Math Links for Week Ending Jan 15th, 2021

Featured Links
One of the nice things about the Twitter math community is some of the discussions that pop up. Here @JRappaport27 poses a question and the discussion follows. Take a look
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/JRappaport27/status/1350059727955308547

I spend a lot of time debunking for folks many myths about mathematics and mathematics education. I’m wondering if there was one myth (and yes there are many) worth educating folks on, what might that be? #iteachmath #MTBoS #onted pic.twitter.com/PX9os21N7V

— Jordan Rappaport (@JRappaport27) January 15, 2021

Resource Links

She had me at her first line "". When people ask me about why people blog I tell them this very thing. But beyond that, here are some tips on Google Classroom, @Desmos, grading and more. 
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.mathycathy.com/blog/2021/01/reflect-and-share-workflow/

...Workflows have become more important than ever, and I’ve come to realize that workflows can vary greatly even when folks use the exact same tools.
More thoughts here:
Reflect and Share: Workflow | MathyCathy's Blog https://t.co/aOMUsxisDq via @mathycathy #iteachmath #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/7vE8h4Tp2D

— Cathy Yenca (@mathycathy) January 14, 2021

And speaking of grading, @Wheeler_Laura has some tips collected from all over Twitter.  
Curriculum Tags: All
https://mslwheeler.wordpress.com/2021/01/12/grading-tips-for-efficiency-aka-why-the-twitter-community-is-so-awesome/

New blog post up: Grading Tips for Efficiency (aka why the Twitter community is so awesome) https://t.co/NoebY1W2E7 #EdChat pic.twitter.com/7MvDzIo4gd

— Laura Wheeler (@wheeler_laura) January 12, 2021

Article Links
Math in the Navajo nation
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/maanow/status/1348426952085024768

"Mathematics is in our blood,” says Henry Fowler, associate professor of mathematics at @NavajoTech. Learn how mathematicians in the Navajo nation are using their deep connection to the subject to inspire future #IndigenousInSTEM professionals: https://t.co/JjrxNlDbC5 pic.twitter.com/TpRRriX0yZ

— MAA (@maanow) January 11, 2021

Persistence matters. 
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/maanow/status/1349159482807496705

Although mathematics is a centuries-old discipline, new breakthroughs are made every day! Take Dr. Neena Gupta, the youngest person to ever receive the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for solving a problem that has puzzled mathematicians for 70 years. https://t.co/htFPbptYRX

— MAA (@maanow) January 13, 2021

Video Links
#MathArt for the win
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/Ayliean/status/1347688943073058818

I spend my life trying to *show* people Maths.

Here are some of my art highlights from the past 4 years (in one minute)
Nerd up! 🤓💗 pic.twitter.com/2O31GfS7Sw

— Ayliean (@Ayliean) January 8, 2021

That time on the Tonight Show when math was the star
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/stevenstrogatz/status/1349159125901598721

Computer scientists love “hat problems“. Besides being fun, they also have deep applications in coding theory, as explained here: https://t.co/hmgBn0KY6n. Johnny Carson once tried to explain a three hat problem on his show. Enjoy! (ht ⁦@dhjshi_shi⁩ ) https://t.co/AZZ4KzaPwr

— Steven Strogatz (@stevenstrogatz) January 13, 2021

Image Links
Sometimes unit conversion makes sense
Curriculum Tags: All

Student answer on a mathematics test. pic.twitter.com/FzVJH3CV6F

— Cliff Pickover (@pickover) January 13, 2021

Math Links for Week Ending Jan. 8th, 2021

Featured Links

I really like this visualization from @MonaChalabi. It really shows the power of exponential growth and the idea that even though this new strain of C19 is no deadlier than the main version, the fact that it is much more contagious makes it effectively more dangerous. Some good math here dealing with percents and powers here. Make sure you look in the comments for the description of the math.
Curriculum tags: MCR3U, MCF3M, MBF3C, MAP4C, MCT4C
https://twitter.com/MonaChalabi/status/1346513672722665474

This was such a great thread about the new Covid strain. I turned it into some illustrations for people who are visual learners. https://t.co/xEuMt5CRNd pic.twitter.com/4lyAq4ko0M

— Mona Chalabi (@MonaChalabi) January 5, 2021

Resource Links

I really love this visualization on how people from around the world use their time. It could be a great "What do you notice? What do you Wonder" exercise and there is quite a lot of background info in the article. And to be honest, Our World in Data is a great website, in general.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MDM4U
https://ourworldindata.org/time-use-living-conditions 

