MathsClass

Are you drawing mathematical diagrams in Microsoft Word? You might even be achieving success doing this; once you’ve worked out how to wrangle Microsoft apps to do what you want, they can be powerful. But, for drawing mathematical diagrams there are better options.

FX Draw by Efofex is the application for drawing static diagrams for inclusion in worksheets, assessment tasks etc. The one down-side of this software is that there is no Mac version. (The rest of the Efofex MathPack is worth the money as well)

You should also know about the collections of mathematical drawings on the web:

UNSW Educational Assessment – Mathematics Resources: Collections of mathematical pictures in Microsoft Word documents stored as editable clip-art.

Geometry Diagrams: PNG files created in Adobe Fireworks. That means they are editable. Teachers in DET NSW will soon have laptops with Fireworks installed.

Mathwords: An interactive maths dictionary that includes diagrams.

Clipart ETC: Math This is an extensive collection of all sorts of diagrams you’d find in a maths textbook. Some are old illustrations that have been cleaned up. The fractions category includes hundreds on fraction representations.

Wikimedia Commons – Category: Mathematics Wikimedia is Wikipedia’s cousin. Wikimedia gathers media files (images, video, animation, sound), all of which you are free to use.

Have you found any good collections of diagrams? Please share in the comments.