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
…
Take and Make: Smarty Cat
Smarty Cat was a toy from the 1950s. It’s not really a slide rule, but it does show you all the math facts from 2×2 to 9×9. As you go you need fewer and fewer numbers because 9×2 is already in as 2×9 for example. We are giving away sets where you can draw your own cat/mouse/ghost or whatever animal
…
2023 Construct 3d Conference Team: Ella Basken and Jordan Varat
Update: Ella Basken created this Presi slideshow of her conference experience. Its great! At the Construct 3d 2023 conference in NY Ella and Jordan are presenting a variety of models and a poster about the use of these models to enhance mathematics education. You can contact Ella at: ebasken@utexas.edu and Jordan at: jordan@varatenterprises.com Ella is our 3d print expert and
…
Partner Spotlight: Workshop visit with Kim Kinder from Cuba, MO
Kimberly Kinder is a high school math teacher who is really passionate about bringing new learning experiences for her students. She drove 12 hours to come to Austin because she’s really interested in making some of the models we have and in making her own. We are really excited about supporting her work. Kimberly not only selected some models and
…
Take and Make: First Versions of Hat Tiles and 21st Century Pattern Block Frames for Hat Tiles
Here are the CAD files we have so far. You should find AI, CorelDraw, SVG and EPS in these folders. We are not finished putting info on the puzzles, etc, so they are “drafts”. Please help yourself: Hat Tile Frames for Pattern Blocks: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZjuZCc3k03KoHrcOjYicwiu5ZTaVfUB1?usp=sharing Hat Tile puzzle and/or Print Sheet https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/177BM6RlwbfdT-kX7dUzWYCxD8hpxH34g?usp=sharing Find links to other frames for 21st Century Pattern
…
Take and Make: Tusi couple for a UT Perspectives Class
The Tusi couple is a mathematical device in which a small circle rotates inside a larger circle twice the diameter of the smaller circle. With this relationship of diameters, each point on the circumference of the smaller circle actually follows a linear path as the rotation occurs. Here’s a link to a video so you can see it in motion. Files to
…
Take and Make: Shisima Game from Kenya for SE Branch Library
SE Branch library invited us to participate in their event celebrating music from Kenya. We found a new strategy game two player strategy game called Shisima that is related to tic-tac-toe, that originates from Kenya. Melissa Wilkinson cut and made the design that Stefany Espinoza created. Quan Nguyen and Marianne Villanueva brought the game to SE Branch, participated in some drumming and
…
Take and Make: Adjustable Hyperbola
Dan van der Vieren who uses our Parabola stretchers with his college Algebra classes wondered if we could design a frame to make a hyperbola like this one. As it happens, we had a couple of ideas. The best result was this gear design. You can string the frame with elastic cord with the plate in the top position and
…
Take and Make: Trammel Kit
12-28 Update. We continue to iterate on the Trammel Project. Dr. Sereveny’s students at Riverbend Community Math Center have updated the files with a larger hole for the pencil/pen and they are working on an adjustable arm so we can make multiple shapes (of Ellipses). And they sent Links to the Hardware screws and filament: Hardware: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XRX2F4Q/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2N32G193BWL7U&psc=1 We use a
…
Take and Make: Scott Kim Block by Block Jr- SE Branch Library
Whether in 1″ Maple, or 1/2″ pine, or 5″ cardboard, this block set known as Block by Block Jr. designed by puzzle designer Scott Kim has multiple uses and offers a variety of ways to practice spacial skills, problem solving and just have fun together. We highly recommend this activity for all ages. We ordered 1000 block from a
…