Math Links for Week Ending Mar. 7th, 2014

Seeing as Pi Day is in a week I thought I would put my annual Pi Day post up a bit early. This just comes from my Pinterest Pi Day Page. My favourite video is below. Enjoy. Keep in mind that next year's Pi Day will be even more special since it will be 3.14.15
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.pinterest.com/davidpetro314/pi-day/

I like this recent post from the Tap Into Teen Minds blog on the importance of conceptual understanding (not just memorization) there has been a lot of discussion of this in recent months so it is quite topical. I especially like the nod to algebra tiles.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MPM2D, MFM2P
http://tapintoteenminds.com/2014/03/02/striving-for-deeper-understanding-and-retention-in-math-class/

Combinations with a connection to data management in one of the latests posts from Yummy Math. First determine the number of different types of hot chocolate you can make then see which one is the "healthiest"
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://www.yummymath.com/2014/too-early-in-the-day-for-so-many-choices/

Five year olds can learn to do Calculus. It sounds outrageous but if you are talking about the fundamentals of what calculus is, pattern recognition, then absolutely. Recently I posted an article stating that you never learned math in high school, this article seems to suggest that the opposite can happen.
I think my favourite quote from this article is

The one side says, “drill and kill.” The other says “drill for skill.” Basically, though, just about every mathematician and math education researcher who was interviewed for this story agrees that the perfect math class should have a mix of skills and problem solving. They just can’t agree on the amounts of each, when to add them, and what to skip.

Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/5-year-olds-can-learn-calculus/284124/

Probably the most well researched and balanced articles in the "math wars" lately came from the Globe and Mail this week. Definitely well worth the read. There are two quotes I liked the most in this, both from Marian Small. The first one refers to the idea that often teachers teach the most efficient method for doing a problem but what is efficient for them may not be the most efficient for all students:

Dr. Small is showing a third option for two-number multiplication when a father raises his hand and asks: “But what’s the most efficient way?” “What’s your definition of efficient?” Dr. Small responds. “I think it’s probably the calculator.” When a few parents chuckle, she clarifies, “that was only half a joke.”

And I also liked the quote about claiming to not like math or not be good at math. It is a problem that we have with parents.

If you don’t like math, keep it to yourself.” Don’t tell your kids, you were bad at algebra or hated fractions, she explains, cause you’re giving them permission to be the same way.

Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/why-the-war-over-math-is-distracting-and-futile/article17178295/

On Mike's Math Page, he wrote about a recent Ed Frenkel's Op Ed which was basically the same as his Numberphile video on why people hate math. You can follow all of those links to refresh your mind if you wish. But the thing that Mike reminded me of is this great Richard Feynmen segment where he talks about the problem with math (specifically about algebra)
Curriculum Tags: All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW6LYuli7VU

I thought this was a great image of one of the early MacDonald's menus. Not sure from what year but It think you could use it to see if the prices have all proportionally increased since then. Thanks to @thescamdog for this one.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/thescamdog/status/439551795388379136/photo/1

I guess showing your work can be different now. Thanks to @thescamdog for this one too.
Curriculum Tags: All
https://twitter.com/thescamdog/status/440944315154452480/photo/1

I thought this one from XKCD was a great example of a cool area plot
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U
http://xkcd.com/1338/

I was in Toronto this week and saw this and thought there must be some way to relate this to parallel lines or angles.
Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
https://twitter.com/davidpetro314/status/441991510222200832/photo/1