Yesterday was the big math day known as Pi Day. It occurs on every March 14 since the irrational number pi is round off to be 3.14. And of course this year was even more special since if you round it off a few more digits later it is 3.1416 and thus the date 3/14/16 or March 14, 2016. Since I have already shared the Multicultural History of Pi, Activities for Pi Day and Where Pi is Taking Us in past years, I did not share any new Pi Day post. However it seems appropriate to share a fun math book this week with you. Now last week I shared a book comparing the Eastern parenting styles to the Western parenting styles and asked the question of why many Asians perform better in math and science fields than non-Asians. One of the big answers was that the Asian parents really push math at a young age. The book also discussed that the use of exploring mathematics does not work for all children and that in the Asian culture children are taught how to do the math and have it drilled in to their heads with worksheets and such. This book does not do that. In fact I would say Mesmerizing Math by Jonathan Litton and illustrated by Thomas Flintham is the perfect book that will let kids explore some of the more fun aspects of math.
Mesmerizing Math -- Book Review
Yesterday was the big math day known as Pi Day. It occurs on every March 14 since the irrational number pi is round off to be 3.14. And of course this year was even more special since if you round it off a few more digits later it is 3.1416 and thus the date 3/14/16 or March 14, 2016. Since I have already shared the Multicultural History of Pi, Activities for Pi Day and Where Pi is Taking Us in past years, I did not share any new Pi Day post. However it seems appropriate to share a fun math book this week with you. Now last week I shared a book comparing the Eastern parenting styles to the Western parenting styles and asked the question of why many Asians perform better in math and science fields than non-Asians. One of the big answers was that the Asian parents really push math at a young age. The book also discussed that the use of exploring mathematics does not work for all children and that in the Asian culture children are taught how to do the math and have it drilled in to their heads with worksheets and such. This book does not do that. In fact I would say Mesmerizing Math by Jonathan Litton and illustrated by Thomas Flintham is the perfect book that will let kids explore some of the more fun aspects of math.
Happy Pi Day
Today is the official holiday of Pi Day!! As a former math teacher, I love to celebrate it. Last year I gave you some of the sheets I used with my high school classes to celebrate it and to justify our having pie. This year I thought I would look at a bit of the history of pi.
Happy Pi Day!
Science Book Round-Up in Honor of Albert Einstein's Birthday and Pi Day! #STEM
Well, this year Pi Day was a snow day for most of the schools around me including Hazel's. Luckily by late morning it was safe to be on the roads. We headed out to celebrate Pi Day at the Capital One Cafe where they were serving pizza pie and various pies. Did you know that Albert Einstein as born on March 14, 1879? And of course there was also the sad news today that Stephen Hawkings passed away this morning. (Source) In honor of all of this I thought it was time to share the pile of science books I have been collecting!! We will look at experiments, the human body, pinball, dinosaurs, underwater and space. Plus some of these books have ties to Women's History Month and more!! We will start with dinosaurs since chronologically that makes sense. The book is from the series Science Comics and it is Dinosaurs: Fossils and Feathers by M.K. Reed and illustrated by Joe Flood.
Sharing Saturday 13-11
Well once again I was inspired by so many of the posts shared last week. If you have not had a chance to check them all out you should. There are lots of St. Patrick's Day ideas there. Also make sure you check out the features over at my co-host blog, Having Fun at Chelle's House. Now onto my features. This week we had a tie for most clicked.
1) From Gift of Curiosity: Magic Leprechaun Rocks (What a neat idea to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!)
2) From The Wilderness Wife: Easter Egg Decorating Ideas (A wonderful round-up of all sorts of ideas for children of any age!)
I guess everyone is thinking about two of the upcoming holidays or at least were last week when you visited each other's posts.
2) From The Usual Mayhem: Walk to Talk (Wonderful ways to use nature walks to get your children talking and helping with language.)
3) From We Made That: Water Density Experiment (Who wouldn't want to make a rainbow in a glass?)
4) From School Time Snippets: Number Line Smash (A wonderful game to practice your arithmetic facts. Just remember I am a math nerd as a former math teacher, so they tend to be my favorites.)
Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! If you were one of the ones picked as a feature here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog.
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1) Please follow Crafty Moms Share and Having Fun at Chelle's House via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).
2) Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc. Remember to link to your actual post.
3) Post the newly updated button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.
March Happenings & Announcements
March is coming in a like a lion in New England with yet another snow storm predicted today/tonight and another storm later this week. We may actually beat the record in Boston for the snowiest season ever (I think we need 5.5 inches now to do it). I know I cannot wait for spring!! Seeing this artwork in a yard we drove by really cheered me up. Hazel now wants to paint on our snow.
Sharing Saturday 18-10
On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all your diverse/cultural posts be sure to share them at Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop. (A new one starts on Sunday and I'm hosting it at Multicultural Kid Blogs).
