[Introduction]Author(s): Shirley M. FryeSource: The Mathematics Teacher, Vol. 100, No. 4, Making Mathematics Meaningful(NOVEMBER 2006), p. 228Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27972199 .

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PRESIDEN BS ice

Shirley M. Frye

The appeal of this interesting article is that the authors who drove to work together ob served "mathematics at work" and began to

record data that were the foundation for an applica tion in their classes. Szetela and Beattie recognized that the collected information and its relationships could be the basis for exploration of statistics in real-world situations recommended by the Curricu lum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathemat ics (NCTM 1989).

At this time in the early '90s, the newer tech

niques, such as stem-and leaf plots and box-and

whisker plots, were just being introduced to stu dents. The authors found that the relationships of

gross vehicular weights of trucks and the number of axles provided the opportunity to have students

display the real-world data in these and every form of visual picture and to use statistic calculators to

obtain equations.

Reading the NCTM journals is an opportunity for professional development and for enhancing instruction. Therefore, I selected this article as one

of my favorites because it incorporated?

teacher reflection and collaboration; real-world examples related to mathematics

content;

multiple representations of data; a link to instruction at different levels; a model for developing other applications that

appeal to the students; and references to NCTM publications, like 1981 and 1983 yearbooks.

Like most articles, this one reveals the dedica tion and love of teaching of its authors, Walter Sze

tela and Ian D. Beattie.

REFERENCE National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

(NCTM). Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM, 1989.

228 MATHEMATICS TEACHER | Vol. 100, No. 4 ? November 2006

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