Additional information
by Max Ray-Riek (Author), Nancy Butler Wolf (Author)
"Nancy's in-depth look at mathematical modeling offers middle school teachers the kind of practical help they need for incorporating modeling into their classrooms."
--Cathy Seeley, Past President of NCTM, author of Faster Isn't Smarter and Smarter Than We Think
Modeling is Math at its Most Powerful
We all use math to analyze everyday situations we encounter. Whether we realize it or not, we're modeling with mathematics: taking a complex situation and figuring out what we need to make sense of it. In Modeling with Mathematics, Nancy Butler Wolf shows that math is most powerful when it means something to students. She provides clear, friendly guidance for teachers to use authentic modeling projects in their classrooms and help their students develop key problem-solving skills, including:
- collecting data and formulating a mathematical model
- interpreting results and comparing them to reality
- learning to communicate their solutions in meaningful ways.
Support for Incorporating Modeling Into Your Instruction
This kind of teaching can be challenging because it is open-ended: it asks students to make decisions about their approach to a scenario, the information they will need, and the tools they will use. But Nancy proves there is ample middle ground between doing all of the work for your students and leaving them to flail in the dark.
Author Biography
Nancy Butler Wolf, Ph.D., is a national math consultant and curriculum developer who has served as a member of NCTM's Illuminations Writing Group. She has over 30 years of classroom teaching experience and has presented at various conferences on mathematical modeling and algebraic reasoning.
