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CMSE ONLINE Features Index

Math in Action

Boom and Bust Mathematics

Rabies has sent raccoon populations crashing in the Triangle. Some easy mathematics models how populations can boom and crash, periodically or not. (August 1997)

Comparing Risks

The recent controversy over the Cassini launching spotlights the difficulty of comparing public risks. A simple logarithmic scale (like the Richter earthquake scale) might help us all put risks in their proper perspective. (November 1997)

Cornell Mathematicians Figure Out Why It's a Small World

The world is tied together by a network of personal relationships, and often we're impressed by how tightly these connections work. Two mathematicians at Cornell University have shown that any network will probably be a "small world" of this kind, provided it has just a few random connections joining otherwise widely separated regions. (June 1998)

Designing March Madness

The ACC tournament has a new design. What other designs are mathematically possible? (February 1998)

85 Ways to Tie a Necktie

Two mathematical physicists at the University of Cambridge have proved that there are 85 ways to tie a necktie, including 10 that meet all the demands of style. Only four of these knots were previously known. (April 1999)

Finding a Place for Individual Rights

In 1970, a troubling theorem seemed to prove that no consistent system of social choice can accommodate individual rights. New work by Donald Saari resolves the problem. Social choice is a little-known area of mathematics accessible to middle and high school students. (September 1997)

Home Runs: Trend or Fluke?

The moving average, a simple but little-known statistical tool, can help us decide whether the great home run derby of 1998 is part of a trend, or just a random fluctuation. Includes web links to sources of baseball data. (September 1998)

Number Nabbers Bag Biggest Prime

The largest known prime number has been found using an ordinary Pentium PC. What's your PC doing in its spare time? (July 1997; last revision September 1997)

When Does the Millennium Begin?

Can we provide a definite answer? No, but we can provide three! (July 1999)

 

Science in the Spotlight

Drought May Have Doomed the Lost Colony

New research shows that the Roanoke colonists landed in the middle of North Carolina's worst three-year drought in 800 years (and you think your luck is bad?). (May 1998)

Falls Dam: Taming the Neuse No Longer?

Recent storms filled Falls Lake and forced release of water, prolonging the flooding downstream. There's a culprit, and it's all of us. (March 1998)

The Fuss Over Pfiesteria

The dinosaurs may be gone, but dinoflagellates are on the loose in North Carolina's estuaries. What are these critters and why are they on the rampage? (July 1997; fourth revision June 1998)

A Lighthouse on the Move

The long controversy over how to save the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse seems to be over. Congress has appropriated $9.8 million in the 1998-99 budget to move the nation's tallest lighthouse. (October 1998)

A Nor'easter "Bombs" the Carolinas

The great snowstorm of January 24-25, 2000 was a classic example of a "bomb cyclone." (January 2000)

North Carolina's Dinosaur

The State Museum of Natural Sciences has acquired a magnificent skeleton of the carnivorous dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus. Take a look for yourself! (January 1998)

Queen Anne's Revenge

Archaeologists think they've found Blackbeard's ship off Beaufort Inlet. How do they know, and how are they protecting the ship's historical treasures? (December 1997)

Sargasso Sunscreen

Two UNC scientists find the perfect sunscreen. In a sea squirt. A what? (September 1997)

September: the Hurricane Month

The hurricane season peaks during late August and September. What will this year's season bring us in North Carolina? (September 1998)

Tracking Tropical Storms on the Internet

Students can learn a lot following the progress of storms on the 'Net. Here's where to find the data. (August 1999)

Will El Niño Hold Off the Hurricanes?

