Take and Make: Napier’s Bones Calculator

Paola GarciaCommunity Partnerships, History Connections, Libraries, Making Math, Math at Home, Mathematical Artifacts, Take and Make, Teacher Support & Training1 Comment

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

Josephine ShengCommunity Partnerships, Events, History Connections, Intern Experience, Making Math, Math is fun!, Nature & Science CentersLeave a Comment

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

Josephine ShengCommunity Partnerships, Events, History Connections, Intern Experience, Making Math, Math is fun!, MuseumsLeave a Comment

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

Lauren SiegelCommunity Partnerships, Events, History Connections, Making Math, Math is fun!, Sharing Ideas, Sponsoring Mathematics ProjectsLeave a Comment

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

Josephine ShengHistory Connections, Making Math, Math is fun!, Presentations and Workshops, Sharing Ideas, Teacher Support & TrainingLeave a Comment

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

Josephine ShengCommunity Partnerships, Events, History Connections, Intern Experience, Math at Home, Math is fun!, MuseumsLeave a Comment

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

Lauren SiegelCommunity Partnerships, Events, Field Trips, History Connections, Intern Experience, Libraries, Making Math, Math is fun!, Mathematical Artifacts, Museums, Nature & Science Centers, Parks & Recreation, Sharing Ideas, Take and Make, Teacher Support & TrainingLeave a Comment

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

Awesome Math Making Ideas from Other People – Napiers Bones

Lauren SiegelHistory Connections, Making Math, Mathematical Artifacts, Museums, Sharing Ideas2 Comments

Here’s an excerpt of a twitter conversation.  Day before yesterday Aida wrote to get access to some of our files and ideas.  Yesterday she made this amazing version of Napiers Bones that is in the National Archeological Museum in Madrid.  Today I’m inspired by her project and want to know more about this version and I want to see that

MathHappens @ Austin Museum Day – Pioneer Farms

Josephine ShengCommunity Partnerships, History Connections, Intern Experience, Math is fun!, MuseumsLeave a Comment

Stick Stock (Surveyors in Texas before Annexation to the U.S.), ca. 1845, oil on canvas, 14in. x 17 in. framed, Lent by Larry Sheerin, L.2012.2.3   MathHappens is sharing ways that a mathematical device, the survey Chain measurement system invented by Edmund Gunter in the 1600s impacted Texas history as we transitioned- only sort of — from the Mexican Vara