Math Links for Week Ending Oct. 11th, 2013

"Mathematics is really about discovering patterns...." I love this video about the limitations of computers in math. Thanks to Dan Meyer for this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piyGXW_gMbc
Curriculum Tags: All

I really like this video with Simon Singh where he talks about the near proofs of Fermat's Last Theorem that occur not once but twice in The Simpsons. I have always liked Fermat's Last Theorem because it is something that kids of many ages can try out. The other thing I like about this is it shows the limitation of the calculator when doing proofs. Plus its a great preview of his new book "The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets".
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReOQ300AcSU

Need an example of where sample size comes into play. How about this poll about whether Montreal should have another MLB team. Thanks to Mike Lieff for this one.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/sports/mlb/blog.html?b=sports.nationalpost.com/2013/09/24/more-than-two-thirds-of-quebecers-want-major-league-baseball-back-in-montreal-according-to-poll


I have had sampling on the mind. Here is a nice simple sample size and confidence interval calculator
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm#two

Just one more about sampling. This time the classic story of sampling bias in the 1936 election where it shows that just because you have a large sample size (2.4 million!!), doesn't mean you have a good sample.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://www.math.upenn.edu/~deturck/m170/wk4/lecture/case1.html

This is an interesting post about research based ideas on how to help students with simplifying equations. Some of them seem counter intuitive to me but I am intrigued. For example, don't use the first letter of the object as the variable name. Thanks to Dan Meyer for this one.

http://nicoraplaca.com/5-ways-make-simplifying-expressions-make-sense/

Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MFM1P, MPM1D, MFM2P, MPM2D

I like this 3 act task because it nicely combines both the measurement strand and the proportional reasoning strand (number sense) so it could be used as part of a summative assessment too.

Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MFM1P, MPM1D
http://tapintoteenminds.com/2013/09/28/mustard-mayhem/

I love this calculator "unboxing" video from Numberphile. If you have never seen an unboxing video then just search for them on YouTube and you will find so many of people opening up their favourite things for the first time. It's a weird meme, I know. I love the commentary on the calculators here "its got 0 and 00 so if you want to have a number really close to zero then you are all set". All fun aside, I do like the tests he goes through to detect the accuracy of each calculator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaJtjJNrWf0#t=547
Curriculum Tags: All

Using interpretive dance to describe concepts in statistics. Here are four videos that do just that. Seriously.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fGu8hvdZ6s&list=PLCkLQOAPOtT2H1hJRUxUYOxThRwfVI9jI

Area Paradox done in chocolate. Perfect if you want to talk about slope. Personally I think that is the best way to show why it happens but that is just me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y13tSEyOqGs
Curriculum Tags: MPM1D, MFM2P

Its funny because it's true

Curriculum Tags: MDM4U

http://xkcd.com/1273/