Blog

Reblog: The Handshake Problem

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

[Feature photo above by Tobias Wolter (CC-BY-SA-3.0) via Wikimedia Commons.]

Seven years ago, our homeschool co-op held an end-of-semester assembly. Each class was supposed to demonstrate something they had learned. I threatened to hand out a ten question pop quiz on integer arithmetic, but instead my pre-algebra students voted to perform a skit.

I hope you enjoy this “Throw-back Thursday” blast from the Let’s Play Math! blog archives:

If seven people meet at a party, and each person shakes the hand of everyone else exactly once, how many handshakes are there in all?

In general, if n people meet and shake hands all around, how many handshakes will there be?

Cast

1-3 narrators
7 friends (non-speaking parts, adjust to fit your group)

Props

Each friend will need a sheet of paper with a number written on it big and bold enough to be read by the audience. The numbers needed are 0, 1, 2, 3, … up to one less than the number of friends. Each friend keeps his paper in a pocket until needed.

[Click here to go read Skit: The Handshake Problem.]

Reblog: In Honor of the Standardized Testing Season

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

TakingTest

[Feature photo above by Alberto G. Photo right by Renato Ganoza. Both (CC-BY-SA-2.0) via flickr.]

Quotations and comments about the perils of standardized testing, now part of my book Let’s Play Math.

I hope you enjoy this “Throw-back Thursday” blast from the Let’s Play Math! blog archives:

The school experience makes a tremendous difference in a child’s learning. Which of the following students would you rather be?

I continued to do arithmetic with my father, passing proudly through fractions to decimals. I eventually arrived at the point where so many cows ate so much grass, and tanks filled with water in so many hours. I found it quite enthralling.

— Agatha Christie
An Autobiography

…or…

“Can you do Addition?” the White Queen asked. “What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?”

“I don’t know,” said Alice. “I lost count.”

“She can’t do Addition,” the Red Queen interrupted. “Can you do Subtraction? Take nine from eight.”

“Nine from eight I can’t, you know,” Alice replied very readily: “but—”

“She can’t do Subtraction,” said the White Queen. “Can you do Division? Divide a loaf by a knife — what’s the answer to that?”

[Click here to go read In Honor of the Standardized Testing Season.]

Math Teachers at Play #72 via Christy’s Houseful of Chaos

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

mathteachersplay72

[Feature photo above is 72 Pencils by fdecomite via flickr.]

Math Teachers at Play is a traveling blog carnival. It moves around from month to month, and the March edition is now posted at Christy’s Houseful of Chaos. What a fun list of math posts to browse!

This is the 72nd Edition of the Math Teachers at Play (MTaP) blog carnival!

The number 72 is a Harshad number in number bases from binary up to but excluding base 13. Harshad numbers are numbers that are divisible by the sum of their numbers. They are base-dependant. In binary 72 is expressed 1001000. Add the digits together to get 2, one of the factors of 72. With a base of 5, 72 is expressed 242. With base 6 it is expressed 200. You can play around checking the bases of different numbers with an online calculator.

Now on to the math posts….

Click here to go read the whole carnival.

Natural Math Multiplication Course

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

NaturalMathMultiplication

This April, the creative people at Moebius Noodles are inviting parents, teachers, playgroup hosts, and math circle leaders to join an open online course about multiplication. My preschool-2nd grade homeschool math group is eager to start!

Each week there will be five activities to help kids learn multiplication by exploring patterns and structure, with adaptations for ages 2-12.

The course starts April 6 and runs for four weeks.

Preliminary Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction.
What is multiplication? Hidden dangers and precursors of math difficulties. From open play to patterns: make your own math. 60 ways to stay creative in math. Our mathematical worries and dreams.

Week 2: Inspired by calculus.
Tree fractals. Substitution fractals. Multiplication towers. Doubling and halving games. Zoom and powers of the Universe.

Week 3: Inspired by algebra.
Factorization diagrams. Mirror books and snowflakes. Combination and chimeras. Spirolaterals and Waldorf stars: drafting by the numbers. MathLexicon.

Week 4: Times tables.
Coloring the monster table. Scavenger hunt: multiplication models and intrinsic facts. Cuisenaire, Montessori, and other arrays. The hidden and exotic patterns. Healthy memorizing.

Sounds like lots of fun!

Pi Day Roundup

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

WhyPi

[Feature photo above by Nicolo’ Canali De Rossi.]

Math holiday alert: March 14th is Pi Day. But why limit ourselves to a single day? Playing with math should be a year-round adventure! Here are some ideas to help you celebrate…

Pi Day Posts on Let’s Play Math! Blog

DragonOfPi

Continue reading Pi Day Roundup

Reblog: The Case of the Mysterious Story Problem

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

[Feature photo above by Carla216 via flickr (CC BY 2.0).]

Seven years ago, I blogged a revision of the first article I ever wrote about homeschooling math. I can’t even remember when the original article was published — years before the original (out of print) editions of my math books.

I hope you enjoy this “Throw-back Thursday” blast from the Let’s Play Math! blog archives:

Case-of-the-Mysterious-Story-Problem
I love story problems. Like a detective, I enjoy sifting out clues and solving the mystery. But what do you do when you come across a real stumper? Acting out story problems could make a one-page assignment take all week.

You don’t have to bake a pie to study fractions or jump off a cliff to learn gravity. Use your imagination instead. The following suggestions will help you find the clues you need to solve the case…

[Click here to go read the original post.]

Reblog: A Mathematical Trauma

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Feature photo (above) by Jimmie via flickr.

My 8-year-old daughter’s first encounter with improper fractions was a bit more intense than she knew how to handle.

I hope you enjoy this “Throw-back Thursday” blast from the Let’s Play Math! blog archives:

Photo (right) by Old Shoe Woman via Flickr.

Nearing the end of Miquon Blue today, my youngest daughter encountered fractions greater than one. She collapsed on the floor of my bedroom in tears.

The worksheet started innocently enough:

\frac{1}{2} \times 8=\left[ \quad \right]

[Click here to go read the original post.]

Math Teachers at Play #71 via Math Mama Writes

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

The February math education blog carnival is now posted for your browsing pleasure, featuring 71 playful ways to explore mathematics from preschool to calculus:

71 richard schwartzMath teachers at play know that math is best learned when the student is thoroughly engaged, through their body, their imagination (story-telling), or the world of games. I’ve started out this month’s post with those three categories.

Most of the submissions this month described hands-on, or feet-on, activities. It’s as if there had been a theme agreed upon without anyone mentioning it. Some of the following posts are from submissions, and others are posts that I wanted to share from my internet wanderings.

This post has 71 links. (You might need to digest it in smaller bites.) Enjoy!

Click here to go read the whole, wonderful post.

Quotable: Math as a Second Language

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Wenninger 94photo by fdecomite via flickr (CC BY 2.0)

I sat in class three days ago and thought to myself, “They need a class called ‘Math as a second language’ or MSL for short.”

It is easy to understand what a median is, or what attributes a kite has, or why is a rectangle a square but a square not a rectangle… for a minute or a day.

It is easy to temporarily memorize a fact. But without true understanding of the concept those “definitions” fade. If the foundation of truly understanding is not there to begin with then there is little hope for any true scaffolding and even less chance of any true learning.

—Duncan
Comment on Christopher Danielson’s Geometry and language