An Einstein aperiodic tile has just been discovered. Find out what that means and why it is significant. Plus – play with the tiles. Do you want to tile your shower floor with these? Could a tile setter pull this off?
The HAT tessellation
Tag: HSG
Two 12s or one 18?
Which should we order and why? Two 12-inch pizzas or one 18-inch pizza? Which will give you more pizza? More crust? Which is the better deal?
Before the holidays (16 activities)
We have tons (well, 16) of activities to bring to your class in this last week before the holiday break. Movies, science, art, cooking, economics, weather and the logic of calendars. Enjoy!
Total lunar eclipse
On the morning of November 8, 2022, many of us will be able to see the last full lunar eclipse until March 2025. Luckily, many of us will be able to see the eclipse pretty close to when we would…
What is Artemis 1 and when will it launch?
In this activity, students try to decipher several graphics that explain the flight path of the Artemis mission and make comparisons about what has been accomplished before and what is to come.
How big of a crepe can you make?
At Costco you can buy this huge tub of nutella. It contains nearly 7 pounds of chocolaty-hazelnut spread. We use nutella to make banana/nutella crepes. How long will that tub last us? Is it too big and we will have…
That’s a big tomato!
These Aussi tomatoes (the tomato on the left of all of the tomatoes) are huge. How much do you guess one weighs? Can you figure it out?
Can you show that the Pythagorean Theorem works?
Use this activity to help your students work through the meaning of the Pythagorean theorem. Pythagorean theorem experiences are often skill and drill work with contrived right triangle problems. In this activity students work with a visual representation of the…
A socially-distanced party
I risked infecting my friends or becoming infected myself by throwing a very small socially-distanced party. I served baked appetizers, disinfectant wipes, and latex gloves. I cooked while wearing clean latex gloves and served the appetizers with a spatula. The…
Spiraling squares – compass and straight edge
Can you see the many spirals in this design? Students calculate the size of each increasing round of squares and consider what sort of spirals these must be. The activity: SpiralingSquares.pdf Working with a little mathematical art is a great…
How long would it take to build this underground house and pool?
The building of this underground house and pool was presented by Cayote Person and his partner, Mark Lavins, on their youtube channel, “Brave Wilderness.” At BraveWilderness.com the business partners post animal and adventure films to promote education and conservation. Here…
Pythagorean Triples and coloring
Pythagorean triples are not only handy for students to recognize but produce some interesting and lovely patterns. We’ve combined a little coloring with our Pythagorean Triple pattern investigation to let your students relax while they color, view the beauty, and…
Boeing 787 draws an airplane over the United States
Recently, pilots of a Boeing 787 testing a new set of Rolls Royce engines, fulfilled their FAA required long-distance endurance requirement in an unusual way. The Boeing pilots decided to have a little fun and fly a flight path that traced…
Spiraling triples
Let students explore the patterns of perfect squares and Pythagorean Triples as they analyze our piece of art and decide why the resulting construction looks like spiraling squares. For a finale they color their own spiraling triple. The activity: SpiralingTriples-activity.pdf
Total solar eclipse – apparent sizes
Where will the eclipse be seen? What if you are not in the path of totality? Total solar eclipse? What is apparent size? How can the moon seem to cover the sun completely? We’ve created a pretty extensive investigation about…