10 Reasons Why Maths Teachers Rock : New Release

Here it is.

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The video you’ve been waiting for.

Digitally remastered. (I used my fingers)

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10 Reasons Why

Maths Teachers Rock:

New Release

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Some Triangles that I Used to Know

Mathspig is soooooo excited. Melbourne singer, song writer and geometrically inclined performer Gotye performing with Kimbra won 3 Grammy Awards with last week for his song Somebody that I used to Know.

Here is Mathspig take on the song:

According to The Australian as of last Tuesday Gotye you tube clip had 375 million hits since it was first uploaded 5th July 2011.

Mini Rates Exercise:

In 18 months Somebody that I used ot know has scored 375 million hits. How many hits per minute?

(Ans: Assuming 30 days per month the no of hits per minute is 482)

Fun with Geometry Exercise:

Here’s Somebody that I used to know. Put on the music and do geometry especially triangles.

It’ll either help students do their exercises or work like Clockwork Orange and have them running screaming out of the room when they hear the first few notes.

1. Cool Maths Video

Sometimes the muses look down upon Middle School Maths teachers and say ‘Gadzooks! …

…. those courageous purveyors of The mathematiques need a little help.

Shazam!’

And here it is.

ONE Direction … who Mathspig foolishly kept calling ONe Dimesnsion in a talk to 14 year olds last year … AHHHH!!!

Getting confused over rock star names is just, soooooo pathetic, like mum and dad.

But do One Direction know their maths? What do you think? Does this video make sense?

Or are they just number Tragics?

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Weird Maths Activity

Play the video at the beginning of the class. Set the days work. Then at the end of the class, students have to sing their answers … clicking their fingers … One Direction style ….

One Direction Math Joke:

2. MoMaths: Manhattan’s Museum of Mathematics

Mathspig is excited. O wonder. O rapture. O Mathematical magic.

A museum of mathematics has just opened in New York, on Manhattan no less.

George Hart with his math art and students at MOMATH

Here is a quote from New Scientist:  New Scientist 10 Dec 2012

The founders of the Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) know they have a fight on their hands, given the pervasive idea that the subject is boring, hard and scary. But they are determined to give mathematics a makeover, with exhibits that express an unselfconscious, giddy joy in exploring the world of numbers and forms.

“We want to show a different side of mathematics,” says museum co-founder Cindy Lawrence. “Our goal is to get kids excited, and show them the math they’re doing in school is just one tree in a whole huge forest.”

It looks like fun, fun, fun.

Mathspig will go all the way from Australia later in the year just to wallow mathspiggy-style in all this fun maths.

Menger Sponge Cycle

View Inside MOMATH math museum NY

Having fun at MOMATH

Weird Math ACTIVITY

Here is a link to a PDF file of some fantastic shapes that fold two ways like TRANSFORMERS.

You can make these fantastic shapes by Joseph O’Rouke, Olin Professor of Computer Science @ Smith College MA if you go here.

 

If you really are curious as to what research mathematicans do, go here. It’s really interesting stuff.

SNACK TIME

While you are in the cafe you better do something mathsy. Here is the way to cut a bagel for the maximum spread of cream cheese.

 

How to maximise cream cheese spread.

3. Yes! They’ll All Stare at Your Mathematical Hair

Maths teachers are often accused of having the dress sense of a circus elephant and the hairstyles of a geriatric orangutan.

Is this fair? You decide. Here are some maths teacher haircuts from the archives.

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However there are maths teachers and mathematicians out there who will take one for the cause. Here are two noble maths devotees.

 

How dedicated are maths teachers?????

Or, a more relevant question could be how insane are maths teachers?

1. Nick Sayers

Makezine Math Monday

 

2. David Whitfield, Math Teacher, Parkrose High School

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3. You should be scared Mathspiggies.

Very, very scared.

What happens if you don’t do you maths homework?

Cruel and unusual punishment:

You vill be punished. You vill pay for the error of you vays. Evil laugh.

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Weird Maths Activity

How long would it take for your hair to grow as tall as you??? Assuming your hair can grow that long.

You’ll find all you need to know here:

Jedward Hair

7. Cool Maths Stuff

Maths rocks, right?

So mathspiggies here is some really cooooool maths stuff.

