MATH 565: Concepts of Geometry, Measurement and Probability

Prerequisites & Bulletin Description

Course Objectives

  • Help you learn and explore the geometry, probability and measurement strands for the elementary curriculum. 
  • Help you see math as interesting and relevant.
  • Help you see yourself as capable of learning mathematics and solving mathematical problems on your own. 
  • Introduce you to materials to teach content in the geometry, probability and measurement strands to elementary school students. 
  • Convince you that math is not a bunch of formulas to be memorized but problems to solve and patterns to find. 

Evaluation of Students

There will be a Midterm and a Final Exam. Weekly homework will be assigned and there will be two projects required. 

Course Outline

Topics & Length
Topics Number of Weeks
Polygons, Polyhedra, Concrete Representations, Nets, Euler's Rule 
Angle, Angles of Polygons, Regular Polygons  2
Platonic Solids, Tangrams, Tessellations  1
Probability, Counting Possibilities 
Joint Probability, Counting Choices, Pascal's Triangle  2
Assessing Randomness (optional)  1
Mean, Median, Mode, Midrange (optional)  1
Measurement, Metric Units, Linear Units, Scales  1
Area units, areas of rectangles, Pick's Theorem, Pythagorean Theorem (last two optional) 1.5
Volume units, volumes of prisms  1.5
Tests and Projects  2

Textbooks & Software

None. There will be handouts in class

Submitted by: Eric Hsu 
Date: April 29, 2003