173rd Playful Math Carnival

Entering into the Labyrinth of the World Wide Web can take you on an aMAZING journey into rabbit holes and unknown adventures. It’s easy to get lost clicking one link after another until you can’t remember what you were searching for in the first place. Hopefully, as you embark on this 173rd Carnival post you will be led down paths of intrigue and wonder and you will find inspiration and enjoyment as you join me in searching out playful math to enjoy with our children. So come on, let’s enter the maze with the 40th PRIME NUMBER …

The above information was found at The Number Empire a great place to go to for all your number information needs. Beware you could get lost in all the amazing tools, go check it out!

And just before we start down any more rabbit holes, a challenge to warm up…

Find the least number of 6 digits that has 173 as a factor.

You can find the solution HERE

Now that we have had our brain warm up you can chose to head straight to the April/May Blog offerings or join me as I search out some playful Knot, Meander and Maze Math. Before you proceed don’t forget to bookmark this page or you might not find your way back!

Knots

We look at life from the back side of the tapestry. And most of the time, what we see is loose threads, tangles knots and the like. But occasionally God’s light shines through the tapestry and we get a glimpse of the larger design with God weaving together the darks and lights of existence.

John Piper

When mathematicians talk about knots they have a specific criteria that they follow. To learn more about knots this article at Natural Math is helpful. It also has a great range of activities and games you can do with your kids to investigate knot theory.

Finding math in nature is my passion, so I loved reading about the research being done with worms and knots by Saad Bhamla. The blackworm is a pro at tying and untangling, the research is hoping to find solutions that will lead to engineering multifunctional structures and materials that change properties on demand. You can read about this bio-research on the Earth and Planetary Science Blog.

And math and art is also a passion. Take an artistic break and learn how to draw Celtic knots with Dave Richeson or jump over to NRICH math for their Celtic knot lesson.

I thought this video, finding knots in the London Underground was fun.

Meanders

There’s gold to discover in the meander; treasures in the sand on the long beach walk; vistas to relish on the Sunday drive, through the mind or otherwise.

Cindy Yantis

Cindy Yantis challenges us to think about meandering thoughts. “How great would it be if an entire class in school was devoted to just thinking. An hour of time just to encourage kids to learn from their own minds. Where the only recommended materials were a journal and a sketchpad.” You can read her beautiful post here How Meandering Can Lead to Gold

But do we use the word ‘meander’ in the same way that mathematicians do? When mathematicians talk about meanders they are talking about curves. Unlike knots, a meander never crosses itself. To find out how a mathematician defines a meander go to the Academic Kids page.

Meanders can be found in nature, rivers are beautiful examples.

You can get lost in the beautiful short videos, of our world, on the The Tech YouTube channel.

Mazes and Labyrinths

The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being – one of many ways – and knowing the paths I have followed and the ones left to take will help me understand what I am becoming.

Daniel Keyes

The Universe is a Labyrinth made of Labyrinths. Each leads to another and wherever we cannot go ourselves we reach with mathematics. Out of mathematics we build wagons to carry us into the nonhuman realms of the world.

Stanislaw Lem Fiasco

Even though people use the terms ‘maze’ and ‘labyrinth’ interchangeably, there is actually significant difference between the two. A maze is puzzle with dead ends and deceptions, a place where you can take a wrong turn and end up where you don’t want to be. A labyrinth is one path, which twists and turns, usually symmetrically and leads to from beginning to end.

The University of Southern Indiana has this PDF to explain the difference between the maze and labyrinth.

The North Shore Pediatic’s explains why you should practice mazes at home with your kids.

If your children enjoy using Scratch, Create and Learn steps you through how to create a maze game or you can use this tutorial by Zinnia

A Collector of Sorts takes a journey to New Harmony, Indiana and gives us a glimpse into the history which ties this place and labyrinths.

The Labyrinth Society has a virtual labyrinth walk and a great list of way to create labyrinths with your kids.

The American Mathematical Society has a informative post on the Hidden Symmetries of Labyrinths from Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

We had a great time at the Maze House recently. There is a whimsical charm about a living maze. I encouarge you to take an outing with your kids and find a hedge maze near you.

Playful Math From Around the Web

“Where should I go?” Alice

“That depends on where you want to end up.” Cheshire Cat

Alice in Wonderland

Math Ed Ideas takes us down a path leading to the first equation.

While at Eddie’s math we travel to the realms of the quadratic or take a peek into the math behind the speed of sound in air.

The Mango Math Group help us discover the Art of Critical Thinking.

Five, Twelve, Thirteen discusses What Happens when Students Google Math Problems? Interestingly observing that “students who have some knowledge use Google to learn, others use Google as a substitute for learning and fall further behind.” How do you feel about your kids using AI? It’s definitely a new situation facing all educators.

If you have ever wondered when a square is half as big as another square? Then you will want to head over to Marilyn Burn’s blog for her latest contribution.

Holly Earnest walks us through the Montessori Math process in her post ‘Montessori Math Curriculum’

Rakhee Dodia introduces us to four great books for teaching measurement to the little ones.

For a go to place for amazing hands-on math try Fractal Kitty’s 52 Weeks of Hands-on Math, I have been doing these challenges with my children this year and we are loving them!

Or if you enjoy learning through video Eddie Woo’s Wootube Page is wealth of information.

If you still have time to meander down the path of amazing math blogs you might like to stop past the last Playful Math Carnival – #172 over at Denise’s Let’s Play Math Blog or at Fractal Kitty’s ‘Carnival of Mathematics 225’