AlgebraLAB

AlgebraLAB was started in 2003 with Mainland's first of two successive EETT (Enhancing Education Through Technology) grants. After recruiting the web's authors and programmers, time was spent outlining the major standards the group wanted to address as well as organizing the inter-relationships between the site's topics, skills, and standards databases. The group also decided on the first document types: lessons (written by Georgia Southern professors), practice pages, study aids (recipe pages for Algebra I and Algebra II), and hands-on activities to bring experimentation into the math classrooms. Moreover, the technology infrastructure in Mainland's math classrooms had to be completely revamped and equipment (computers, ethernet, probeware, calculators, overhead cameras, and projectors) purchased and put in place. Through that summer Mainland's teachers attended three, week-long Think Tanks where they developed curriculum on "blank legal pads." They were not allowed to reference texts or any other forms of curricular content. Everything was developed based on teacher expertise and experience.

Concurrently that summer Mainland students assisted with transcribing the handwritten teacher pages onto XML templates and creating any necessary illustrations. The rooms in the Academy of Communications and Multimedia Design (ACMT) were buzzing with collaborative activity. Programmers were busy almost 18 hours a day designing layouts and coding the site.

With the start of the school year, more meetings were held with professors from Georgia Southern, teachers, and students after school to keep pace with classroom needs. The curriculum exploded! With that first year's success, Mainland received a second EETT grant in 2004 to expand AlgebraLAB to include reading passages (based on the ISTF model of research), reading comprehension questions, an online mathematics dictionary, science graphs, solving word problems, and online quizzes. The summer of 2004 once again had three Think Tanks filling the halls of the ACMT with the original cadre plus the addition of reading teachers, biology teachers, chemistry teachers, and researchers. With the start of the next school year, language arts, biology, and chemistry teachers were using AlgebraLAB in their classrooms.

Personnel pivotal to the development of AlgebraLAB are listed on the web's About Us page. Many of these phenomenal people have now changed schools, completed college, moved on to other professional positions, or retired. But everyone was at the right place at the right time to create this wonderful website and instructional tool.

Now in 2026, after 23 years of being online, AlgebraLAB has become an integral component in the curriculum of innumerable instructors at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels as well as parents and students. Nationally, resources in AlgebraLAB have also been linked in Computing Technology for Math Excellence. Moreover, AlgebraLAB has received recommendations from National Infusion Course for Higher Education, American Association of Physics Teacher - Compadre Resources for Physics Education, and The Physics Front.

According to Google AI, 30 June 2026, "AlgebraLAB"

AlgebraLAB: Connecting Math to Science - offers a fully modernized, responsive website designed to function seamlessly across multiple devices. Unlike traditional math websites, AlgebraLAB emphasizes real-world application by linking algebra directly to subjects like chemistry, physics, and biology. It bridges these fields through:

  • Science Activities: Field-tested, hands-on experiments that require students to utilize algebraic formulas to calculate physics or chemistry variables
  • Internet Data Exercises: Real-world data manipulation projects where students analyze live data trends and construct mathematical models
  • Excel Spreadsheet Modeling: Practical training using spreadsheets to demonstrate complex math operations and functions.
Its instructional ecosystem includes:
  • Interactive Lessons: Comprehensive step-by-step instructions on mathematical concepts, functions, and graphing calculator tools.
  • Practice Exercises: Customized practice modules that provide immediate feedback and hints for solving math problems.
  • Quizzes & Study Aids: Self-assessments and condensed study reference guides, famously called "Recipes for Success," tailored for Algebra I and II.
  • Integrated Glossary: An interactive database containing precise mathematical and scientific terms paired with pronunciation guides.

It is our pleasure to provide continuing access to this site.