Math

patternicity Humans have this need to find order in chaos, to find patterns in the fire hose of data that comes at us every day.  We see faces in our burnt toast, apocalyptic messages in our calendar. 

hero worship Consider a question like, “How many pairs of shoes do you own?”  I am guessing most people in the U.S. would answer somewhere in the neighborhood of two to thirty pairs of shoes.  According to the Daily Mail, the average woman in the U.K. owns nineteen pairs of shoes but wears only seven.  But that’s not important. 

can 5-year-olds learn calculus I stumbled on this article from The Atlantic over the weekend, and I have really been giving it some thought. Take a couple minutes if you like and read it here, or you can just read my summary below. 

TEDTuesday:  the best stats you've ever seen This talk from Hans Rosling is one of my all time favorites. I always use it in my Leadership and Service course when we talk about service projects in the developing world. But it is truly a beautiful illustration of statistical data. It simply turns what could be a complicated set

pants on fire Consider this gallop poll from October, 2012, just a few weeks before the election. What conclusions would you draw from looking at the graphic? Does it seem like Romney has a good lead? 

TEDTuesday:  math class needs a makeover This week's TEDTuesday talk is from Dan Meyer and is a deep criticism of math education.  Some quotes for your consideration.  I sell a product to a market that doesn't want it but is forced by law to buy it.

calculus:  a drama Today I decided to spend a few minutes checking out a google tool called Story Builder.  With absolutely no training I simply started writing a story. 

let's play Last week I was feeling poorly most of the week and missed a couple of days.  The illness couldn't have come at a better time for my College Algebra class, as we were taking a break from the textbook to work on a project.  

seeing the forest for the trees Today in calculus we were discussing differential equations, an important topic in the AP curriculum.  I have posted a sample of a question here. 

answer please Have you ever wanted to ask a math teacher a question?  My students do it all day long.  Here's your chance. For the next 8 hours, I'll answer any and all math questions. 

to infinity and beyond Infinity has been making the rounds recently, this time in the form of a video that shows that the sum of the whole numbers is -1/12...as in 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ... = -1/12 

why did you get this wrong? Yesterday we gave a school-wide test to many of our high school students.  It was part of a monthly, statewide voluntary "fun" competition called the Florida Math League.   

love and math This book has been sitting on the left corner of my desk since September, mocking me.  I mentioned that I thought it looked interesting, and our awesome librarian got it for me to read.  I see it every day, but have yet to find time to read even a page or two.

take me to the river Humanity hates word problems.  But the reality is, once you know how to do a particular type of problem, it becomes easy.  This particular problem caused a real stir in my classes.  Post your solutions in the comments and I'll follow up with an answer... 

play ball Friday's FCIS Keynote speaker was Harvard Physics Professor Eric Mazur.  His talk, entitled "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer" was in line with the current thinking on the flipped classroom.  His thoughts are that education is not simply a

be careful what you wish for Today in calculus we were practicing substitution, a procedure by we which we are able to convert seemingly complex functions into simple ones in order to do integration.  

surf's up What if I tried to teach you some math?  I know, a word problem...  the most dreaded thing in all of mathematics.