Infographics to the Rescue! (TT#9)

"Math is soooo boring." "Why do we have to know this stuff?" "I'm never going to use this stuff again." 

If you've never heard the above statements, have you even been in a math classroom?  Math, to some, can be the most challenging, dry subject they take while working through K-12.  Math as a whole, poses different abstract ideas, formulas, and calculations some students just don't understand.  Our job as teachers is to change the attitude towards math into a positive one by, making it "fun" for students.

You may ask, how can we improve the life for students in our math classrooms? 

INFOGRAPHICS! 

(Well, sort of...)

(Retrieved from Pinterest)

An infographic looks to "inform" its audience in an attractive poster-style medium.  Using bright colours, headings, sub-sections, and little to no words tends to be the main characteristics of a math-centred infographic.  What I've noticed after taking a look at a variety of math infographics, is the use relevant images students will come across in tests and assignments.  I've also recognized the ability an infographic has in breaking down certain ideas and organizing them into a step-by-step visual process.  In this sense, infographics serve an important role in the classroom.  When students are busy working away and they decide to look away from what's in front of them, as teachers, we might as well have mathematical aids around the classroom to help in any situation.  If students have taken notes on how to solve the volume of a cylinder but they just can't make sense of what they've written, they can go to the "Volume" infographic found to the right!  Aside from helping students, infographics bring life to the classroom and can fill wall space with useful, relevant information.

As a part of this blog post, we were asked to create our own infographic in relation to our teachable subjects.  I chose to create an infographic that concentrated on finding missing sides of a triangle when only given one other side and 2 angles.  This was my first ever attempt at an infographic so I hope you enjoy it or find use with it.