I still really like these #SlowRevealGraphs. Here's one of the more recent ones. This one dealing with the movie industry. If you don't know what the premiss is, the idea is you take a graph and then remove most of the info and they slowly reveal it piece by piece. They have done the work for you with Google Slides on this site thanks to @jennalaib
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MDM4U
https://slowrevealgraphs.com/2021/01/04/rapid-decline-in-2020-box-office-profits-will-the-industry-recover-in-2021/

Article Links

The mathematicians that we've lost this year. Thanks to David Zimmer for pointing this one out. 
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/three-mathematicians-we-lost-in-2020

Video Links

A few people have re shared this video tutorial I made about how to create a "Guess Who" game using the @Desmos Polygraph app. This video shows how you can use it to make a game for any subject, not just math. On the link there is more info from the blogpost I did as a companion.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://wecdsbit.blogspot.com/2019/02/creating-digital-guess-who-game.html

Image Links

An homage to those classic math problems
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/Wakil_Sayb/status/1342139548894113792

Finally found the Guy from Maths book who used to buy 107 Bananas for no reasons pic.twitter.com/RJy7kTJzSl

— Haseeb Awan (@Wakil_Sayb) December 24, 2020

     

Math Links for Week Ending Jan 1st, 2021

Featured Links

It's the first day of the year so it isn't surprising there are some "best of" things floating around. So how about some of the best or interesting visualizations of the year. The first one comes from the Flowing Data site (and not all the visualizations are about Covid 19). And then of course Five Thirty Eight has their compilation of weird visualizations for the year. 
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
https://flowingdata.com/2020/12/23/best-data-visualization-projects-of-2020/
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-40-weirdest-and-best-charts-we-made-in-2020/?ex_cid=538twitter

The 40 weirdest (and best) charts we made in this long, strange year: https://t.co/ksp9kDaA6h

— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) December 29, 2020

 

Resource Links

Who doesn't like tessellated cookies?
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/best-christmas-cookie-cutter

The Satisfaction of Mathematically Efficient Christmas Cookies: @atlasobscura https://t.co/dB4GzmygdR #MTBoS #iteachmath #wismath

— Jennifer Lawler (@jenniferklawler) December 26, 2020

Having some classic virtual games is a great way to bring out some mathematical thinking from students. Connect 4, Trouble, Chess, Checkers (and not so traditional like multiplication Tic Tac Toe) as Google Slides and other game ideas can be found in this Edutopia article and also Shut the Box from @AliceKeelor
Curriculum Tags: All

https://www.edutopia.org/article/13-virtual-games-play-your-elementary-classroom
https://twitter.com/alicekeeler/status/1342822352594329600

Shut the Box Game – Google Slides - https://t.co/PN9fWPlmvG pic.twitter.com/pmWayIVdA8

— Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler) December 26, 2020

It's always good to have the stories of mathematics
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/19/gladys-west-the-hidden-figure-who-helped-invent-gps

Do you use GPS? Take a moment to read about Gladys West, a trailblazer whose programming work set the foundation for the GPS orbit and revolutionized technology: https://t.co/OOFVoeA7G8 #Diversity #WomenInSTEM #BlackInMath pic.twitter.com/RRiVohz9UG

— MAA (@maanow) December 29, 2020

Opinion Links

Though she claims it may be an unpopular opinion, I feel like more and more people are coming around the the idea of the fact that multiplication tables don't have to be memorized. Yes we want to have kids know their tables but by some sort of internalization, not rote memorization. Here's more from @Dean_of_Math
Curriculum Tags: All
https://deanofmath.wordpress.com/2020/12/26/unpopular-opinion-1-kids-dont-need-to-memorize-their-multiplication-facts/

Unpopular opinion 1: Kids don’t need to memorize their multiplication facts. https://t.co/4Tu3m2LYpb

— Melissa D (@Dean_of_math) December 26, 2020 

Video/Audio Links

A new @Desmos animation from @SumDumThumb
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/SumDumThum/status/1342183856800223239

https://t.co/cTq4p2muvY pic.twitter.com/pUY6nZpzzD

— Andrew Osborne (@SumDumThum) December 24, 2020

A new episode of the @OAMEtalks podcast has @TaraCFlynn and @ShelleyYearley talking about their upcoming webinar "Unit Fractions Unlock Learning!". OAME members can register for the webinar for free. 
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://talks.oame.on.ca/season-3

