Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Sigh.

Is it any surprise that the global economy is on a tailspin?



Longer version is here.

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posted by Joel @ 9:24 PM 0 Comments

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Playing cards are prohibited in schools... (redux)

Image credit: mgcpuzzles.com

... because they are prima facie evidence of gambling. Solomonic. Or is it? Not in my deck!
In my version of Black Jack, "players" learn to put down cards that add to 21, 20, 19 , etc. Player who ends up with least number of cards wins. More card games here.

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posted by Joel @ 12:26 AM 0 Comments

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

How would you start counting this?

Got this photo via e-mail. Thanks to Al Leonidas. Not sure about its ultimate provenance, but if I got a chance to see it "live", I'd set up a class with a topic about Addition, Multiplication, etc. Sounds like "Carpe Diem!"

Now it makes more sense to have 5 fingers on each hand. That's how fruit vendors count a "buwig" of bananas! Suddenly I feel like throwing a banana cue party.

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posted by Joel @ 8:42 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Ordinary Things, Extraordinary Learning

Just discovered a teachable moment from these objects. Shades of 4th Grade Maths, right?

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posted by Joel @ 5:25 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Comparing Numbers

Some schools ban playing cards to keep the kids away from gambling. This is understandable as a measure administrative control. But it seems like school management just don't realize that with a little imagination, kids find all sorts of ways to gamble. A friend of mine told me that back in grade school they'd mark the sides of pencils with numbers and forthwith have a dice equivalent. But I digress.

Playing cards could be useful for teaching comparative values of numbers. The video below could be instructive. Now whether this would lead to gambling skills is a matter of values education (Do you sense a pun here?).

How To Teach Number Comparisons -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

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posted by Joel @ 11:54 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Dartboards and Math

Photo credit: Sydney Western Suburbs Darts League

I'm not your usual bar or pub denizen. Nor have I ever been especially in my college years. So you can't expect me to like playing darts. But the idea of blending dartboards and Math is now a tad irresistible.

You might argue that it's not something one would imagine as useful in the classroom for learning about addition or multiplication. Think again. This flash-based game could help demonstrate the point. But then again, wouldn't it be nice to use real dartboards?

Now if you ask me why the dartboard numbers are in the order they are, this could probably hit the bull's eye. As to going to pubs, perhaps on St. Patrick's Day? Green beer would be interesting.

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posted by Joel @ 6:26 PM 0 Comments

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The world around us follows an orderly pattern

... despite the chaos that is regular fare in news media.

And Leonardo Fibonacci of 13th century Pisa took extraordinary pains to understand this. Yet from my experience with traditionally-schooled kids doing mundane Math, it makes me wonder why Fibonacci sequence is not introduced after a child knows about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. So I get a non-plussed look when I declare that 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, is followed by 5.

Good thing I got this activity to explain the concept via tangible patterns. I call it Math + Arts and Crafts.



Could be a springboard when introducing Fractals and Financial Markets later in his career. Who knows maybe the world would be in less turmoil by then.

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posted by Joel @ 3:12 AM 0 Comments

Monday, September 15, 2008

What is less than, equal or greater than for?

Or for that matter, the symbols: < , = , >

Perhaps the following can offer some clues? Better yet, could even make Maths more reality-based?

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posted by Joel @ 4:26 PM 0 Comments

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

How do you teach factoring differently?

Use a board game.

It doesn't have to be a win-lose kind of game because it can be cooperative. Both players win if they maximize or minimize their combined points.



The Factor Game - Upload a Document to Scribd
Read this document on Scribd: The Factor Game

Here's an online version of the factor game.

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posted by Joel @ 11:31 PM 2 Comments

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Prime Factorization and Bill of Rights

Ok, so my 5th Grade kid got into serious talk with me about how he used to enjoy Math especially that part about place values and stuff . Now he's on prime factorization and complains about the headache it gives him (In Manila it's called nose-bleed)! [insert emergency sound clip here]

Instinctively, I knew it's about breaking down a concept into its most basic level and that good prime factorization skill offers solid preparation for Algebra. I was ready to argue that it's about learning to drill down to the core of something, like what's inside a fruit. But he wouldn't budge.

So I launched good ol' reliable Google and found this: "Why learn prime factorization? How does it apply to the real world?". I like that part that says "Sorting numbers is great lesson in sorting reality." The article ends with:
"Math is about seeing how things fit it. It is the science of (among other things) patterns and order. If you learn to accept math as a way to describe and think about certain parts of reality, you will get "the big picture" - the picture of math as something beyond just a boring subject in school."
Now what's with the Bill of Rights? You'd have to read the rest of the article to see what I mean.

As to the factorization drills, perhaps this exercise from Quia could help take away the headache?

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posted by Joel @ 12:56 AM 0 Comments