Guest Post by Jeanette Shakalli, PhD, Executive Director of FUNDAPROMAT The Panamanian Foundation for the Promotion of Mathematics (FUNDAPROMAT) is a non-profit Foundation based in the Republic of Panama whose mission is to spread the joy of mathematics. We organize virtual and in-person math outreach events, which are free and open to the general public, which means that kids and
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What a great place to install our last math room of 2025! We have a great team in Terre Haute including Coordinator Nicki, Perla, Abigail and Xoey. We started out by bonding over some Square Donuts. The museum has 3 floors of activities with hands on exploration slides, and all kinds of interactive exhibits. The Math Room is in a
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Thank you to Dr. Yossi Elron and the Davidson Institute for a terrific visit and the opportunity to share MathHappens philosophy and methods with twenty teachers, administrators and young adults preparing to work with schools on mathematics. In addition to Geometiles, 21st Century Pattern Blocks, Blocks Jr. and Bubble Tiles we selected a variety of materials to leave with the
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This art piece was a part of a traveling exhibit called Geometry of Hope that came to Austin Texas while I was teaching at ACE Academy. Art teacher Martha Merry and I wanted to collaborate on on art and math field trip. The materials are simple, the connection to the art is authentic and the mathematics is accessible, but also
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The MOXI is a museum in Santa Barbara, CA with a maker focus that has created a space that is both soothing and inspiring. We met STEAM Education manager Jasmine Thompson at our booth at a museum conference in Chicago in Fall of 2024. She was interested in using some of our materials in their programs. So of course we
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Sunday Funday means hands on activities at the Neill-Cochran House Museum in Austin, TX and MathHappens was the invited program on Sunday March 9, 2025. On special exhibit currently, but also part of the regular collection… Quilts!!. This museum invites visitors to “step into Austin History” and the quilt collection is a visitor favorite. Paul Cato, Communications Director at
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Wieland Elementary’s family night was a great opportunity to meet some kids and families and share some of our favorite optical illusions, and amusements. Tommi Linn brought hinged mirror books, markers and paper for free design. The Hexagon puzzle was a real joy for our littlest visitors. We let parents know about the Math Room open 9-3 on Saturdays and
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We love a special event at MathHappens. We do several dozen per year through our local partnerships as well as with distant organizations. An example of an event type we do is running our usual math room programming on a special day. This year, we spent Presidents Day at The Works Museum in Bloomington, MN. Our math room there is
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We were invited recently to a STEAM Fair in Minneapolis. It took place Saturday, January 25 and was sponsored by a local chapter of Jack and Jill of America, an organization dedicated to nurturing future African-American leaders by working with children and their mothers. We brought most of our usual favorites—such as butterfly puzzles, and Block by Block, Jr. (a
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Click through here for the whole presentation. We do three math “experiments” in the session all using “calling cards” other materials common in the books are corks, wine bottles, knives, candles and other handy household items from the 1890s. These are so much fun!