WHS_Math

Fold.it, an online protein-folding game. Fold.it asks players to work with proteins' 3D structures (in other words, how the proteins "fold"). The game evaluates how good of a fold the player has made, gives them a score, and rates them on a leaderboard so that players from around the world can compete with one another.

Refraction, this one aimed at "discovering optimal pathways for learning early mathematics." Refraction is a Flash-based puzzle game for learning about fractions, although players don't immediately get the sense that the game offers lessons in math

et's look at We Use Math, a project triple-teamed by Brigham Young University, the Mathematical Association of America, and the American Mathematical Society. Clearly that consortium brought a lot of resources to the table. The site features polished quotations from happy and well-paid professionals testifying to the usefulness of math in their careers. There's a career tracker which lists dozens of high-paying careers, their salaries, their employers, the math required, and the ways math is used.

Engagement is a funny, fickle thing. On the subject of how to excite children about math in the same way it excites me, I have more questions than answers. Let me try to lay out a few markers, though:

The Rubix Cube has long been sited as a tool to help develop problem-solving and spatial thinking, and the YouCanDotheCube.com offers lesson plans and activities (all matched to state standards) for teachers who want to use the Cube to visualize other aspects of the math curriculum — fractions, geometry, algebra

Exploring math/science problems we face. Each episode presents the origins of a problem and follows its journey from prehistoric through modern times.