Math Links for Week Ending June 5th, 2015

Not sure how I missed it when @Mr_Stadel posted it originally but thanks to him @jgibson314 and @jstevens009 we have a whole host of related  Barbie Zipline activities to choose from. I have done the Barbie Bungee activity before but this is a nice twist that you could relate to Pythagorean Theorem (and possibly quadratics).
Curriculum Tags: Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MPM2D, MFM2P, MCR3U, MCF3M, MBF3C
http://mr-stadel.blogspot.ca/2014/07/barbie-zip-line.html
http://jgibson314.blogspot.ca/2015/05/barbie-zipline-and-rain-delay.html
http://www.fishing4tech.com/fishin-solo-blog/back-to-school-barbie-zipline-success-and

Here is a simple example of finding something seen in everyday life, a fast food coffee cup, and doing some math with it. In this case, are the various cup sizes similar. You could attach this to work on ratios or similarity which means you could apply the idea in classes from grade 7 to 10.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P, MPM2P, MPM2D
http://musingmathematically.blogspot.ca/2015/06/the-scale-of-coffee-cups.html

This is one of my favourite mathematical laws, and I won't ever miss a chance to promote it. Benford's law basically says that if you have a group of numbers that are all related by something (like salaries, populations or payments) then the first digits of all of those numbers won't actually be random. In fact there is a pattern. But most people think that that if you had a bunch of payments then they would all be random amounts. And this is how "cooking the books" is often caught. People make up what they think are random numbers when, in fact, they shouldn't be. Numberphile have had a few videos on it here, here and here too.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://mentalfloss.com/article/63099/irss-favorite-mathematical-law

Here are some ideas for some number and logic games that have been around for over 1000 years.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.medievalists.net/2015/04/13/mathematical-games-in-europe-around-the-year-1000/

About 6% of the population suffer from dyscalculia (the mathematical counterpart to dyslexia). And here is an article about the disorder.
Curriculum Tags:All
http://mentalfloss.com/article/62436/11-facts-about-math-disorder-dyscalculia



He's been known as the Lady Gaga of mathematics. Check this out to find out why this current mathematician who is the author of Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure holds that moniker.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/cedric-villani-france-famous-mathematician-birth-theorem



It's been close to two weeks since John Nash died and with that, here is a math prof that has solved one of his well known problems
Curriculum Tags: All
http://usa.greekreporter.com/2015/05/28/the-greek-mit-professor-who-solved-nashs-puzzle/

Ok, I have always said this. When you get a group of non conformists together, they often look the same. And now apparently we have a mathematical proof of why that is. Tell that to your hipster friends.
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/04/13/watch-a-mathematician-explain-why-nonconformists-end-up-looking-exactly-alike/

At first when I saw this activity, I thought "oh that looks so familiar" but it wasn't until I saw the tweet that was the inspiration that I saw the aha moment. Very nice. Check the whole thing out here
Curriculum Tags: MPM2D, MFM2P
http://musingmathematically.blogspot.ca/2015/05/connecting-quadratic-representations.html?m=1

@NatBanting @joshgiesbrecht Made this one to demo it. pic.twitter.com/7OWdpcg5M6

— Dan Allen (@AllenMath) May 29, 2015