[seqfan] Re: Sequences K-12 project

[charliemath at optonline.net]

Neil,
I have been a frequent visitor and contributor to OEIS since 2003, about 
a year after I retired from teaching high school mathematics for 32 
years at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak, NY.  I don’t regret retiring 
when I did, but I do regret not having come upon OEIS much earlier in my 
career.  I would love to have shared my enthusiasm for the site with my 
students.

Some items for consideration:

     An article in The Mathematics Teacher about OEIS; I still subscribe 
and have yet to see one although two articles reference OEIS, one this 
month.

     Perhaps a Sequence of the Month column in The Math Teacher as well 
as the same type of column in the Council’s two other publications: 
Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School and Teaching Children 
Mathematics.

     Get in touch with the NCTM about giving a talk at one of their 
national or regional conferences.  Next National is in Boston next 
April.  See http://www.nctm.org/conferences/content.aspx?id=434 for 
upcoming regionals.

     Have keywords like “high school,” “middle school,” “elementary 
school” attached to sequences to make it easier for students and 
teachers to explore appropriate sequences.  A sequence picked at random 
could be offputting to newcomers.

     Among options found at bottom of OEIS home page, include something 
along the lines of “Helpful Information for (K-6, 6-12) Students.”

     Consider a separate “OEIS, K-12 edition (version).”


Good idea having a virtual conference; Banff’s beautiful, but not in 
everyone’s back yard.

Not sure how I could help, but am certainly interested in doing so.

Regards,
Charlie Marion
Yorktown Heights NY



On Fri, Apr 25, 2014 at 03:59 PM, Neil Sloane wrote:

> Dear Sequences Fans,
> Gordon Hamilton and I have been talking about the idea of getting some
> integer sequences into the K-12 (Kindergarten-Grade 12) curriculum. 
> Gord
> has made some really excellent videos about sequences in the OEIS, one 
> of
> which is mentioned in the attachment. There are also links to them 
> from
> entries in the OEIS.
>
> The idea is to have a 2-day conference in Banff, Canada, next year, 
> with a
> dozen
> math teachers, and a dozen sequence people,
> with the goal of picking out 13 sequences that
> could be used by math teachers (one sequence
> for each of the 13 years).
>
> There might also be a virtual conference, run on a web site where 
> people
> could sign up and contribute. For people who are unable to travel to 
> Banff.
>
> We would like to hear from OEIS folks who would be interested in this
> project. Particularly people who are involved with teaching 
> mathematics.  I
> know we have contributors from many different worlds - but I don't 
> know
> which of you are math teachers. Please let me or Gord know if you are
> interested in helping, or if you know of people who might be.
>
> But we would also like to hear from non-teachers who like the idea, 
> and
> would be willing to work on picking out sequences that would appeal to
> students. This seems to be a good way to enliven math teaching both in 
> the
> USA and in Canada - and of course in other countries.
>
> Here's a link to Gord's video about the Recaman sequence. I think
> it is really excellent: http://youtu.be/mQdNaofLqVc
>
> Attached is a rough draft of our proposal for the conference.
>
> Suggestions, comments, etc., will be welcomed.
>
> Neil
>
> -- 
> Dear Friends, I have now retired from AT&T. New coordinates:
>
> Neil J. A. Sloane, President, OEIS Foundation
> 11 South Adelaide Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904, USA.
> Also Visiting Scientist, Math. Dept., Rutgers University, Piscataway, 
> NJ.
> Phone: 732 828 6098; home page: http://NeilSloane.com
> Email: njasloane at gmail.com
>
>
>      ------------------------------
>
>
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