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Opinions expressed on these pages were the views of the writers and did not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the American Mathematical Society.
Category Archives: Recreational Mathematics
Thoughts on writing math books for kids
Kids’ math books: I’m not talking about textbooks, but rather cheerful math-themed picture books parents might give to wide-eyed, excited kids as holiday gifts, books that take math-obsessed kids on journeys to learning thrilling new math outside the walls of … Continue reading
Join In The Fun For #Noethember
The Inktober design challenge was created in 2009 by Jake Parker, an illustrator, writer and teacher based in Provo, Utah. Worldwide, thousands of artists participate in this endeavor, which challenges them to create ink drawings (pencil sketches under the ink … Continue reading
A Tour of Robert Kaplinsky’s Online Resources
Robert Kaplinsky is a math educator and presenter. He also co-founded Open Middle, a website that encourages problems which require “a higher Depth of Knowledge than most problems that assess procedural and conceptual understanding,” according to the Open Middle website. These “open middle … Continue reading
Posted in K-12 Mathematics, Math Education, people in math, Recreational Mathematics
Tagged mTBos, ObserveMe, Open Middle, Robert Kaplinsky
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Math Games That Make You Think
In the echo chamber, social media kinda world that we’re living in, network theory is playing an increasingly important role. So I was delighted, this morning, to spend several minutes playing an interactive game by the talented Nicky Case called … Continue reading
Posted in Game Theory, Mathematics and the Arts, Recreational Mathematics
Tagged games, graph theory, impact, network theory, Nicky Case, Segregation, Vi Hart
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On Tricurves
Tim Lexen, a mechanical engineer in Cumberland, Wisconsin, wrote a post about tricurves for the Aperiodical. As their name implies, tricurves are sort-of triangle cousins which have three sides, but instead of having three straight edges, each of their sides are … Continue reading
Posted in Mathematics and the Arts, Recreational Mathematics
Tagged GeoGebra, tiling, Tim Lexin, triangle, tricurve
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What Wish Would You Ask a Math Genie to Grant?
“If a genie offered to give you a thorough understanding of one theorem, what theorem would you choose?” blogger John D. Cook recently asked on his @AnalysisFact Twitter account. Responses ranged from the names of theorems to questions about the … Continue reading
Summer Time is Puzzle Time
It’s Mid-May, that means it time to put away your serious things and time to start thinking about (what else?) math puzzles! Alexander Bogomolny, of CutTheKnotMath, has curated an amazing collection of math puzzles, problems, and interactive lessons. I always … Continue reading
Posted in Recreational Mathematics
Tagged Alexander Bogomolny, Mike Lawler, puzzles, The Riddler, xkcd
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Math Puzzles To Pass The Time
There are two types of people in this world: those that can only lie, and those that can only tell the truth. You might recognize that as the opening clause of so many knights and knaves problems. These are classic … Continue reading
The Lure Of The Rubik’s Cube
Who among us has not lost at least one afternoon of their life to that most seductive of toys: The Rubik’s Cube? Originally invented by the Hungarian architect Erno Rubik in 1974, this cube – although apparently not its patents … Continue reading
Posted in Recreational Mathematics
Tagged Group Theory, Rubik's Cube
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Math Games Might Be Sort Of Good For Your Brain
Good news, all that time you spent playing World of Warcraft might have made you smarter. A study out of Stanford just showed that playing video games just 10 minutes each day can make you better at math. The study … Continue reading
Posted in Math Education, Recreational Mathematics
Tagged Apps, Euclidea, Math Munch, ReTopo, Video Games
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