Annotated Bibliography

1. Brown, D. (2003). The Da Vinci code. New York: Doubleday.

2. Ages: 15-18
Grades: 9-12
Genre: Thriller, Conspiracy
Content Area: Mathematics

3. I would present this book as a wrap up to a lesson on the Fibonacci number sequence and
the Golden Ratio. These concepts would most likely be covered in an Algebra I course
which means the students involved in this lesson will be freshmen and sophomores.
Because of the way this book includes a compelling and thought-provoking plotline
involving the work of a painter who used the Golden ratio in his work, it will cater well
to the younger high school students who sometimes need an application that extends
beyond the mathematical world in order to gain an appreciation of the course material.
This book is a good tool that can be used to foster continued interest and possibly even
inspire students to do further research on Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Ratio.

4. The Da Vinci Code follows symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu
as they get thrown into a mystery surrounding a secret society entitled the Priory of Sion
and the protection of the Holy Grail. The quest begins when Robert hears that the curator
of the Louvre has been murdered. Leaving behind a set of clues all related to the works of
Leonardo da Vinci, Langdon and Sophie are tasked with deciphering the message the
curator desperately spelled out with the last moments of his life. While solving piece by
piece of the puzzle, Langdon and Sophie escape arrest multiple times but eventually
come into conflict with another group, called the Opus Dei, who is looking to expose the
very secret they are trying to preserve. In the end, only one group outwits the other, and
the fate of the Holy Grail rests in their hands.

5. As a follow up activity that corresponds to this book, I would ask students to create a
piece of artwork that somehow includes the Golden Ratio. Artwork would not be limited
to drawings or paintings, but I would challenge the students to be as creative as possible.
To accompany their masterpieces, students will be required to turn in a written
component in which they explain what inspired their artwork and how they incorporated
the Golden Ratio. Because the Golden Ratio is a very precise ratio, students will also be
asked to show all of the computations they performed in making sure their measurements
were in the correct proportions.
1. Singh, S. (1999). The code book: The science of secrecy from Ancient Egypt to
quantum cryptography. New York: Doubleday.

2. Ages: 15+
Grades: 9-12
Genre: Factual
Content Area: Mathematics, History

3. This book would fit very nicely into the middle of a unit on matrices. Because
cryptography with matrices involves higher level matrix operation skills, the lesson that
utilizes this book would most likely take place in an Algebra II or even Matrix Theory
course. Two major concepts involving matrices include matrix multiplication and matrix
inverses. Encoding and decoding messages uses matrices involves both of these crucial
skills which makes this book a perfect tool for students to be able to practice. Often
times, math teachers will habitually assign homework problems out of the textbook
which can get redundant and boring for students. Putting multiplication and matrix
inverses in the context of cryptography would add a significant amount of enjoyment
while also allowing students to dive right into a real life application of the concepts.

4. Singh’s The Code Book follows the development of cryptography from ancient times to
modern day. In this book, Singh highlights the significant historical events that were
affected by involved the coding and decoding of messages. Included in the book are
technical and mathematical explanations as well as sections of information on the most
intelligent minds in the world of coding.

5. After presenting this book in the middle of a matrices lesson, I would have my students
encode and decode their own messages. Students would be put into pairs, and they would
be tasked with sending two messages back and forth to each other for a total of four
messages. I would provide students with a reference sheet that would include some
reminders about matrix multiplication and inversion as well as the encoding matrix.
However, before students start being cryptographers, they would be required to work
together to fill in a sequence of events chart that would be printed on the reverse side of
the reference sheet. Students would fill in the chart with all the steps required to encode a
message and then all the steps required to decode a message. Finally, using their
reference sheet, the students would then create their own messages and decode the ones
their partner makes using the boxes of the sequence of events chart for their work. This
activity would not only be fun for students, but it would also allow them to catch their
mistakes right away as messages would not make sense if mistakes were present.
 Sequence → of→ Events → Chart
Encryption with Matrices
Step 1
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Assign numbers to letters

Step 2
T H A N K _ Y O U Write message
20 8 1 14 11 0 25 15 21

Step 3 Break message into chucks of 3 numbers

Step 4
301 20 61 301 14 42
125 8 = 41 125 11 = 36 Left multiply each chunk by the encoding
113 1 31 113 0 25 matrix to obtain the encrypted message

3 0 1 25 96
1 2 5 15 = 160
1 1 3 21 103
Step 5
3 0 1 -1 1/2 1/2 -1 Find the decoding matrix by taking the
125 = 1 4 -7 inverse of the encoding matrix
113 -1/2 -3/2 3

Step 6
1/2 1/2 -1 61 20 1/2 1/2 -1 42 14
1 4 -7 41 = 8 1 4 -7 36 =11 Decode the message by left multiplying
-1/2 -3/2 3 31 1 -1/2 -3/2 3 25 0 chunks of 3 numbers by the decoding
matrix
1/2 1/2 -1 96 25
1 4 -7 160 = 15
-1/2 -3/2 3 103 21
Step 7
20 8 1 14 11 0 25 15 21 Translate the numbers into letters to read
T H A N K _ Y O U the message
1. Morrisette, S. (2012). Toads and tessellations: A math adventure. Massachusettes:
Charlesbridge.

