Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/274063
Because she has a side job as a consul- tant for Texas Instruments, Martinez was able to use the program early and test out the zombie apocalypse unit on her class. It was big hit with students, who used their graphing calculators to test out equations. The program's popularity has been fea- tured in national publications. "It was a lot of fun to do with the kids. I have Algebra I students who are on the lower end for high school, and 30 to 40 percent of them have special needs. It was incredible to see the conversations they had and the excitement they shared. It was something I had not seen before. Even students who had no previous experience with zombies were interested and applying these concepts to real-life situations." Students say the exercise helped to make learning fun. "It was easy to see on a graph how fast zombies would replace normal people," says ninth-grader Mitchell Edwards. "It's nice to have a break from regular math with something interesting," comments ninth-grader Nate Barnes. "Putting something interesting into math makes it fun." Martinez recently used a STEM Behind Hollywood Spider-Man lesson to intro- duce her students to quadratic functions. They watched a video and predicted what the graph of Spider-Man's swinging path would look like. STEM Behind Hollywood also offers "STEM-ageddon!" units about what scientists would do to avoid an asteroid in the path of Earth, and a "Who- dunnit?" forensics unit where students use science and math to identify victim John Doe and the cause of death. But most popular, for the time being, is the zombie unit. "I am not a zombie person and don't watch the shows," admits Martinez. "But if it gets kids interested in math in a nonthreatening manner by introducing a concept that they're familiar with, it's wonderful to see their excitement." K at i e M a r t i n ez, shown with R y an Michaels and Mitchell E dw ards, s ay s, "It w as incredible to see the convers ations they had and the excitemen t they shared." STEM Behind Hollywood is available to teachers and students for a free 30-day trial. Those who have TI-Nspire software technology from Texas Instruments have per- manent access, and students who purchase the graphing calculator get the software included for free. There is also an app available for iPads. For details, visit education.ti.com/en/us/stem-hollywood. GO ONLINE www.cta.org 43 M A R C H 2 0 1 4 CHECKING THAT'S BETTER THAN FREE n No debit card fees and no monthly fees n ATM fee rebates 1 n No minimum balance n Free online and mobile banking n Zero liability fraud protection guarantee 2 n e-Deposit 3 —Deposit checks remotely Super Reward Checking 1.76 % APY* 1.76 % APY* 1.76 % APY* * Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is effective as of 2/14/2014 and may change anytime. 1) Provident will rebate nationwide ATM surcharges imposed by the other institution, up to $2.50 per transaction. 2) Provident accounts come with our special zero liability fraud protection guarantee that reimburses you 100% for any unauthorized electronic transac- tions. You are automatically covered when you report the incident promptly and meet your responsibilities for handling your account. For more information, visit providentcu.org/risk-free. 3) Certain re- strictions apply. See www.providentcu.org for full eligibility details. 4) These are the requirements to receive 1.76% APY on balances up to $25,000, 0.11% APY on balances beyond the first $25,000, and ATM rebates. If the 3 requirements are not met in their entirety, the APY will be 0% and no ATM rebates will be issued for that statement cycle. The minimum deposit required to open this Account is $25. To qualify you must also be a member, 18 or older. Limit one Super Reward Checking account per membership. IMPORTANT: All trans- actions must be posted within the statement cycle which begins on the last business day of the previous month and ends on the second to last business day of the current month. © 3/14 PCU Balance APY * $0.01 - $25,000 1.76% $25,001 and over 0.11% Requirements not met 0% 3 simple requirements to receive the rewards: 4 1) 10 Visa ® debit card transactions per statement cycle 2) 1 direct deposit or automatic debit/credit per statement cycle 3) Receive e-Documents (877) 728-8472 ProvidentChecking.com Proudly endorsed by: Educator 03 Mar 2014 v2.0 int.indd 43 3/6/14 10:53 AM