Developing the exploration

To write a good Math Exploration

• Start with an introduction that includes your research question.
• Then state your aim and rationale.

Aim: What is the point of your exploration?

Rationale: Why did you choose this topic? What do you hope your reader will learn?

• Create an outline to help you organize your ideas and streamline your research.
• While doing your research, keep a record of each website you visited and include the date.
• If you need to round any decimal, consider the degree of accuracy. For your topic, how many decimal places are relevant? For example, while a difference of one-tenth may not matter if you are talking about the speed of a locomotive, it could matter if you are talking about the number of milligrams of morphine administered to a patient.
• Use ≈ for any rounded values
• Include page numbers for easier reference later on.
• Only use mathematics that YOU understand. YouTube could help. If you still can’t figure it out, it’s probably too hard for this level of math. It is not your teacher’s responsibility to teach you math.
• Ask and answer personal questions (“I wonder if…, What if…)?. Make conjectures (an opinion or theory without sufficient evidence or proof).
• Use proper math vocabulary (plug-in ≠ substitute) and notation (x^2 ≠ x²)
• Consider the historical and global perspectives of your topic.
  Historical perspective: things that have happened with your topic in the past
  Global perspective: the links between your own life and others throughout the world
• Discuss the implications of your results. (What do they mean? Why are they important? How do they affect your life?…)
• Discuss your results in the context of your topic, not just in general terms.
• Discuss possible limitations and/or extensions of your topic.
  Limitation: a restriction, a defect, or failing
  Extension: an occurrence in another area
  • Make connections between your topic and different disciplines and/or areas of mathematics?
  • Add “your voice” to your paper.