March 14th is Pi Day, and it’s also Albert Einstein’s birthday. In honor of Einstein, MinutePhysics is posting a series of videos on his “wonder year” of 1905, when he published several papers that eventually earned him the Nobel Prize.
Super Bowl XLVI Math Worksheet and Football Comic
Lance Friedman of MathPlane.com has posted two bits of fun in honor of Super Bowl XLVI. (Click the images to go to Lance’s site.) And if you’re a homeschooler, Currclick is offering a Super Bowl Mini-Helper free this week.
NFL Math Quiz
Continue reading Super Bowl XLVI Math Worksheet and Football Comic
Fibonacci Numbers and Plants
Have you ever wondered why so many plants grow in Fibonacci Numbers? Vi Hart offers a great explanation (with hands-on activities) in these three videos — and she introduces a new species called the slugcat, which my daughter thinks is adorable.
Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant [1 of 3]
Christmas Math from Vi Hart
You can find just the song here: http://vihart.com/music/gauss12days.mp3.
Carnival Reminder
Send in your submission for the Math Teachers at Play blog carnival by Wednesday night.
While you’re waiting for Friday’s carnival, check out the new Carnival of Mathematics.
Advent Math via Nrich.Maths.org
These advent calendars feature a new math puzzle or game for each day of December until Christmas. Many of the activities are designed to be done in a group, but they work fine for home school families who play with math together. Enjoy!
For Primary Students
For Secondary Students
Understanding Algebra: How Many Roots?
In algebra 1, we spend a lot of time working with quadratic equations. Among other things, we want to know how many roots (solutions) an equation has and whether the roots are real or imaginary numbers.
One way to visualize this is by asking:
- “Which values of x will make the equation equal to zero — that is, will make the graph cross the x-axis?”
I wish my algebra teacher had explained it like James Tanton does. It makes so much sense!
Triangular Numbers: Sum from 1 to N
Kitten and I covered triangular numbers a couple months ago in our Competition Math for Middle School book, but I think it’s time to revisit the topic. I like the method James Tanton gives in this new video:
Quotable: From Calc 3
“We have 4 equations and only 4 unknowns so that gives us a fighting chance of actually solving it.”
— My daughter’s Calculus III teacher
“Of course, he was doing an easy problem compared to the homework. 😛 ”
— My daughter, Niner
Tau Day Limerick
So if working in radians you hate
(How can 
Make your life simpler now
By just switching to τ
= 6.28318…
—Denise Gaskins
Happy Tau Day
6/28 is τ Day.
Tau = τ = one turn around the circle = 
How do mathematicians celebrate τ Day?
Protest! Share anti-π propaganda.
And eat two pies…
Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math 