[this is a back issue of this site’s newsletter]
Just a quick email to let you know what’s happening with Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids
Author: Dr Mike
No More Money for British Maths
The EPSRC, or “Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council” is the body in the UK that decides what kinds of research in the physical sciences will get government grant money. Grant money is needed for advanced research in mathematics for the following reasons :
- This kind of research produces amazing benefits down the track, however
- The benefits come too slowly for the private sector to be interested in funding research
The Math Of “Collect All 12”
“Free toy in every pack! Collect all 12!”
Have you ever wondered why companies offer promotions like this? How many packets of cereal would you have to buy to have a decent chance of collecting all twelve? Let’s see what the math says!
A Child’s View of Standardized Testing
My son was asked to write a short essay on standardized testing. I thought I’d share it with the world. Note that these are his opinions, not mine!
I’ve edited it slightly for clarity.
Design and make Paper Polyhedra
[This is a back issue of this site’s newsletter]
Design and make your own paper polyhedra with the help of the applet on this page Today is the sixth birthday of Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids, and the polyhedral nets software I mentioned last newsletter is now done!
Dice and Polynomials – Part 2
In my last blog post, I explained how to quickly and easily work out, say, the number of ways to get a 10 on three dice, just by multiplying together some polynomials. It doesn’t have to be real dice of course. The trick works just as well for spinners, balls in a hat, or computer random number generators.
Dice and Polynomials – Part 1
Imagine you have two coins. One side is blank, and one has a single dot. You flip the coins. How many ways can you get 0 dots? How many ways can you get 1 dot? How many ways can you get 2 dots?
If you got answers like “1 way / 2 ways / 1 way” you got it right.
7 Is Not Prime, and Fermat’s Last Theorem
I was reading a book about numbers recently, and almost put it down when it started talking about prime numbers. The author had tried to work out the prime factors of 72, got as far as 2 x 2 x 2 x 9, then said “you guessed it, 9 is a prime number!” Arrgh!
Topple Drop Game Review
There’s a new game out from the inventor of Arithmemouse, called Topple Drop. Like Arithmemouse, Topple Drop is full of beautiful colorful graphics – and not just for the game elements. The background scenery is also full of eye-catching, cheerful but surreal images – how many games have you seen where the sun has three eyes, and a big pair of headphones? Continue reading Topple Drop Game Review
Flat Bread Fractions
Some time ago, I posted a fractions puzzle involving flat bread. You can read about it here. Here’s the question – if I take a flat piece of bread, and give you half, then you give me back a quarter, then I give you back an eighth, and you give me back 1/16, and so on ad infinitum, how much of the original flat bread do I have?