Friday, May 1, 2009

Math Teachers At Play #6

Welcome to the May 1, 2009 edition of math teachers at play. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to host this carnival, as it has helped me reflect on how much I actually try to have fun with and really explore the possibilities of mathematics. I had the week off last week, and spent much of the time delving into the puzzles, stories and jokes in the wonderful book Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities.

This book is so enthralling that I'm not only reexamining what I can do in my classroom but makes me want to do some graduate study in areas like topology, game theory and cellular automata. I'm covering some of these topics in an elective course at school, and whether you're a first time visitor or long time reader, you'll want to stop by next week to read more about my adventures in mathematics!

Let's kick off the carnival with a little poetry, by Vlorbik on Math Ed: MT@P posted at Community College Calculus.

Algebra & geometry

Maria Miller presents Zero Exponent - with a Pattern! posted at Homeschool Math Blog, saying, "Do you want to 'announce' mathematics to your students - or provide justifications, proofs, and explanations of the 'whys' behind it? Check how we can teach the zero exponent with a pattern."

John Cook presents Converting miles to degrees longitude or latitude posted at The Endeavour.

Arithmetic

Jason Dyer presents Hot Dogs and Buns (Least Common Multiple) posted at The Number Warrior, saying, "Using an incongruous detail from daily life to teach least common multiple."

Jimmie presents Living Math with Area and Perimeter posted at One Child Policy Homeschool, saying, "Teaching my daughter (homeschool) area and perimeter from a hands-on approach."

Denise presents Kids? Project: More Math Calendars? posted at Let's play math!, saying, "Would your students like to submit puzzles for our next Math Calendar? You can use arithmetic, algebra, geometry, story problems, etc. — but remember that it has to fit inside a calendar square."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of math teachers at play using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: , .