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