We are so excited to be back in person this year for Austin Museum Day! This year we will be hosting activities at two locations: Austin Nature and Science Center and Neill-Cochran House.
Wow Factor. Discovery.
Is the word “Discovery” found in the name of your museum? …or in your mission statement? Click here to play this video (0:09). A bit of math exploration & play can be so surprising. Rewarding. It’s fun to see nature and art in new ways… to make new connections. No time pressure. No paper and pencils… our eyes open to
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Human Sunclock. Tiny Tour
We love this video! When we partner with a museum or nature center we build the possibilities together. Some activities are “pop-ups.” Others are long lasting, like this sunclock. Some activities are outside… some are inside. “Gnomon” < Do you know this word? Megan uses it in the video. See the how this sunclock was built and how it’s
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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
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MathHappens in Nature
We have officially launched our new weekly program at the Austin Nature and Science Center! This program will go from 10am-2pm every Saturday so checkout our Facebook for more information. The room will have rotating puzzles and activities, a shelf full of books for various ages, and something you can make and take home with you! Don’t miss out because
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MathHappens in Nature – Another great day!
Nina and I met little people and big people, families and even a Boy Scout Troup on what turned out to be a math field trip from Houston. They designed with tiles, created polygons and pizzas with hinged mirrors, and explored fractal patterns at the magnet board and by drawing and designing. It was a great Saturday!
Austin Nature and Science Center Fall Fest Star Party
One person can make a real difference by bringing math into a family event at the Nature Center. Emmie Chng was working solo with an enthusiastic gathering of families. They learned how to make a plumbline, how to use a quadrant, how to make one at home and why we look to the north star to find latitude. Here’s the
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A 119 Year Quest to Understand Tessellating, Convex, Irregular Pentagons
The idea for MathHappens to work with tessellating pentagons originated from intern Jason Gorst’s suggestions for future projects on his final report. A tessellation describes an arrangement of shapes that tiles a plane with no gaps or overlaps.The challenge of finding all possible tessellating pentagons was issued in 1900 by David Hilbert at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris
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MathHappens @ Austin Museum Day – ANSC
We had an amazing time at Austin Nature and Science Center! Photo Gallery to come! At ANSC, we shared with the public ways to understand math through art. We brought out our tessellating pentagons and regular shapes (squares, rectangles, etc.) and invited the public to go through the history that brought us to the 15 irregular tessellating pentagons that we
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MathHappens @ Austin Museum Day- You are Invited!
In this photo Ximena Mercado Garcia has items from each Museum Day math station on the table to share with Univision and their viewers. Las matemáticas también pueden ser divertidas. ¡Únete y descúbrelo tu mismo! Sarah Bacca is sending this note with all the details to teachers, principals and schools. We hope everyone gets the word! Dear Math Enthusiasts,
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