What we learned: The Austin Toy Museum is a new museum featuring a collection of action figures, toys and arcade games primarily from the mid 1980s and 1990s. The founders were interested in attracting families and school groups and hope to be a destination for kids of all ages. UTeach intern Michelle Tat spent several hours touring the museum while
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Historic Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, TX
What we learned: Cemeteries are full of numbers, dates, and all kinds of connections to the actuarial sciences. They also offer poetry, history, and a personal connection to the past. At this place, the focus of the conservators is preservation, conservation and respectful fundraising to address the tilting of the monuments caused by unstable soil, tree roots and simply age.
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Calipers for the Specimen Room Austin Nature and Science Center
Volunteer Charles Ahrens helps visitors appreciate the variety of critters, bones, skins and artifacts in the specimen room. MathHappens is pleased to provide him and the Nature Center a precision quality set of of Golden Ratio Calipers along with some wooden ones made by us for loaning to visitors. If you are interested in learning more about insects and all
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Learning about Makerspaces on UT Campus
We visited the Longhorn Studios maker space in the Cockrell School of Engineering in January. We made a stereoscopic projection piece. If we shine a light at the top it projects a perfect 6×6 grid. This is a great way to introduce the concept distortions in maps showing the continents.
Fibonacci Numbers, Calculating The Golden Ratio with Sequences , Measuring with Proportional Calipers
The PROGRAM GUIDES The Measurement Activities (Mr. Morales/ Mr. Ahrens). In the planetarium We’ll have the giant calipers, the arm – wrist – hand proportional measurement tool, some pictures of various animals, the Hurricane Sandy Puzzle with its golden spiral, the Golden Ratio Hand Mirrors, and the calipers to give to each student. Students will also visit the specimen room
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International Parking Day, San Marcos, TX
What we learned: Parking Day means a town assigns a parking space in the square to anyone who applies. Approved applicants can install their project in an assigned space for a day. The event is coordinated, publicized and promoted by the town. Visitors can circulate past the parking spaces and interact with exhibitors. MathHappens: We provided a walking activity where
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