The Daily Bulletin Archive

Jodelle Magner, associate professor of mathematics; Kristen McCabe (B.S., M.S. mathematics, Buffalo State), NYS master teacher and mathematics teacher at West Seneca East High School; and Kelly Rodriguez, current postbaccalaureate student in the Mathematics Department, presented the session “Rocket Math Power! Taking Pre-Calculus Off the Paper and into the Sky!” at the annual conference for the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State, held in Saratoga Springs, New York, November 2 and 3.

This session discussed the professional development school partnership (PDS) Dr. Magner initiated with West Seneca East High School and described some of the work done during the spring 2018 semester. In particular, the partnership created a venue for preservice teacher candidates to work with precalculus and algebra students and their teachers over the course of a semester. To make the mathematics more "hands-on," a rocket project exploring 3-D space and parametric equations was created, allowing high school students to launch rockets, collect pertinent data, and calculate the apogee and the associated parametric equations describing the rocket’s path.