by MathPickle | Sep 15, 2015 |
Daedalus and Icarus try to Escape (Lothar Collatz, 1937) The Collatz conjecture from 1937 is essential in every student’s experience of mathematics. Here we present it with a backdrop from Greek mythology. It gives students practice in multiplying by 3 so when the...
by MathPickle | Sep 15, 2015 |
Sum or Difference – Mutant Fibonacci Bunny (MathPickle, 2012) These sequences are fun to set up mini-competitions in your classroom. After an initial exploration in front of the class, groups can challenge one another to reach a certain number as fast as...
by MathPickle | Sep 15, 2015 |
Wreckerball & Recamán’s Sequence (Bernardo Recamán, 1995) What a delicious way to play on the number line! In these sequences you jump about by increasing intervals. The patterns that result are chaotic and beautiful. Nothing must be advanced in a positive...
by MathPickle | Sep 15, 2015 |
Subtraction Magic with 3 Digits (Martin Gardner or earlier) Students need to reliably add and subtract numbers of several digits in order for this to work in the classroom. It is not a good trick to teach these, but rather to review something that 80% of students...
by MathPickle | Sep 15, 2015 |
Animal Subtraction The Graceful Tree Conjecture (Ringel et al., 1967) These puzzles are the best way to introduce students to subtraction. The puzzle is based on a classic unsolved problem that deserves to be in every student’s experience of mathematics. The...