Sharing Saturday 14-11
Thank you to all the Crafty Moms and Teachers who shared with us last week!! There were so many wonderful ideas shared. But before I give you my features, I wanted to share with you my past posts for Pi Day which was Friday, March 14! There are many ideas there to celebrate Pi Day as well as some great lessons I use to use as a teacher. Now onto our fun features!! I am providing a few with two pictures so you can see the details that I fell in love with!
Discovery Math Activities Round-Up
I saw a meme on Facebook that says: "Think you're bored? When Sir Isaac Newton invented calculus it was during the plague. Do you have any idea how bored you have to be to invent calculus?" Now the truth is Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a German mathematician, published the same discoveries around the exact same time as Isaac Newton. Each mathematician claimed the other stole his ideas, but it is believed that both actually discovered the same thing separately around the same time. (For more about Isaac Newton click here and I share a little more about both men here.)
Sharing Saturday 15-11
Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! Once again I am amazed to see such creative ideas. If you have not had a chance to check them out, you definitely need to. They are so inspiring!! The features are just a small sampling of what there is. This week's features are Party Foods, Kites and Easter, Raising Girls, Art, Lessons and Crafts.
Meet Ketanji Brown Jackson for Women's History Month
I love March! We have Women's History Month, Pi Day, National Quilting Day and National Craft Month!! All my favorite things!! I always love to learn about new women who made a difference in our world. Today I thought I would learn about a woman who is in the current news, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Heart & Fairy Crafts -- Crafty Weekends Link Party
This month I have been working many weekends at the store. Hazel has been missing me quite a bit, so this weekend I devoted time to spend with her when I was not working. She wanted to have a pretend sleepover in our family room, so she set up her sleeping bags and made a pretend pizza and snacks. Then we played a card game and decided to do some crafts. She had gotten as a gift The Fairy Kit.
New Multicultural Books Perfect for Women's History Month
Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
March is such a funny month. In New England it can be a long month without much to do. The weather is sometimes amazing and often awful. It can be snow or rain and it really depends. Spring begins in March which is always my favorite but it is early spring so it isn't the beautiful part of spring yet. And of course there is Pi Day! One of my favorite holidays!! Mathematicians don't get too many holidays. The other thing that excites me about March is that it is Women's History Month. It is a month for us to discover and learn about the amazing women throughout history that we probably haven't heard of. Most of our history was recorded by men (and around here it was white men) so it is very biased and often doesn't cover the amazing things women have done to support society. I have big plans for this month but to begin I thought I would share two new books that are perfect for Women's History Month. The first is a picture book that shares a favorite story of Dovey Johnson Roundtree liked to tell. Last month I shared a middle grade level book about Dovey but today's book is a perfect way to introduce younger kids to this amazing woman. The book is We Wait for the Sun by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe and illustrated by Raissa Figueroa.
Fun Facts about Pie with Pie Recipes & Crafts Round-Up
What are you serving or having for Thanksgiving? Some of the traditional things are turkey (although there probably was not turkey at the "first" Thanksgiving) and pie. Since we have shared fun facts about turkeys and apples I thought we would share today a bit about pies. What is your favorite pie? I love blueberry!! Steve and Hazel love apple.
Math of India -- Global Learning for Kids
Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of Indian Children's Favorite Stories free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.
This month we are exploring India as part of the Global Learning for Kids series. Today I thought I would focus on some Indian mathematicians and an Indian mathematical folk tale. Last month I shared the history of zero and the role the Indians played in it. First we will explore a few of the same mathematicians, Aryabhata and Brahmagupta, and introduce another Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan. The Indians had a huge influence on our current number system and mathematics. Although it was the Arabs who took their number system and made it famous.
Women of Science
Math Lesson: Math Books Perfect for Homeschoolers and Summer Vacation
Since I have not done a math post in awhile I thought I would share a few of the great math books I have found recently at my local library. There are many new ones out there and I promise to share more soon as well.
The first one is a great book for any homeschooler wanting a fun way to introduce some geometry. Shapes in Math, Science and Nature:Squares, Triangles and Circles by Catherine Sheldrick Ross is an amazing book to really learn about three basic shapes. It is full of information and activities to explore circles, triangles and squares and as a former geometry teacher, I highly recommend this one. It even includes some of the geometric constructions where only a compass and straightedge (with no measurements on it) are used. The grade level recommendation for this one is fourth through ninth, but there are definitely some activities younger children could do it in it.
If you are trying to introduce some algebra here is a book for you, Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra by David A. Adler. This book introduces the concept of a balanced equation, a variable and solving the equation while keeping it balanced in a fun way. In order to do this, a child must be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Since it has a theme of a haunted house, it also would be fun to read and introduce around Halloween.
