Puzzles for the New Year

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
by Koshyk via flickr

As we all head back to school, here are some interesting calendar puzzles:

  • 2008 is a leap year. Why do leap years happen? If we didn’t add a leap day every so often, would January eventually come in the summer?
  • Today is Thursday. What day of the week will it be exactly one year from today?
  • January 1, 2008, came on a Tuesday. When will be the next year that begins on Tuesday?
  • My birthday (in March) lands on a Monday this year. When is the next year my birthday will come on a Monday? How about YOUR birthday — when is the next time it will happen on the same day of the week as this year?
  • Can you find a pattern in the way dates move from one day of the week to another, year after year?

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The Golden Christmas Tree

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Last time, Alexandria Jones and her family were on their way to Uncle William’s tree farm to find the perfect Christmas tree, and Dr. Jones taught us about the Golden Section:

The \; Golden \; Section \; ratio

|———————A———————|————B————|

A \; is \; to \; B \; as \; \left(A + B \right) \; is \; to \; A, \; or . . .

\frac{A}{B} = \frac{A + B}{A} = \: ?

I gave you three algebra puzzles to solve. Did you try them?

  • What is the exact value of the Golden Section ratio?
  • If a 7-foot tree will fit in the Jones family’s living room, allowing for the tree stand and for a star on top, how wide will the tree be?
  • Approximately how much surface area will Alex and Leon have to fill with lights and ornaments?

Math Adventurer’s Rule: Figure It Out for yourself

Whenever I give a problem in an Alexandria Jones story, I will try to post the answer soon afterward. But don’t peek! If I tell you the answer, you miss out on the fun of solving the puzzle. So if you have not worked these problems yet, go back to the original post. Figure them out for yourself — and then check the answers just to prove that you got them right.

Continue reading The Golden Christmas Tree

Christmas Math Puzzles and Activities

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
by HikingArtist.com via flickr

UPDATE: Some of the links below have gone missing, as internet sites tend to do. Check out my *huge* new blog post:

We interrupt our regularly scheduled math program to bring you the following Christmas links…

First, A to Z Home’s Cool offers some fun for older students and teachers:

Also check out the annual Price of Christmas Index to see what the “12 Days of Christmas” gifts would cost you this year. Or explore the Nrich Advent Math Calendars to play with a new math activity every day until Christmas.

You can find just the song here: http://vihart.com/music/gauss12days.mp3.

Continue reading Christmas Math Puzzles and Activities

A-Hunting They Will Go

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Alexandria Jones and her family piled into the car for a drive in the country. This year, they were determined to find an absolutely perfect Christmas tree at Uncle William Jones’s tree farm.

“I want the tallest tree in Uncle Will’s field,” Alex said.

“Hold it,” said her mother. “I refuse to cut a hole in the roof.”

“But, Mom!” Leon whined. “The Peterkin Papers…”

“Too bad. Our ceiling will stay a comfortable 8 feet high.”

Continue reading A-Hunting They Will Go

The Christmas Present Quandary

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Alexandria Jones hated using store-bought wrapping paper at Christmas. She tried to wrap each present as a hand-crafted work of art.

Last year, she did mini-scenes with plastic figures building cotton snowmen or skating on aluminum-foil ponds — and, for her brother Leonhard’s gift, her favorite creation: toy dinosaurs having a snowball fight. But those 3-D scenes got knocked about under the Christmas tree.

This year, she decided, she would wrap the packages flat. But then, how could she make them special?

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Happy Pi Day I

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
photo by jorel314 (cc by 2.0)
photo by jorel314 (cc by 2.0)

It can be of no practical use to know that Pi is irrational, but if we can know, it surely would be intolerable not to know.

— Edward Titchmarsh

I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning Pi Day when I was in school, but any excuse to celebrate math sounds like fun. March 14 at 1:59 (a.m. or p.m.) is about as close as the calendar can get to 3.14159…

Continue reading Happy Pi Day I