Math Links for Week Ending May 22nd, 2014

I had a lot going on this week (I am the main course designer and builder for this) so just a short set of links this week. Back in full force next week

If you have not seen Annie Fetter's Notice and Wonder video, then take a look below. It is probably one of the best Ignite sessions that I have ever seen. But in this post Annie features a very addictive game that is all about squares. Some might not call it "mathy" but it definitely requires the use of logic and the fact that there are no instructions means that students need to tinker and make mistakes and persevere. This also reminds me of Dan Meyer's talk about why math class should be more like video games. You should take the time to check it out because it is the real way to talk about making learning more like gaming and that doesn't mean Math Blasters.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://mathforum.org/blogs/annie/2015/05/13/noticewonder-love/

This is a really simple activity but I think it could be used in grade 7&8 talking about equations and formulas, in grade 9 wind dealing with linear equations, and even grade 11 when talking about function notation. The premiss is simple, write the day of the month as a function of the month number.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MFM1P, MPM1D, MCF3M, MCR3U
http://reasonandwonder.com/the-date-game/



I like this activity from @MrOrr_Geek 's student teacher @misschacon_7 . We have tried to do something similar with paper bags (not in game form) and I like the idea of using the cups to hold the unknown because of the way that you can hide the unknown number of beads. . A very visual way of solving equations. 
Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MFM1P, MPM1D
http://mrorr-isageek.com/hidden-beads/

Wanna be a billionaire? Then start with math. I love that this video starts with Zeno's Paradox.
Curriculum Tags: All

Some number sense from the Simpsons. "Those three choices (8,191, 8,128 and 8,208) are far from random. In fact, they represent a prime number (a number that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself), a perfect number (whose divisors add up to itself), and a narcissistic number (where it is the sum of its own digits each raised to the power of the number of digits).". I think this would be ideal for practicing some number sense. Thanks to Mark Esping for this one.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8
http://guff.com/simpsons-jokes-you-may-have-missed-the-first-50-times/comic-book-guy-logs-onto-alt-nerd-obsessive