The Cube Root Trick
This is a mathemagic stunt I love: if you tell me any cube number up to 100³, I can instantly tell you its cube root. 103,823? That's 47³.
Teaching with Mathemagic
"Mathemagic" tricks are amazing feats of calculation. Teachers sometimes use them as gimmicks to try and engage students, but these math stunts also have serious educational value. As a math teacher and magician, I think that value has long been squandered.
Do "Motivating Problems" Really Motivate Students?
Many "motivating problems" in math are practical but are unlikely to garner investment from students. In this post, I instead propose that motivating problems should be stories written with minimal technical language and including tangible scenarios. These sorts of problems have potential to improve student engagement, investment, persistence, and understanding.
A Math Tour of Union Square
A few years ago, I learned about the concept of "math tours." These are walking tours of an area where each stop has a math problem related to that location. I created a math tour of Somerville’s Union Square.
Puzzles about Money and Water Balloons
OK, are you hooked? No? Well what if I told you these problems are secretly about balanced ternary, a base system with negative digits?
How does a Compression Curve Work?
A few months ago, a friend asked me about algorithms for interpreting the force on a digital keyboard. This is what I learned.