AMME works within your budget.

If you want to have a true applied math program that allows students to experience mathematics, students must do hands-on activities or labs. But nobody said they had to be expensive or hard to set up.

The authors of AMME had to work under tight budgets in their school districts. So when new labs and activities are created, the supplies have to be inexpensive and easy-to-obtain. We often use household items as well as supplies that could be borrowed from other departments.

For example, when we wanted students to understand an application of slope as well as work on their problem solving skills, we had each student build a set of stairs. The stairs were not made from boards and cut with saws, but rather built out of card stock paper and cut with a scissors. If you download a sample packet, you will see many other labs which will be easy to obtain.

Here is a list of the most important supplies to have during the year.

IMPORTANT EQUIPMENT

• three hole paper punch (unless your school copier does this)
• large scissors
• 10 to 20 meter fiberglass measuring tapes
• stopwatches
• plastic 100 ml graduated cylinder
• funnels
• meter sticks
• glue sticks
• metric scales / balances – which can be borrowed from the science department

REQUIRED STUDENT EQUIPMENT

We require our students to buy these items and bring them to class each day:

• Three-ring binder (1-2″) – This is very important to help students’ keep papers organized.
• Twelve inch English / Metric ruler
• Scientific calculator
• Plastic zippered pocket that clips into the binder’s rings to hold the pencils and calculator.