2. Ages: 7-10
Grades: 2-5
Genre: Children’s picture book
Content Area: Mathematics

3. Although this is a children’s picture book, it would work nicely as an introduction to the
concept of optimization that is covered in AP Calculus. Tessellations and optimization
have very similar ideas – maximizing the potential of a given material or space. The
particular application of tessellations covered in this book is a perfect example of a real
life scenario in which the calculus concept of optimization would be utilized. This book
would be a good way to get students to start thinking about getting the most out of what
is given.

4. Toads and Tessellations is a story about Enzo, the son of a magician who is less
interested in magic and more interested in science and mathematics. While Enzo’s father
is out of town, the local shoe maker sends his sister to Enzo’s house to employ his
father’s help with his newest shoemaking task – make twelve identical shoes out of one
piece of leather. With his father gone, Enzo is left to help the shoemaker and his sister.
Instead of relying on magic, Enzo is ends up completing the task using math and the
concept of tessellations.

5. As an activity that fits well with this book, I would have students complete a stretch-to-
sketch that would tie the idea of tessellations from the book with the idea of optimization
that I would be going into depth on after the activity. Students would work independently
to complete the activity. In the stretch-to-sketch, students would be asked to draw their
own tessellation in the context of a real-life scenario in which optimization would need to
be considered. The example featured in the book was needing to make multiple pairs of
shoes out of one piece of leather. Below their sketch, students would be required to write
a short explanation of their tessellation and its real-world application as well as explain
the importance of optimization in the scenario they chose to depict. This activity would
be a good way to differentiate instruction in a calculus classroom because it gives
students an opportunity to show their creativity through drawing which is not often done
in an upper level math classroom. Additionally, it’s a good warmup activity to introduce
the topics that are to come.
Text: Toads and Tessellations by Shannon Morrisette

Sketch – to –Stretch
Make a tessellation inspired by a real life application of optimization. Remember
not to worry about artistic quality.

Describe your sketch and the importance of optimization in your real life
application.
My sketch is a tessellation of heart shaped cookies being cut out of a sheet of
cookie dough. Although not every inch of cookie dough is used, this still represents
a tessellation because of the repetition of same shape in a pattern-like fashion. The
real life application I chose to represent was baking. Optimization is important for
bakers because it helps them to get the most out of the ingredients they purchase. It
allows them to minimize the amount they waste which in turn will lead to an
increase in profit.
1. Cheng, E. (2015). How to bake pi: An edible exploration of the mathematics of
mathematics. New York: Basic Books.

2. Ages: 14-18
Grades: 9-12
Genre: Cookbook
Content Area: Mathematics

3. I would use this book independently at the very beginning of the school year with all my
classes. Often times, students have a sour taste of math in their mouths because of
negative past experiences brought on by frustration, ineffective teaching, or lack of
success. Because this book explains the what, how, and why of mathematics within the
context of food (a widely loved topic), it would be a perfect tool to arouse curiosity and
hopefully restart or increase motivation to do math in each one of my students.

4. Eugenia Cheng’s How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of

5. The activity I would have students complete in regards to this book would have a before
reading component as well as an after reading component. Before reading the book,
students would be asked to complete a mathematics survey in which they would answer
general questions about what math is, why it’s important, and what their current
dispositions or feelings towards mathematics are. I would collect and hold onto these
surveys once the students complete them. After reading the book, I would pass back the
pre-reading surveys to the students and also give them a new survey. While being able to
refer to their previous answers on the first survey, students would be asked, in the new
survey, if any of their perceptions or feelings towards math had changed as a result of
reading the book. If so, students would have to write down the specific analogy, quote, or
section from the book that caused them to change their minds. Afterwards, we would
have an informal class discussion in which I would highlight the important messages or
themes to be gleaned from the book, but the majority of the discussion would be devoted
to giving students the opportunity to share their before and after perspectives on math.
1. Seidler, H. (2013). The grand tour: Travelling the world with an architect's eye. Cologne,
Germany: Taschen.

