http://www.mrlsmath.com Mathematics for Teachers and Mr. Lombard's Students Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:09:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The California Math Council - Southern Section Conference, Palm Springs math conference will be held this year on November 7-8, 2008 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. As one of the Featured Speakers, I'll be presenting two sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday. These sessions cover two of the ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/math-activity/california-math-council-southern-section-conference-palm-springs/ [caption id="attachment_269" align="aligncenter" width="486" caption="Front cover and author, Bruno Ernst"][/caption] Mathematician Bruno Ernst visited Escher every week for a year, creating a friendship that allowed Ernst an inside look at the creative process of one of the world’s most amazing creative geniuses. Escher edited the book’s materials to ensure an accurate ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/website-resource/book-review-%e2%80%93-the-magic-mirror-of-mc-escher-by-bruno-ernst/ [caption id="attachment_225" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Header image from Math in Daily Life website"][/caption] The byline for this nice website is "How do numbers affect everyday decisions?" The site explains how math can help us ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/website-resource/math-in-daily-life-a-website-showing-the-many-everyday-uses-of-mathematics/ Edward Tufte wants to "change the way people see," and he certainly did with this landmark book, which is said to be "pictures of numbers." He wants data to speak for itself with as little ornamentation as possible. He has a lot to say (and show!) about how teachers can ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/website-resource/edward-tufte-and-the-visual-display-of-quantitative-information/ My co-author, Brad Fulton, and I have created hundreds of articles and activities, and we share them with the mathematics community on our websites and at conferences.  We encourage others to use them freely with their students and share them with fellow teachers. Many teachers ask if they may present ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/website-resource/creative-commons-sharing-creative-works-from-mrlsmathcom/ The June 2008 issue of the California Math Council ComMuniCator journal has posed the following problem in the student problem section: “Use each of the numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and any operations to express as many counting numbers as possible, beginning with 1.  All five of the numbers ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/math-activity/digit-puzzles%e2%80%93using-number-sense-strategies-to-foster-algebraic-thinking-for-all-students/ The June 2008 issue of the California Math Council ComMuniCator has posed the following problem in the student problem section: “What four positive integers have a sum that is equal to their product?  Meaning: a+b+c+d = a•b•c•d.” And if you can find a, b, c, d, then see if you can ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/math-activity/number-patterns-finding-numbers-whose-sum-equals-their-product/ Kakuro is a number puzzle that is gaining popularity recently, and in some parts of the world it is more popular than Sudoku. Let’s take a look at this phenomenon, see why people like it so much, and how you can use it in the classroom. First of all, let’s ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/website-resource/kakuro-a-puzzle-with-number-combinations-logic-and-challenges-for-all-abilities-and-grades/ [N.B. - This post is written by my coauthor from Teacher to Teacher Press, Brad Fulton, with some slight tweaking from me. The activity will work well for students from grades 6 - Algebra 2. This is an extension of the activity Hundreds Magic, which can be found at the ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/teacher-to-teacher-press/algebra-man-and-his-trek-through-the-hundreds-chart-by-brad-fulton-guest-blogger/ This is a follow up post to Kali: Symmetry Groups which shows a wonderful java app that creates any of the 17 different wallpaper groups, as well as frieze and rosette patterns. My students were given the assignment of creating a pattern that intrigued them and writing a short story ... http://www.mrlsmath.com/website-resource/kali-symmetric-kaleidoscope-art-student-sample-work-with-stories/