I Don't Get It

Our Solar System’s Fellow Inhabitants … as imagined by pulp fiction artist Frank R. Paul in 1940. Check out the rest of the collection here, they are pretty awesome.

Calculation Nation! Fun math strategy games focused on fractions, factors, multiples, symmetry etc. 

#edtech #mathchat

Designed for upper elementary/middle school. Students can play (as guest) without registering, but to play against online opponents registration is required. 

Screenshot of just a few of the games offered.

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Hooda Math, Word, and Brain Games

Jo Edkins WebPages

Scan-nom Electron Microscope?

In what would surely classify as a “lab safety infraction”, Carin Alpert put some common foods under an electron microscope in order to view them in a new (electron beam) “light”. At the sub-optical scale, many of our favorite foods become mere crystal lattices or dried plant shells. From left, a coffee bean, red licorice and an Oreo.

Definitely the coolest EM image I’ve seen since the bacteria on a diatom on an amphipod GIF.

For the 7th graders this is where we’re going. Started with a 9x12 sheet filled with patterns. Then I make 3 copies of the sheet which are then cut into 2” x 4” rectangles (there will be extra which is discarded). Those rectangles are rolled into tubes along a pencil and the tubes are used to create a sculpture! This shows the first three stages. I’m going to have the kids watercolor a “base” to give the sculpture some color. The color should also reflect on the tubes a little which will be neat to see.

How I began this unit: we discussed pattern and I made a handout with 12 squares on it and had students place a different pattern in each square. I googled “zentangle” and printed out some different patterns for students to use for inspiration. I told them they could copy some of the patterns if they liked (I do!) I made sure they weren’t using letters, and just repetitive shapes (circle, triangle, square), and tried to encourage them to make more interesting designs. We talked about line variety and using straight/curved lines, coloring some places in and leaving some designs simpler.

For the actual pattern part on the paper I had students first divide up their paper into different sections using compasses and rulers. Dividing the paper first allows the patterns to spread out more! I rushed through the importance of this at first and students who didn’t divide up their paper were not getting successful patterned sheets. When this happened, I had the students start over. Their second attempts were SO MUCH BETTER! They’re still in the pencil stages, but they will be moving to sharpie next. From there, I will make the copies of their drawings, they will cut up the copies into the rectangles and roll into tubes! Somewhere in there will be watercoloring their base sheets, and then comes the sculpture construction!

Some painless and practical advice. Here’s an excerpt: