Journal Prompts
Select 4 of the 7 journals to complete
Journal #1 (Can only be turned in on first due date)
Describe your experience in MTE 180. What was it like? What took place in the
class that you thought was particularly helpful? Confusing? What did you learn?
Journal #2: Chapter 8
Find a newspaper or magazine article that uses some measure of “average”. Explain
which measure of “average” was used: mean, median, or mode. What did it mean in
that context? How did the use of the statistics add to the message of the article?
Include a copy of the article with your summary.
Journal #3: Chapter 9
Think about events that may occur in your life. (1) List three events that are
certain. (2) List three events that are impossible – that is, they can never occur.
(3) List three events that are highly likely. (4) List three events that are unlikely.
Explain your reasoning for each of the 4 lists.
Journal #4: Chapter 10
Is every parallelogram also a rhombus? Is every parallelogram also a rectangle? Is
every parallelogram also a quadrilateral? Is every parallelogram also a square?
Explain your reasoning.
Journal #5: Chapter 11
Create a translation, rotation, and reflection using pattern blocks, other
manipulatives, graph paper or design. Trace your three transformations onto a
piece of paper.
Explain the steps involved in creating each of your 3
transformations. Include the transformations with your journal entry.
Journal #6: Chapter 12
If one-half reduces each dimension of an 8” by 10” by 16” rectangular prism, will
the surface area be reduced by one-half? Would your answer apply to all possible
sizes of boxes (rectangular prisms)? Explain your reasoning. Be sure to include
your calculations.
Journal # 7 (Can only be turned in on last due date)
Reflect upon your experiences in this course. How has taking this course changed
your views about mathematics and teaching mathematics?
What particular
activities were of particular interest or help to you?