Here’s a quick to learn but difficult to master math game. Start with some basic divisibility rules, but then feel free to extend it to any math topic.
Tagged WithMath
Making Awful Graphs
Sometimes we can learn a lot by doing something the wrong way. Here are six ways your students can purposefully design awful, misleading graphs.
Creating A New Mathematical Operation
Do your students realize that addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are all examples of the same idea: an operation? And that it’s quite possible to create a brand new operation? Let’s do it!
Differentiate Math: Getting Started
Working with a student who is bored in math? Quickly finishing lessons? Needs something more? Here are three ways you can get started differentiating in math.
Depth and Complexity: Ethics… In Math!?
The Ethics prompt of depth and complexity fits so easily into the humanities… but what about ethics in math?!
Mathy Art
A few artists who create awesome mathematical art!
Delightful Math Data
I love collecting links to articles with fun math applications. Here are three of my recent favorites.
Long Term Success: Wondering About Math
Continuing our series on long-term success, we look at the art of wondering. Often our gifted kids wonder deeper and longer than others. But do they wonder about math?
Prime Number Explorations
Students learn about prime numbers early in their careers, but the true, quirky nature of these numbers isn’t really explored unless kids go on to become math majors. Here are three fun prime explorations suitable for even young students.
Encourage Curiosity With Calculators
It’s easy to fall in love with chasing the newest technology to use in the classroom. But sometimes, the perfect tool is a plain old calculator. We’ll be using this tool to develop curiosity about math.
Thinking, Not Merely Memorizing, In Math
Creativity and math may seem completely incompatible. Math is when students follow predefined steps to arrive at an exact answer! Here are four ideas for quick math warmups that encourage students to use divergent, creative thinking.
A Millionaire By Doubling Pennies
How long will it take to get a million dollars if you start with a penny and double it?
Olympic Medal Math Project
In the paper, I read about Norway’s dominance of the Winter Olympics, despite being a tiny country. I love this juxtaposition of unexpected data! Let’s turn it into a math project. Here are some questions I thought of…
Math Project: Shrinking Airline Seats
What kind of math project could you build based on the shrinking dimensions of seats on the Boeing 777?
Goldbach’s Conjecture
Our look at math conjectures continues with Goldbach’s Conjecture, which states that all even integers greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two primes. Is this true for all cases? Another authentic, unsolved question.
The Collatz Conjecture
A “conjecture” is an idea that is believed to be true, but has not yet been proven. They are authentic unanswered questions for students to explore. The Collatz Conjecture uses two simple rules to get from any number to 1. It seems to work for all numbers…
Why Pi?
Pi Day is just around the corner, but the typical fare include π art projects, memorization challenges, or other activities that separate π from its real uses. But π is such a fascinating topic that it should inspire curiosity and wonder on its own.
Big Gifts, Small Prices
What if you want to buy a big gift that’s cheap for its size? By calculating the volume of the object, we can find how much each cubic inch costs. Measured by price per volume, Thomas is 250 times more expensive than a big outdoor slide!
Mathematical Curiosities
Sometimes you encounter that math student who is simply interested in numbers. Here are some famous (and not so famous) sets of numbers that have curious properties.
Finding The Conflict in Math
Sometimes I find authentic data, but it doesn’t necessarily have an obvious conflict. The measurements of the Great Pyramid are cool, but where’s the conflict? What draws students in if they’re not inherently interested in pyramids?
Conflict and Quadrilaterals
Struggling math students shut down when they’re smacked with a mouthful of academic vocabulary right away. So lower the barrier of entry. Ask students to identify the conflict between two shapes, rather than defining “congruent sides” and “bisected diagonals.”
Math Project: Box Office Totals
As a teenager, I loved monitoring the weekend’s box office results. This kind of data is exciting, oozing with built in conflict. It sets up questions that require math to answer.
Math Project: Disneyland Parking Structure
Let’s develop a math project to challenge students who have demonstrated a mastery of multiplication and are ready to explore its applications. We’ll count the parking spaces in the Disneyland parking structure!
Math Game: The Game of 100
The Game of 100 is a simple game requiring no supplies, yet it opens up a rich world of exploring strategy and a little mental math.
Differentiate Math with Inductive Learning
With inductive learning, we still define terms, explain rules, and practice, but the order is different. We’re harnessing gifted students’ natural abilities to enhance our lessons.