Martin Gardner – For Decades, Puzzling People With Mathematics
Martin Gardner has published over 70 books and is the chief person responsible for the widespread interest in recreational mathematics. He turned 95 on 21 October, 2009 and celebrated by publishing another book. He authored the Mathematical Games column in Scientific American for 25 years. He quite possibly has introduced more people to the fun [...]
The Game of Hex – an Online Resource
Here’s a nice online version of the popular strategy game Hex. It’s one of the this collection of 100 JavaScript games to play online. The MathsClass blog mentions it in an April 2009 blog entry. It’s possible to demonstrate how to play Hex to a class if you have an LCD projector, and you can [...]
What Are the Odds of Losing Your Lunch? – A Probability Adventure
Here’s a neat problem recently under discussion in our school district: “Four kids, each with their own lunch, go on a trip. When it’s time to eat, the four identical-looking lunches are mixed up and the kids randomly choose one. what is the probability that exactly one kid gets his own lunch?” This problem is [...]
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers – the Teacher’s Best Friend; Part 4, A Knight’s Tour
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers are exactly what they sound like: at the end of the week when you and your students are running out of gas, these activities come to the rescue. They are mathematical, engaging, fun, and give the teacher a much-needed break. A Knight’s Tour is a motivating activity/puzzle that works with both over [...]
Friday Afternoon Lifesavers – the Teacher’s Best Friend; Part 3 Solution, Pythagorean Theorem Cut-Up
Shown in the graphic above is the solution to the Pythagorean Theorem Cut-Up problem posed last week as a Friday Afternoon Lifesaver. This puzzle gives teachers a chance to talk about the theorem and its applications. After printing the puzzle, you can talk about how the five pieces must fit so that one edge of [...]
KenKen Activity Masters from the New York Times Teach Your Students Numerical Reasoning
Here are twelve ready-to-hand-out masters you can use to teach your students numerical and logical reasoning skills while they solve these intriguing puzzles. Students love these puzzles, view them as games, and enjoy them tremendously. Classroom management problems are almost nonexistent; one of the only issues is that some students want to keep working on [...]
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