[Photo by shonk.]
Welcome to the Math Teachers At Play blog carnival — which is not just for math teachers! If you like to learn new things and play around with ideas, you are sure to find something of interest.
Let’s start the mathematical fun with a couple of puzzles in honor of our 20th edition: First, the shape to our right is an icosahedron, one of the Platonic solids. Each face is an equilateral triangle — can you count them? For more fun, make your own model.
[Bill Watterson identifies the trouble with math problems, through the eyes of Calvin and Hobbes.]
It’s time to revive and (hopefully!) finish my long-neglected series on solving word problems in elementary mathematics. I’ve been having fun making up the problems, so now I just have to write the posts. Coming up soon:
Since it has been more than two years since the last entry, however, I wanted to take a few minutes to recap our progress so far and to refer new readers back to the original posts:
[I couldn’t find a good picture illustrating “division.” Niner came to my rescue and took this photo of her breakfast.]
I found an interesting question at Mathematics Education Research Blog. In the spirit of Liping Ma’s Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics, Finnish researchers gave this problem to high school students and pre-service teachers:
We know that:
How could you use this relationship (without using long-division) to discover the answer to:
[No calculators allowed!]
The Finnish researchers concluded that “division seems not to be fully understood.” No surprise there!
Check out the pdf report for detailed analysis.
[Photo by woodleywonderworks.]
The question came from a homeschool forum, though I’ve reworded it to avoid plagiarism:
My student is just starting first grade, but I’ve been looking ahead and wondering: How will we do big addition problems without using pencil and paper? I think it must have something to do with number bonds. For instance, how would you solve a problem like 27 + 35 mentally?
The purpose of number bonds is that students will be comfortable taking numbers apart and putting them back together in their heads. As they learn to work with numbers this way, students grow in understanding — some call it “number sense” — and develop a confidence about math that I often find lacking in children who simply follow the steps of an algorithm.
[“Algorithm” means a set of instructions for doing something, like a recipe. In this case, it means the standard, pencil and paper method for adding numbers: Write one number above the other, then start by adding the ones column and work towards the higher place values, carrying or “renaming” as needed.]
For the calculation you mention, I can think of three ways to take the numbers apart and put them back together. You can choose whichever method you like, or perhaps you might come up with another one yourself…
[Photo by jaaron.]
Welcome to the Math Teachers At Play blog carnival — which is not just for math teachers! We accept entries from anyone who enjoys playing around with math, as long as the topic is relevant to students or teachers of preK-12th grade mathematics.
Some articles were submitted by their authors, other were drawn from the back-log in my blog reader, and I’ve spiced it all up with a few math jokes courtesy of the Mathematical humor collection of Andrej and Elena Cherkaev.
Let the mathematical fun begin…
Y of x reminded me about one of my old favorite websites for math fact practice with a purpose:
5-10 minutes of daily practice will cement the math facts in your student’s mind, while at the same time doing a good deed. For each correct answer, a Free Rice sponsor donates a very small amount of rice to feed hungry people worldwide through the UN World Food Program.
Even very small amounts of rice add up. Since Free Rice started in 2007, its sponsors have bought more than 63 billion grains of rice, just by paying for one right answer click at a time.
You and your students can practice other topics as well:
April showers have ushered in May flowers — and a second Math Calendar, with daily puzzles from my homeschool co-op students. Get your copy here:
[Photo by Kuzeytac.]
Several people enjoyed the April calendar and asked if there would be a May version. Unfortunately, my homeschool co-op classes are out until next fall, so I don’t have enough kids to make up problems for me. But if your children would like to send in some puzzles, I will be glad to put another calendar together. If we get enough participation, we could have calendars every month for the rest of the year!
[Photo by Alex Kehr.]
Welcome to the Math Teachers At Play blog carnival — which is not just for math teachers! If you like to learn new things and play around with ideas, you are sure to find something of interest. Let the mathematical fun begin…
My homeschool co-op classes had a lot of fun creating this April calendar to hand out at our end-of-semester party on Friday. It’s not as easy to read as a traditional calendar — it is more like a puzzle. The expression in each square simplifies to that day’s date, so families can treat each day like a mini-review quiz: “Do you remember how to calculate this?”
Download your own copy:
If you’ve been wanting to start your own math club, you will find plenty of helpful ideas here:
Check out my May Math Calendar post for more ideas about how to use these puzzles.
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Which I am going to say right now. Thank you!
“April Math Calendar” copyright © 2009 by Denise Gaskins.