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1. Cool Math Jeans for Girls

by Australian designer Perrin Linn.

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2. Cool bag

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3. Cool iPhone cover

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4. Cool Poster

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5. Cool Math Stamp

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Weird Maths Activity

Really, Really Cool Paper Plane from NASA

 

10. Way Weird Maths

In the Way Weird Maths department are:

1. The Back Hair Coiff

 

2. The Fibonacci Hair Flip

 

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fibonacci hair

3. Fractal Jewellery

This jewellery made with diamonds and sapphires by Mark Newson for the jeweller Boucheron is based on the Julia Set shown below.

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Julia Set

 

4. Scary Math

Halloween or not, this guy is scary!!!!!

Could this be the math teacher you do not want to meet int he dark?

 

6. Geometric Hair

Mathspig calls this the Isosceles coiff (below). You have to see it from the Right Angle!!!

 

The Cubic Hair. The model is actually saying ‘Geometry stole my brain’.

 

The Tesselation tresses. The hard work is is walking into the wind so you don’t upset the tessellations.

7. Maths bling watch

Hammacher Schlemmer is offering The LED Matrix Watch for $79.9

How do you tell the time? Work it out mathspigs.

8. Maths is Evil Mug

See, maths is evil. We have the proof!!!

9. Math Body Art

These are scary maths tatts. What if the tattooist failed maths? He might make a big mistake.  And you’d have maths teachers forever correcting your back … possibly with red pens.

 ….You wanna punch in the face by an inverse function

………… I am the unit circle of an exponential cult!!!

…… I am a standard deviation or is that a deviant?

10. Truly scary math tatt.

Someone this crazy about math may not be stable.

 

… I am the Math Murderer of your worst nightmares. (Cue: hysterical laugh.)

 

Weird Math Activity

Here is the challenge. Can your maths students make up clock faces (they need not be round) that tell the time using only:

1. triangles

2. algebra

3. matrices

4. fractions

5. a bar graph

6. a line graph

7. pi

8. trigonometry

Advanced Algee baa II

Baa Graph Ha! Ha!

 

The Great Maths Scavenger Hunt: The Rules

The Great Maths Scavenger Hunt

THE RULES

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Teacher Notes

Aim:

To have fun with maths.

To use lots of different skills

eg. artistic, photographic, performance, comic involving maths

To have something in the challenge for every member of the class not just maths whiz kids.

Timing:

Week 1

Introduction: Form teams in class time. Give them the Scavenger Hunt Sheets so they can devise their team name and war cry/anthem.

eg. QTπ, The Smart Asymptotes,The Quadratics,The Nerd Herd,Numerators, Number Nutters and The Vulgar FactionGive teams 1 week to gather or create scavenger items.

You will find a complete PDF file of The Great Maths Scavenger Hunt @ the end of the following post, plus a PDF file answer guide.

Week 2:

Students are to bring items to class.

All teams must perform their war cry/anthem. Other performance items should be presented.

Score:

Any calculations must be written down. All graphs should be hand drawn.

Teams should then tally their own scores.

Cross check with another team.

Prize:

The prize will be a dodgy trophy (see pic) that you buy at a Op shop/ secondhand shop.

Rebrand it.

Decorate with hideous ribbons.

And make a fuss. This is Parody Power and everyone is in on the joke.

The trophy should be awarded with great fanfare.

Perhaps, you could include a fanfare like this.

Mrs Yurconic math blog

Student Sheets

The Great Maths Scavenger Hunt student sheets follow.

 

Student Name:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                       Grade:. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Team Name:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Date Due:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Team Members:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Team War Cry / Anthem:

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Rules:

* Team: 2 – 4 members

* Aim: Teams score points for weird scavenger challenges.

* Each team must create a fun maths-themed name and team war cry/song.

* Scavenger Challenges: There are 4 Scavenger Challenge groups:

1. Maths Survivor

2. So You Think You can Add!

3. The Great Maths Race

4. The X Squared Factor.

* Points earned from each group are in order: 1, 1¼, 2 ½ and 4⅓.

* Teams must produce a minimum of 2 objects/creations from each group (Maximums shown below)

* Teams can get as much help as they like from anyone

  crazy enough to help them.

* The highest score wins the glorious

    Great Maths Scavenger Hunt Trophy as shown (above), but uglier.