Image Links

A Christmas themed pattern puzzle from @JamesTanton
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/jamestanton/status/1342476455066759168

60 trees in a row. Their stars are yellow,orange,blue,Y,O,B,Y,O,B,... Their pots are orange,yellow,pink,blue,O,Y,P,B,O,Y,P,B,... Their baubles are mauve,pink,yellow,blue,orange,M,P,Y,B,O,M,P,Y,B,O,...
Must there be an all yellow tree? All B? One with star=O, pot=O, baubles=M? pic.twitter.com/VSnGYtNQVU

— James Tanton (@jamestanton) December 25, 2020

Do you want more info on the mathematics of snowflakes. Symmetry and more at the link below
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/the-mathematics-of-snowflakes/

If no two snowflakes are the same, why is the shape so easily identifiable? @umanitoba researcher Ranganathan Padmanabhan explains the mathematics behind the classic snowflake shape ❄️ https://t.co/5Nd8D9ZgT0 pic.twitter.com/knenbK8iWR

— MAA (@maanow) December 26, 2020

Math Links for Week Ending Dec 25th, 2020

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@TimBrzezinski has your back when it comes to dynamic Open Middle problems using @Geogebra. He's created, of course, geometry but also arithmetic, algebra, trig and calculus problems. Take a look
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.geogebra.org/m/jazvukfd

Here, an entire collection of @openmiddle problems created in @geogebra : https://t.co/99ZxfoLVkQ.

Create a GeoGebra class from any of these. Actively engage Ss & watch their progress in real time. More will be added to this growing set. 🙂 #MTBoS #ITeachMath #RemoteLearning

— Tim Brzezinski (@TimBrzezinski) December 21, 2020

This new @openmiddle problem with feedback can help Ss think critically re: graphing trig functions w/amplitude & period change. Create a @geogebra class from https://t.co/ToRIRKVK2s, & work together in remote or hybrid settings! #MTBoS #ITeachMath @robertkaplinsky #math #maths pic.twitter.com/DmFMzHpFAv

— Tim Brzezinski (@TimBrzezinski) December 18, 2020

Resource Links

@AlexOverwijk asks a question and posts some of his student's unique solutions in the comments. Some great discussion shows up too. 
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U
https://twitter.com/AlexOverwijk/status/1071137538574757888

Help me out.
How do you want students to solve exponential equations when the bases are different?
For example:

2^(3x-5)=7^(-x+1)

or some variation of this.

Go #mtbos #iteachmath

Asking because I didn’t tell the S’s how-you would not believe what they came up with.

— Alex Overwijk (@AlexOverwijk) December 7, 2018

Here's another one of @Mathsjem's resource posts. Much like I do here, she compiles great things she finds on the web for math. In this post, place value, fractions, pie graphs, speed-distance-time and more. 
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.resourceaholic.com/2020/12/5-maths-gems-139.html

New! My 139th gems post. Ideas, resources and updates for maths teachers. 💎https://t.co/eHK4AjE9aC

Hat tips to follow.

I know some of you will not want to read this right now - a break is in order - but it will still be there in January! 😀#mathsgems #mathschat #teammaths pic.twitter.com/kl3gwiMfCw

— Jo Morgan (@mathsjem) December 18, 2020

Opinion Links

Do you want to see how math connects with heavy metal music? Well @MathGarden and @HeavyMetalMaths have figured that out
Curriculum Tags: All
https://sunilsingh-42118.medium.com/how-does-a-love-for-heavy-music-embolden-a-love-for-mathematics-c254c947f0b4

Video Links

On the latest @Desmos Live they go through the best they've seen this year. Some cool stuff here. I totally agree with the last one. 
Curriculum Tags: All
https://youtu.be/MzSw00SSPEM?t=1064

Check out all the cool animations from @MattHen2
Curriculum Tags: All
https://blog.matthen.com/archive

10 years ago I started my maths animation blog on tumblr pic.twitter.com/jTLAKAjpOi

— Matt Henderson (@matthen2) December 24, 2020

Here is a Christmas example of 3D geometry in real life from @standupmaths
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvlpIojusBE

Image Links

The "truth" about statistics 
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
https://twitter.com/xkcdComic/status/1340071757525311488

Statistics https://t.co/g2vbvtFe2e https://t.co/Nfs9xcG7eK pic.twitter.com/2oLoV1LCfc

— XKCD Comic (@xkcdComic) December 18, 2020

Some cool responses in the comments from this classic angle problem (including one from me and @MSBJacobs)
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/jamestanton/status/1340289039052599303