2. Ages: 15+
Grades: 9-12
Genre: Travel, architecture
Content Area: Mathematics

3. I would present this book to a geometry class as an overall wrap up at the end of a major
unit. Architecture would not be possible without math, and it is full of geometrical
patterns, concepts, and principles. This book would give students the opportunity to apply
the knowledge they have gained in the unit to a real world context outside of the
classroom. Additionally, because this book looks at famous architecture from all around
the world, it lends nicely to culturally responsive teaching. While covering a multitude of
geometrical concepts, the book would also be a resource for students to learn about a
wide variety of cultures through architecture.

4. In his book, The Grand Tour: Travelling the World with an Architect’s Eye, Austria-born
architect Harry Seidler takes the reader on a trip around the world with architectural
structures as the main stops. Each chapter of the book is devoted to a specific country and
includes a brief outline of that country’s architectural history. This book also includes
hundreds of photos that Seidler took himself.

5. The follow up activity I would use with this book would require students to become
architects in order to “dissect” the work of the architects highlighted in the book.
Students would be instructed to pick any one architectural structure from the book. Once
all structures were chosen, I would print a picture of the façade of each on a full sheet of
copy paper and give each student his/her picture. Using the picture and any geometrical
tools necessary (rulers, protractors, compasses, etc.), students would be challenged to find
at least three geometrical rules or principles within the façade of the structure. Rules or
principles could include anything from recognizing a specific ratio being used over and
over to the Pythagorean Theorem. Once found, the student would then draw the principle
or rule onto the façade itself. The purpose of this all-encompassing activity would be for
students to demonstrate as much of the knowledge they have gained in this unit as
possible.
1. Devaney, R. (2004). Chaos rules! Math horizons, 12(2), 11-14. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25678508

2. Ages: 16-18
Grades: 11-12
Genre: Academic Journal
Content Area: Mathematics

3. Because this article is about fractals, it would work nicely in a geometry or linear algebra
class. I would most likely use this article at the beginning of a lesson because of its all-
encompassing nature. It includes information on how fractals are formed, what fields of
mathematics they involve, pictures of the fractals themselves, and applications. Having
all of this information would give the students a good survey or overview of the material
I would be covering, and it does so in a different way that will hopefully also arouse
student curiosity.

4. Chaos Rules! is an article from an academic journal that is all about chaos and fractals. In
it, Devaney explains the formation of fractals by playing the “chaos game,” points out
their essential elements, discusses their various transformations, displays some of the
mathematical computation behind them, and presents the reader with a few real-life uses
and applications of fractals. This article also includes lots of figures depicting the
different fractals Devaney writes about.

5. For a follow up activity, I would have students complete a mathematics story pyramid
that I would adapt from the original story pyramid meant for works including storylines.
Instead of creating the eight lines of words, I would have students create six lines of
words that ask them to identify the major ideas or takeaways I wanted them to get out of
the article. The story pyramid would be the best strategy to use in this scenario because of
the density of material covered in the article. The article itself comes from an academic
journal, and as such, it includes more complicated concepts that are explained with
terminology students are not likely to be familiar with. Having them complete the story
pyramid will aid in their comprehension and understanding of the material presented in
the article.
1. Associated Press, T. (2017, February 27). NBA statistics. The herald star, p. 4B.

2. Ages: 13+
Grades: 7-10
Genre: Newspaper
Content Area: Mathematics

3. These data tables from the sports section of the newspaper would work perfectly in a
primary lesson from a statistics unit covering the topics of mean, median, mode, range,
standard deviation, and variance. Being able to read a set of data and determine what the
values represent, how to use them, and the type of statistic that should be calculated are
all skills that are necessary to have in order to perform any more complicated statistical
computations and tests. Presenting students with this data will allow them to practice
those skills within the context of a real-world application of statistics.

4. The data provided by The Associated Press is for all teams in the NBA. It is separated by
Eastern Conference and Western Conference and then further broken down into each of
the divisions within the conferences. Number of wins, number of losses, winning
percentage, and games behind the lead are the statistics that are listed for every team.

5. Because I would present this data in one of the beginning lessons of a unit on statistics,
the goal of the follow up activity would be to check for student understanding and student
ability to demonstrate the essential skills listed above. With this in mind, the activity
would require students to calculate means, medians, modes, ranges, standard deviations,
and variances based on the given data. A fun way to do this would be to have students
participate in a version of board races. I would split the students up into heterogeneous
groups of no more than four. Each team would then receive a large piece of poster paper
and a colored marker. Then, I would announce a problem to the class such as, “What is
the average amount of wins for teams in the Central Division?” Students would then
work together as a team to make the calculation as quickly and accurately as possible,
and I would instruct the students to place the marker down on the desk as soon as they
think they have done the problem correctly. Once all teams finished, I would go around
to check all the work done by the students, and then award a point to the team who
completed the problem correctly in the shortest amount of time. This activity would give
students an opportunity to collaborate with one another while also catering to the
kinesthetic learners.