Visiting Math Circles: Texas A & M

Lauren SiegelCommunity, Museum, Ways to like math, We think math is fun!Leave a Comment

Texas A & M University (TAMU) provides a robust math circle program for the community with approximately 50 student participants at three levels, Pre-Algebra, Algebra/Geometry and Algebra II and above.  We were pleased to be invited to provide the program on November 18, 2023. We started with some free play that included a balance scale with base 2 and base

Fracture! A Halloween Matheatre Experience!

Lauren SiegelCommunity, Community Partnerships, Events, Partner Spotlight, We think math is fun!Leave a Comment

At MathHappens, we love to collaborate, support creative endeavors, partner with colleagues around the US, Canada and abroad, and provide new ways to experience math to the public.  This project includes all of these and more.  The concept, a Mathematical Halloween trail was initiated, and seed funded by MathHappens, designed and expanded by Matheatre who executed and delivered a great

Take and Make: T-Puzzles

Lauren SiegelMaking Math, Mathematical Artifacts, Sharing Ideas, Take and Make, Ways to like math, We think math is fun!Leave a Comment

The T-Puzzle is a very old puzzle and it comes in several versions.  In the version we made, the width and height are the same.   Jordan Varat cut a board with silhouettes  as puzzles that we will send to our math rooms in Austin, Mankato and Albuquerque.  Megan Do worked on the CAD files and created the printable silhouettes

Take and Make: A Bat Butterfly Puzzle for Halloween

Lauren SiegelCommunityLeave a Comment

We participated in Longhorn Halloween this year!  Megan Do, Naila Hajiyeva, Ella Basken and Stefany Espinoza came out on a rainy Sunday October 29 2023 for this annual event.  Kids could weigh their candy with our balance scale and base 3 weights of 1, 3, 9 and 27 oz.  We also had puzzles to do and others to take home.

It’s October and MathHappens in our Communities!

Lauren SiegelCommunity, Community Partnerships, Intern Experience, Museum, Nature & Science Center, We think math is fun!Leave a Comment

The weekend of October 20, we were open at the Austin Nature and Science Center, and the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex and provided math activities for Fall Fest for Friends of the Children, a mentorship program in Austin.  MathHappens @ Explora was open as well as MathHappens @ Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota. Working this weekend in all our various

MathHappens @ the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota!

Lauren SiegelCommunity, Events, Math Rooms, Museum, Schools, We think math is fun!Leave a Comment

Now open!  As of today, MathHappens has a math engagement/play space in the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota.  This is a beautiful museum that contains original exhibits designed to connect to every day life in and around Mankato, MN.  From corn ears to play pigs, the museum provides the kind of hands-on play-based learning that we love.  Play spaces abound

Knots for Everyone! Math Teachers Circle of Austin visit Pearl St.

Lauren SiegelEvents, Intern Experience, Laser techniques, Making Math, Sharing Ideas, We think math is fun!Leave a Comment

We welcomed the Math Teacher’s Circle of Austin to our Austin location and workshop on Pearl Street Thursday September 28th.  They brought the food (BBQ) and we brought knots, and knot tiles.  The visit included a workshop tour that included 3d printing, laser cutting pythagorean dissections and more.  Thanks to Megan Do who designed the knot tiles, Ella Basken who

Make Education Forum 2023 Presentation: Avoiding scorch using two sided laser cutting.

Lauren SiegelCommunity, Laser techniques, Making Math, Sharing IdeasLeave a Comment

The first 3 puzzle pieces are cut from one side using the low speed and a high power needed to cut through 1/4″ plywood.  The black scorch has to be sanded or wiped away adding significantly to post laser treatments.    One approach if your laser is not cutting through is to run a second pass.  This results in more

Museum Day 2023 at 3 Locations in Austin!

Lauren SiegelWe think math is fun!Leave a Comment

MathHappens Foundation is a member of the Austin Museum Partnership, and our Director serves on the all volunteer board.  The AMP organizes Museum Day, one day a year when over 35 museums offer free admission and special programming for our community.  MathHappens also participates by providing activities at the museums.  In 2023 we had activities at The Bullock Texas State

Houston Science Festival: Mathematical Origami

Lauren SiegelCommunity Partnerships, Events, Houston, Intern Experience, Sharing Ideas, Take and Make, We think math is fun!Leave a Comment

On September 10, Jordan Varat and Stefany Espinoza hosted a table at the Houston Science Festival , an event co-sponsored by Bridges to Science that has the tag line “Casa to College”, because it is a celebration of Hispanic culture and learning at home designed for home educated 5th-12th grade students and their parents. We are really pleased to contribute