A classic: What can you say about the sum of the measures of the angles at the tips of a wonky (or not wonky) five-pointed star? pic.twitter.com/ffhBGcUp1W

— James Tanton (@jamestanton) December 19, 2020

What a great simple task dealing with adding fractions. Be sure to check out the comments for some examples
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8

https://twitter.com/mathhombre/status/1337603004619501569

goal is to make four or more different fractions that sum to one. What about Lydia's solution? #fractionchat pic.twitter.com/kvtOYeFhVj

— John Golden (@mathhombre) December 12, 2020

There is a lot of data that can be mined in Google Trends. I have written about how you can use this in class in the past here. But why not look at this year's Year in Search
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MDM4U
https://trends.google.com/trends/yis/2020/GLOBAL/

Interesting! Many of these are absolutely in my search history and we know that Google Classroom has certainly been a vital tool for SO many during this pandemic. Tesla stock definitely never entered my search realm 🤷‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/PQniJ0WApv

— Kim Bouchard (@KimMomofNine) December 23, 2020

Math Links for Week Ending Dec. 18th, 2020

Featured Links 

I really love this visual from @AledaKlassen about triangulation of assessment reminding us that assessment isn't just writing tests. Thanks to @HTheijsmeijer for this one 
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/HTheijsmeijer/status/1338566586677014530

THIS!!
How are students showing us what they know? How are they, formally and informally, demonstrating their knowledge? Does "COP" collection of evidence have to look the same for every student? No!
Thank you, @aledaklassen! @OMCAmath pic.twitter.com/NohMMGKtQV

— Heather Theijsmeijer (@HTheijsmeijer) December 14, 2020

Resource Links 

It seems that @Kurt_Salisbury has been knocking it out of the park lately with the @Desmos activities. A couple of weeks ago he had an Among Us activity and this week he's turned @SaraVDWerf's 5x5 game. I like how it keeps score for the class. It's great for a starter game in any class.  Check it out. 
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/kurt_salisbury/status/1339348097063940096

I think it is good to go. A modified version of @saravdwerf 5X5 game. Thanks for all who tested. Let me know if you find issues. #iteachmath #mtbos

Check out this @Desmos activity: 5 X 5 Number Game! https://t.co/ORgSyJAbu9

— Kurt Salisbury (@kurt_salisbury) December 16, 2020

There has been a lot of assessment based Desmos activities revolving around assessment and here @LW has actually created a plugin for Chrome that strips the info out of the summary page and throws it into a csv file. Very cool stuff. 

Curriculum Tags: All

https://twitter.com/lwThinking/status/1339734644934111232 

I made this little extension. Maybe it can help some folks. Let me know if you find bugs or want features. https://t.co/qlE4gefwu5

— Mx. Gregory Epstein (@lwThinking) December 18, 2020

Video Links 

Leave it to @Von_Oy to come up with such an elegant looking @Desmos graph in under 80 lines of code. 
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/von_Oy/status/1339053988398895104

I made something fluttery... https://t.co/uBnc6z6bUm#mathart with @Desmos pic.twitter.com/vV468kZnr1

— Suzanne von Oy (@von_Oy) December 16, 2020

Image Links 

Now that's a lot of snow. Here's an image that could be used for imperial/metric unit conversions. 
Thanks to @Joe_Sisco for this one
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
https://twitter.com/sayakasofiamori/status/1339884908236271616

Numerous #snowfall records have been broken in #Japan, with the top being 219cm in Fujiwara. If there’s 200cm of wet snow on a 100 square meter (1,070 square feet) roof, it would weigh 60 tons. That’s like 400 sumo wrestlers sitting on top of a house🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/KREHECdrCs

— Sayaka Mori (@sayakasofiamori) December 18, 2020

 

Math Links for Week Ending Dec 11th, 2020

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Awesome work from @MathTechCoach to get kids ready for the Christmas season. Whether you are teaching face to face or virtual, this one slide Desmos Challenge creator is a fun way to talk about transformations by making a virtual snowflake
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/MathTechCoach/status/1335277681471086592

These #Snowflakes are very cool. If you want to use this with your classes, this one allows you to change colors. https://t.co/vgaZ3dDaLr

This is is just black and white (which is mighty cool) https://t.co/pqQhJ20Lhk pic.twitter.com/vIHHClexht

