Beautiful Math

You can play with math. This has been a huge revelation to me. And it makes math interesting in a way that it hasn't ever been before.

I've been realizing that things like the Commutative Law in addition (it doesn't matter what order you add the numbers) are more than just strange words you occasionally bump into in the text; they're signals that something cool is going on, and there's probably an opportunity for play if I can just find it!

Turns out, once you realize they're there, opportunities for play in math aren't that hard to find. For instance, snowflakes. I love to photograph snowflakes, and I think cutting them out it tons of fun too. And it's almost time to build some to decorate the house. Turns out they can be more than fun decorations: they have math in them. And stories. Check out this symmetry lesson at Moebius Noodles. And, if your kid is up to such a thing, it bumps into multiplication too. And powers. How cool is that? (Don't skip the comments - there's a whole 'nuther fun activity, with story telling, in there. Plus, they have hints that there might be math in origami, so I googled that.

Oh yeah. There's math in origami. We'll have to come back to origami, because Monkey's still got pudgy munchkin fingers. But what fun!! Check this guys "bucky balls" out. Wouldn't that be a fun Christmas decoration! Little fishing wire... hang it from the ceiling. Yeah. I could be a geek. But it's art-math!



Part 2 has some interesting points about the properties of the bucky ball... and its relationship to a 20 sided die.



Anyway, here's a link for fractions with origami. Looks like fun. I actually printed that one out. (I think I might need a math games reference book if this keeps up...) Oh, cool, there's a whole site on origami in the elementary education classroom! OK, so it looks like they want you to buy their book to get the really good stuff (though they do offer a whale lesson, and if you email them they'll send a 101 Ways to Use Origami in the Classroom) and it looks good enough that I put it on my wish list at Amazon. Though why anybody thinks I'd pay $999 for a used origami book is beyond me!! That's not the only option Amazon has, happily. Plus, the suggested books people buy with it also look like a lot of fun. (If you decide to peek, I'd love it if you'd use my affiliate link.)

Here's another upper-grade origami/math book, from the same folks as the Miquon books that are working so nicely for us. Grade 7-11... we're not there yet, but it looks like such fun! Slip the activities in there between other math for a break? I hope my kids think it's as interesting as I do.