysing data using small boxes of Smarties. Here is my version. The package includes three worksheets to scaffold the collection and representation of data: Collecting Data - this is where the student collects their individual data and records the whole classes data. Collecting Data 2 - students take the whole class data and display in Frequency Distribution Tables. Representing Data - from the Frequency Distribution Tables, students create Frequency Histograms and Polygons. The Excel file is used by the teacher, on a projector/IWB, to collect the data in the class. It allows the teacher to collect the raw data and represent in Frequency Distribution Tables. "

The MathCounts Club Program provides enrichment activities and puzzles for 6th-8th grade math clubs within schools - and homeschool groups may join, too! Participants receive a free Club in a Box Resource Kit, which includes the Club Resource Guide, two game boards to accompany one of the meeting plans, 12 MathCounts pencils, and a MathCounts tote bag for the coach.

A new online resource will help teachers identify areas they may choose to focus on as they become familiar with the Australian Curriculum for English, mathematics, science and history. This advisory support resource provides an overview of each Australian Curriculum area and makes clear the key differences between the K-10 Syllabus and the content (descriptions) of the new curriculum.

I call it Make it Right but I'm sure it goes by other names. The instructions are simple. After selecting the correct answer the students need to rewrite the question so that the other choices now become correct.

Reeves proposes a "Leading and Learning" matrix describing the effectiveness of school districts and their level of understanding why they are (or are not) successful.