We are excited to share the MathHappens @ The Bullock field trip collaboration with a cross disciplinary (history and mathematics) teacher team from Killeen ISD. As a history museum and home to La Belle, a French ship that sailed across the Atlantic in the 1600s landing in Matagora Bay off the Texas coast, The Bullock is a perfect place to
…
Sheryl Hsu’s Math Exhibit at the Play Like a Miner Exhibit, Almaden Quicksilver Museum
Kruskal’s Algorithm Minimal Spanning Tree: Railroad Table This project was created by Sheryl Hsu for exhibit at the Almaden Quicksilver Mine and sponsored by MathHappens Foundation. Sheryl wrote us a detailed proposal that described her project, the mathematics she planned to explain and the details of construction. You can read it here. Then she built it! See Sheryl’s video where
…
2021 Guest Talk at UTeach Perspectives Class! on Oct 13
We had a few slides to introduce MathHappens to the group and then dove right in to a hot topic, redistricting or Gerrymandering. We just had the proposed new Texas map released, but none of the negotiated changes that came the next day on the 14th, so there were real examples of all 4 types of Gerrymandering which are cracking,
…
Take and Make: Napier’s Bones Calculator
Napier’s Bones are a manually operated calculator created by John Napier in 1612. This calculator is based on Lattice Multiplication and helps math learners with multiplying large numbers by a single digit number. Math learners! Start identifying multiplication patterns by making your own set of Napier’s Bones! Materials: Napier’s Bones Paper Template: https://tinyurl.com/rh5xdajt Writing utensil (pencil or pen) Popsicle sticks
…
MathHappens at Austin Nature and Science Center Museum Day 2021
This year at Austin Nature and Science Centers Museum Day, MathHappens hosted activities relating to Voronoi diagrams and Fibonacci numbers. Thank you to Austin Nature and Science Center staff for helping us prepare for this event and for everyone that came out to Museum Day! Steph Lee and Rashell Soria led the activities at our Voronoi Diagram table. Visitors got to
…
MathHappens at Neill-Cochran House Museum Day 2021
At Austin Museum Day 2021, MathHappens hosted a suite of activities at the Pythagorean theorem tables led by Naila Najiyeva, Laila Cook, Quan Nguyen, and Rashell Soria. Visitors were able to see the Pythagorean Theorem Proof and the Sum of Odd Numbers proof. At the tables, they also saw the Penrose stairs and a modern day application of it.
…
Pooled Testing At Camp with STEM Santa FE
This post is the sequence of instruction with work examples from a STEM Santa FE Camp held on January 28, 2021. The students are 7th and 8th graders enrolled in a summer program following a year of primarily on-line instruction. Lesson Plan History of Pooled Testing – Demo of Simple Pooling Order a Pooled Test Demo Kit (same as in
…
UTeach Conference 2021 – Leveling the Playing Field: Creating Equity in Mathematics
MathHappens had the opportunity to present at the 2021 UTeach STEM Educators Conference. The theme for this year was Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in STEM Education. Paola and Josephine led our session on “Leveling the Playing Field: Creating Equity in Mathematics.” Below are some images of our slides. If you would like to view our entire presentation, here are our
…
George Washington Carver Museum Black History Month Kid’s Day
George Washington Carver Museum is hosting Black History Month Kid’s Day on Saturday, March 27th, 2021. They will be hosting the event live via Zoom sessions with special guests and activities. This year’s theme is the Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. You can RSVP for the event here. MathHappens interns, Viyang Shah and Anh Nguyen, worked together to create
…
Webinar: Making the Most of Math Connections at your Museum or Historical Site
Elizabeth Lay, Claire Steffen and I had the opportunity to present a webinar through the Texas Historical Commission today. We discussed ways that museums can enhance visitor experiences with math, showed a variety of examples of math activities at museum locations and talked about our process in developing connected activities. Our Presentation Slides are here The Handout Recording Hosted by
…