For more than a year, El Niño has disturbed the weather around the world. Now, as the current El Niño cycle draws to a close, scientists are debating what its lingering effect will be on the 1998 hurricane season. (October 1997; last updated June 1998)

 

Nature of the Month

Froggy Heralds of Spring

Robins we've had all winter. It's frogs who announce spring in the Carolinas. (February 1998)

Birds of a Winter Feather

In the winter, birds tend to appear in flocks,even t get along any other time of year. There are at least two very good reasons why. (January 1998)

Shortest Days

Every year the earliest sunset occurs two weeks before the shortest day. When we discover why, we find out that from one viewpoint winter days are actually the longest of the year! (December 1997)

Return of the Snowbirds

Southerners don't notice snowbirds until it snows, but they are one of the most common birds on schoolyards from Halloween to May Day. (November 1997)

October: Nutty Times

If an acorn bonks you on the head this month, it's just trying to remind you we live in the world's largest nut-producing forest. (October 1997)

Morning Fogs, Evening Stars

September's shorter days make us more aware of twilight. Fog may shroud your morning view, but there are some bright sights in the evening sky. (September 1997)

It's Not the Heat, It's the Dewpoint

TV meteorologists are reporting the dewpoint. Why is this a better way to talk about humid August days? (August 1997)

 

M/SEdNC

ABCs (and a Few Fs)

CMSE Online's analysis of the "ABCs" school performance report of August 7. We look at how well the schools in the greater Triangle area did, and what general conclusions can be drawn from the report. (September 1997)

First in the World by the Year 2000? (Not Likely!)

New data from the TIMSS study finds U.S. secondary science and math education far behind the rest of the world. What does it mean for us? (March 1998)

Let's End the Debate Over Calculators

Opponents of calculators in the mathematics classroom argue that their use prevents the teaching of fundamentals. Actually, we must have both the fundamentals and the calculators. (November 1997)

Time to LEARN, North Carolina!

A new online service for North Carolina teachers and administrators is swinging into action with the new year. (January 1998)

 

Curriculum

AIMS: Combining Math and Science

CMSE is a professional development center for AIMS (Activities Integrating Mathematics and Science), one of the oldest and most popular NSF-sponsored curricula. (November 1997)

Building on Bugs

A new K-3 science curriculum uses live insects to grab the interest of our youngest science students. How bugs meet the goals of the Standard Course of Study. (July 1997)

Growing the Scientific Method

The GrowLab curriculum of the National Gardening Association gives Triangle-area teachers a context for teaching science inquiry. (September 1997)

 

Internet Ideas

Monarch Watch

How your students can join a six-year-old national effort to learn more about the beautiful monarch butterflies so common on bright Carolina fall days. (October 1997)

Two Projects for the Birds

Real science using the Internet: students just like yours are helping scientists while learning about birds. (August 1997)

 

Neighbors on the Net
CHECC Out the Environment

This new web site at UNC is a nerve center for North Carolinians interested in the environment. (December 1997)

IMSEnet: A New Resource from NC State

NC State has opened a valuable new Internet resource center for science teachers. (November 1997)

J. C. Raulston Arboretum

NC State's arboretum has a wonderful web site for everyone interested in plants. Don't miss it! (January 1998)

NC Museum of Life and Science

The Museum's new web site is full of useful information for teachers. (February 1998)

About CMSE Online Features

Online features are normally posted on or very close to the first of the month. Feature items remain listed on the Front Page for at least two months, sometimes longer if they deal with a topic still in the spotlight. Then they remain available through this index as long as the information they contain is current. Sometimes we update older features with new information, and sometimes the updated features will return to the Front Page.

Online features are copyright © Center for Mathematics and Science Education. Individual teachers have permission to duplicate features for use in teaching their own classes. All other rights are reserved. Please do NOT copy features to your own sites. You are welcome to provide links to them; their URLs will not change.

 

August 26, 1999. Center for Mathematics and Science Education CB # 3500, UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500 (919) 966-5922 http://www.unc.edu/depts/cmse/features.html cmse@email.unc.edu

CMSE Online Front Page ProgramGuide courses and workshops NewsLink math/science education news Sitefinder access to teaching resources AboutCMSE mission, staff, reports SiteIndex complete table of contents