— Steve Phelps (@MathTechCoach) December 5, 2020

Resource Links

I have always really loved the data set of deaths and survivors from the Titanic sinking. When dealing with percents, data and inferences it's a great data set and the folks at Desmos have Desmosified it. Try it out and you won't be disappointed. 
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MDM4U
https://blog.desmos.com/articles/desmosify-finding-associations/

Video Links

This was such an odd math mistake. There was a foot note on the paper indicated by a super script 4 and she thought that was the power of 4. Sheesh
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/bobloch/status/1336689958787149831

Hey, did you see that last night's Powerball numbers were DIFFERENT from last weeks? There's a 1 in 280 million-squared chance of that happening - they must be doing something to those poor ping balls - it's fraud I tell ya!
Some very dangerous math mis-application here. https://t.co/a6qAAL4eaG

— Bob Lochel (@bobloch) December 9, 2020

Image Links

Using data in sports is getting more popular but it's hard to fight against tradition
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-are-we-still-returning-kicks-in-college-football/

Math Links for Week Ending Dec 4th, 2020

Featured Links

So @JReulbach is the queen of assessment with Desmos and as you may have seen here, I have been dabbling in Desmos self assessment tasks and thanks to Julie, I now know that there is a pile of other people who have been creating them too. Julie has been collecting them all on this post and you can add your own too by submitting them on the Google Form
Curriculum Tags: All
https://ispeakmath.org/desmos-self-checking-activity-builders/

If you are looking for self-checking or assessment @Desmos activities, here is a collection. Also, if you made one, please add it to the Google Form. :) https://t.co/XaLjLbboJl

— Julie (@jreulbach) November 27, 2020

Resource Links

If you are looking for and example of how you can't hide from data. In this case, it's that C19 is real and people sometimes don't even realize they have it. That is, the large portion of complaints about scented candles (likely caused by loss of smell) shows how wide spread C19 is. Make sure you look at the thread for all the info.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
https://twitter.com/kate_ptrv/status/1332398737604431874

I couldn’t just walk past this Tweet, so here is some fun #dataviz

Scented candles: An unexpected victim of the COVID-19 pandemic 1/n https://t.co/xEmCTQn9sA pic.twitter.com/tVecEiX5Jc

— Kate Petrova (@kate_ptrv) November 27, 2020

New styles available on the @Desmos graphing calculator
Curriculum Tags: All

https://twitter.com/Desmos/status/1333921570914508801

✨ GLOW UP YOUR GRAPHS ✨

🎁 New colors!
🎁 New styles!
🎁 New editor!

Click and hold down on any graphed expression to start styling!https://t.co/aPyN7BofNX pic.twitter.com/uYQ4DqCQ8h

— Desmos.com (@Desmos) December 1, 2020

In my school, the game Among Us is super popular. So this Desmos activity from @Kurt_Salisbury takes that and Desmosifies it (with about a thousand lines of code). In it students "play" Among Us and solve some mathematical challenges with points, slope and solving equations. Very cool. 
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/kurt_salisbury/status/1334263146685534209

Shhhhhh! @AlgebraDesmos #mtbos #iteachmath #retrodesmos 🕹🕹 🕹

Check out this @Desmos activity: Equations Among Us!! https://t.co/I3fHZPxiW5

— Kurt Salisbury (@kurt_salisbury) December 2, 2020

Here's a cool webinar on snowflake art and symmetry from @Stecks. If you have ever seen her work, it's pretty cool. Check out her @numberphile video on creating letters with a single cut. Just make a donation and check it out. Thanks to @KMarkPet for pointing this one out
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/snowflakes-symmetry-maths-art-workshop-18-tickets-128649428905

Video/Audio Links

Yup, I agree - Zeno's Paradox
Curriculum Tags: MCV4U
https://twitter.com/bobloch/status/1332681130865254400

Zeno's Paradox in the wild. https://t.co/vKqva8c22Q

— Bob Lochel (@bobloch) November 28, 2020

I had a great talk with Ian VanderBurgh in this month's @OAMEtalks podcast. He's doing his OAME members only webinar on "Adventures in Problem Solving" We talked about that and other things like the creation process of the @CEMC_Waterloo math contests. 
Curriculum Tags: All
https://talks.oame.on.ca/season-3

Image Links

Why didn't I think of this for trig identities?
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U, MCR3U
https://twitter.com/panlepan/status/1334948834837934080

Isn't that cute ? pic.twitter.com/H1Dwq9haYz

— Vincent Pantal🍩ni (@panlepan) December 4, 2020