Are you doing any traveling this summer? Here is a perfect book to teach math while traveling or about traveling. It is Travel Math by Pia Awal. This book introduces time and distance calculations, as well as calculations with things like population size, mountain height, temperatures, etc. The math involved is recommended for fourth grade and up.
So those are my recommendations for today with more to come. For more Math Lessons, check out:
Math Lesson: M & M Statistics Lesson
Do you still have Halloween candy sitting around? We do. We gave out M&M's this year and had lots leftover. I always buy like we are going to have the number of trick-or-treaters we had a few years ago, but the numbers seem to be down. With all the leftover packages, I thought I would share a simple statistics lesson I use to use when I taught math. You may not know, but the colors of M&M's in a package is actually calculated by Mars, Incorporated. This lesson will involve division/percentages and averaging plus making a circle graph. There are also other extensions you can do with it. We did not do the whole lesson since Hazel is not ready for this kind of math. She did however help me gather the data from the M & M packages.
What Are Frozen Fractals? A Lesson on Fractals to Go with Disney's Frozen Movie and Let It Go Song
Frozen Fractals Lesson 2 and Olaf Craft
Hazel is happy with how he turned out, so we will go with it. I will eventually get us some more white Magic Model to finish his bottom part and add the legs.
Now onto fractals. Last week we looked at the Koch Snowflake since we are talking frozen fractals. But I was thinking I should explain why study fractals besides to know what they are from a line in a song. Fractals are a very new thing in the math world. However they are being used in so many places and have been around forever. Fractals occur in nature and always have. Mathematicians and scientists somewhat ignored them for a long time due to how complex the shapes looked. For years we have simplified our shapes to fit into our cookie cutter basic shapes: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, etc. However things like a fern are not a basic shape and when you simplify it to such you lose some of its elements.
"Barnsley fern plotted with VisSim" by DSP-user - Own work, using model written by Mike Borrello This chart was created with VisSim.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
As we learn more about fractals we are finding more uses for them. For those who remember Encyclopedia Encarta, the pictures on this CD were developed by programs written to make fractals similar to the wanted picture. Fractals are used in making movie backgrounds, video games as well as being explored in medicine. The lungs are now realized to be fractals as well as our blood vessels (veins and arteries). The more we learn about fractals in the human body the better our medical science will be.
"Thorax Lung 3d (2)" by AndreasHeinemann at Zeppelinzentrum Karlsruhe, Germany http://www.rad-zep.de - http://www.rad-zep.de. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
We will talk today about one of the more basic fractals and one that is easy to create. I often had my geometry students create this fractal in different ways. It is a wonderful way to teach about measuring, as well as midsegments of triangles. We are going to make a Sierpinski Triangle or sometimes called the Sierpinski Gasket. To start you need a triangle. You can use any triangle. Most commonly used are equilateral triangles, but any will work.
Now the rule is to draw the three midsegments of the triangle. A midsegment is a line segment that connects the midpoints of two sides of triangle. Its properties are that it is parallel to the third side and its length is equal to half the length of the third side.
The final part of the rule is to remove the triangle formed by the midsegments. To remove it, we will color it in.
Now we continue to the next stage by doing the same thing for all the non-colored in (nonremoved) triangles.
Sorry for some reason I did not take a picture of Stage 2 with the triangles removed. We continue our rule for Stage 3.
Finally we have Stage 3 which is where I stopped since I was not feeling well and I was getting a bit of a headache. However you can see how the rule can be applied infinitely as with all fractals.
The Sierpinski Triangle is also a great fractal to explore self-similarity. In the one below you can see how each color represents a shape that looks like the whole.
"Sierpinski-rgb". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
The one below is zooming into magnify the smaller parts of the Sierpinski Triangle to show its infinite range.
"Sierpinski zoom" by Mariko GODA - Own work.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Finally I want to share with you a Sierpinski Pyramid that we made in one of the summer classes I took at Yale. We made it by forming regular tetrahedrons from envelopes. I do not totally remember how now, but thought it was neat to share.
A true Sierpinski Pyramid would have a hole in the middle, but that is not easy to construct in actual life. Here is one I found on-line.
"Sierpinski pyramid". Licensed under Public domain
via Wikimedia Commons.
Finally if you want to learn more about fractals in nature and the importance of them, check out this video of the Yale professor, Michael Frame, who taught the courses I took on fractals. He ends it with a story about the amazing late Benoit Mandelbrot (last week I shared a picture of myself with Mandelbrot) and about how fractals are about storytelling as is most math and science. It is really worth watching. On that note a talk about fractals is not complete without looking at the Mandelbrot Set. The math involved is more advanced, however it is beautiful to look at.
"Mandelbrot set with coloured environment". Licensed under
CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
For some more on fractals check out: