Desmos Interactive Graphing Calculator
I’ve written about Desmos before – they are developing some very interesting online whiteboard software which is still currently in beta.
But while we’re waiting for the full release, Desmos have released something else they’ve been working on as a side project, and thats their Desmos Calculator, available at www.abettercalculator.com
You can very quickly enter equations using a combination of the keyboard and the pop up equation builder. The lines immediately appear on the graph. Change the equation and see the change in the line straight away. Or layer multiple lines on the same graph.
Here’s what Desmos had to say about it:
We set out to reimagine the graphing calculator from the ground up, building on the best technologies available. This is beautiful, powerful, intuitive math that lives in your browser. Graph multiple functions in vivid color and watch them update as you type. Save your work to the cloud or share it with friends. Transform your computer or tablet into a math engine. This is just the beginning—and it’s all completely free.
Maths teachers should definitely bookmark this. It’s a totally free resource running in HTML5 so it will even run on your iPad via mobile Safari.
Go take a look at Desmos Graphing Calculator here, and let me know what you think in the comments below!
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Video – Inanimate Alice BETT 2012 Presentation
Here’s the video of my Inanimate Alice presentation from Friday. This formed part of the TeachMeet Takeover event at the BETT Show 2012. For a copy of the presentation itself, check here.
Links from the Video:
- Inanimate Alice Trailer
- Inanimate Alice Flipchart and other files on Promethean Planet
- http://www.inanimatealice.com/education
- http://aliceandfriends.wikispaces.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/InanimateAlice
- http://bit.ly/alicetips
- Presentation as a downloadable slideshare file
Thanks to Emily at Promethean for filming the presentation, and thanks to Selda for letting me use the Promethean stand to give the presentation.
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Play Music with the Virtual Keyboard
The virtual keyboard is a fun on-screen music keyboard that lets you play music on your computer. You can either tap the keys on your Interactive Whiteboard, use the mouse, or just press the keys on your computer keyboard (using the A to @ keys, and the row above).
You can choose from several different musical instrument sounds from piano to organ to guitar and even steel drums.
It’s fun, and even better, it’s free.
Check it out here and although you can select a virtual drum beat to go along with your track if you want someone to accompany you, don’t forget the virtual drumkit too.
Thanks to Tim Rylands for the link.
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Cargo Bridge – fun physics game
Cargo Bridge is a fun physics game in the style of games such as Angry Birds and World of Goo. The challenge is to build a bridge and test your construction skills.
Would be a fun game to introduce to students as an end-of-term activity. Works well on the IWB but can also be played on laptops.
Access it here: http://webstore.limexgames.net/cargo_bridge/index.html
Thanks to Nick at Fractus Learning for the link.
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Visuwords – interactive visual thesaurus
Visuwords is an interesting interactive visual thesaurus tool. Users can look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. It produces an interactive node diagram which shows how the words are associated with other words.
Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a node to expand the tree. Click and drag the background to pan around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over nodes to see the definition and click and drag individual nodes to move them around to help clarify connections.
Take a look for yourself at : http://www.visuwords.com/
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Music Shake – free online music creator
Music shake is an online music creation tool that lets you create your own original music track from thousands of copyright-free music samples.
To make music, choose a music style from the bottom of the screen, and then click in the squares to add layers of different instruments. Some blocks of music – such as the drum beats, can be altered once added. Clicking the numbers at the top will change the chord for that block.
It’s good fun and I was able to create a short loop of music very quickly.
You need to register with the site to save your clips, but registration is free. The T&C does state that no under 13s should use the site, so keep that in mind when planning to use this with your class.
Check it out at : http://eng.musicshake.com/create
Update : A paid for, educational version of Music Shake is also available. You can take a look at http://edu.musicshake.com/
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A Sense of Scale : Visualising the Big and the Small
Here are two great applications to use with students when trying to visualise a sense of scale. How much smaller are atoms compared to things that we can see like a grain of rice. How much bigger is our galaxy compared to our solar system etc.
I’ve blogged about both before, but was showing them to a PGCE group the other day so thought it would be good to share them on the blog again for those who missed it.
The Cell Size and Scale interactive from the Genetic Science Learning Centre, University of Utah, lets you zoom in from a coffee bean down to a carbon atom.
Simply drag the slider across the screen to zoom in and out and view cells, organlles, paramecium, viruses and molecules, ending with a carbon atom. It’s a brilliant, clear way to demonstrate relative scales of objects.
Take a look at : http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/
A similar tool is The Scale of the Universe which lets you scroll from the size of a person and head out into space – viewing the solar system, galaxy and eventually the entire universe. Or zoom smaller and smaller down to sub atomic particles.
Take a look at : http://www.htwins.net/scale/
Both of these resources would work really well on an interactive whiteboard.
As an extra – this Powers of 10 video is a little old these days, but it’s still pretty good.
Let me know what you think of these resources in the comments below!
Update : also take a look at http://www.cellsalive.com/howbig.htm (thanks @jpscience)
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Free teaching resources from EdComs
The Edcoms teachers website is a great free new resource site for teachers. The site initially launched with with 40 free, high-quality teaching resources, for both primary and secondary teachers with more to come each month.
The aim of Edcoms teachers is to bring together all the free educational materials that EdComs has created for various clients all together in one place, including their resources produced for BP which I’ve reviewed on this site in the past. The 40 resources available at launch includes online activities, resources for interactive whiteboards plus worksheets and games. New resources will be added monthly, so keep an eye on the site for new stuff.
It’s free to register with the site, and any teachers registering with the new site before December 15 will get the chance to win a free place at the Learning Without Frontiers 12 conference in London in January.
As I’ve said before; EdComs has regularly produced some excellent resources for both primary and secondary classrooms that are great for use with an interactive whiteboard as well as for supporting independent student work. It’s definitely worth taking a look at their site and seeing how you can use their resources in your classroom.
Take a look for yourself at : http://www.edcomsteachers.com/
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Math Quiz : Online GCSE and A Level Maths tests
Secondary maths teachers will be interested in Math Quiz, an online bank of maths tests for students. There are 4 levels of test : GCSE mathematics, A-Level mathematics, Foundation for University mathematics and University level mathematics.
The questions are multiple choice, usually 10 questions per test. Once the test is complete the system gives instant feedback to the user.
You need to register with the site to get the full functionality such as seeing full tests and saving your past tests to a user profile. It’s free to register, but there are also premium features which are available for a additional fee. Premium users can see full solutions to each question, printable tests and get access to more tests etc. A year’s membership costs £15, but at the moment you can get a year for just £5.
If you want to just check the site out you can do that without registering and access some cut-down quizzes.
The site uses something called MathML to correctly display mathematical expressions in the browser, so as such it works best in Firefox browsers rather than Internet Explorer.
Math Quiz would be useful for teachers to direct their students to for maths revision and maybe for running short tests in a lesson. It’s an interesting resource and well worth pointing your students towards it.
Take a look here : http://math-quiz.co.uk/
Let me know what you think in the comments.
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About Me
Danny Nicholson : Educator, Science teacher, ICT Consultant, PGCE lecturer, Author and Web2.0 / SMART Masters/ Interactive Whiteboard Trainer. Contact me for any training requests. 
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