Introduction

Mathematicians lead very exciting and controversial lives and the contributions to the field of mathematics reflect this fact.  Most people have heard of great mathematicians such as Issac Newton, but can you name a single female mathematician? The goal of this webquest is to encourage research not only of math but also women behind mathematics. 

You will create a visual representation based on the information you collect on your mathematician.  This display can be in many forms.  Some examples of a display could be a storyboard, a documentary video, a slide show, a children's book, a new game... the list is endless. The idea is to let everyone know about your mathematician and to have fun with your project.

1. First, you will pick out five female mathematicians that interest you.  There are several sites available on the internet that will have a wide variety of mathematicians ranging from B.C. times to the present. You may use the following search engines to aide your search.
1. Ask Jeeves
2. Google
3. Library Spot
4. Dogpile
5. Reference Desk
2. For each person, list the following information:
1. Name and dates this person lived
2. Schools attended and additional training if pertinent
3. Her contribution to mathematics
4. One really interesting fact that wants to make you know more about her.
3. Now choose the one mathematician that really jumps out at you.
4. Your next task is to research her further.  Look for more sites searching for your mathematician.  Remember, you are not limited to the internet. You may use books and Journals that may be located in your library.
5. Information you must have in your project:
1. Name, dates lived
2. Place of birth
3. Schools attended and additional training and/or accomplishments.
4. Her major contributions to mathematics
5. Any articles or Books published
6. Personal facts such as married, kids, strange events in her life, anything of this nature that is noteworthy
7. The history behind why she discovered the math.  What was going on in the world at the time?  Was it her job or was it a hobby?  Anything that might have influenced her discovery in Mathematics.
6. Now that you have gathered all the information necessary to begin your project, you must decide on what kind of representation you would like to use.  You will need to get approval of your idea from your teacher. 
7. Based on what project idea you have, there may be additional criteria or recommendations from your teacher.  Please be sure to write these down when discussing your project.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Research done on the five mathematicians	Researched at least three mathematicians and listed all required information on at least two.	Researched at least four mathematicians and listed all required information at least three.	Researched at least five mathematicians and listed all required information on at least four.	Researched at least five mathematicians and listed all required information on all five.
Research done on your one chosen Mathematician	Research was completely done on the internet.  Information was not complete but a rough outline did exist.	Research was completely done on the internet.  Information was complete.   Included at least one example of their work and accomplishments.	Research was completely done on the internet.  Information was complete and included many interesting facts about the person, not just the mathematics.  Included some examples of their work and accomplishments.	Research was not limited to the internet but also included other sources.  Information asked for was complete and included many interesting facts about the person, not just the mathematics. Also included several examples of their work and accomplishments.
Representation of the mathematician	The project idea had to be assigned.  Display told most of the information asked for in the process and included at least one example of the mathematicians work and accomplishments.	Project idea was not solely the students and required frequent assistance from the teacher.  Display told most of the information asked for in the process and included at least one example of the mathematicians work and accomplishments.	Project was creative but required some supervision from the teacher.  Display told everything you wanted to know and then some about the mathematician.  Some examples of their work and accomplishments are illustrated.	Project was creative.  Most of the work was done independently.  The display told everything you wanted to know and then some about the mathematician.  Many examples of their work and accomplishments are illustrated.

By now, you have become a world renown expert on your mathematician.  Can you think of how your mathematician has affected the world as we know it?  What did she find that impacts your everyday life?

A Handout compiled by Spencer Anderson of great resources on the internet.