Playing With Math - Table of Contents

Preface 9
Introduction 13


Math Circles and More: Celebrating Math

Section Introduction 19

The Art of Inquiry: A Very Young Math Circle, Julia Brodsky 23
     Puzzle: Imbalance Abundance, Paul Salomon 29

Rejoicing in Confusion, Maria Droujkova 31
     Game: Parent Bingo, Maria Droujkova 35

Parents and Kids Together, Sue VanHattum 37
     Puzzle: Foxes and Rabbits, Sue VanHattum 45

On Noticing and Fairness: A Mindful Math Circle, Rodi Steinig 47
     Puzzle: Is this for real? Avery Pickford 52

Bionic Algebra Adventures, Colleen King 53
     Story: Alexandria Jones in Egypt, Denise Gaskins 58

The Oakland Math Circle: A First Iteration, Jamylle Carter 63
     Game: Fantastic Four, Exploratorium Staff 69

A Culture of Enthusiasm for Math, Amanda Serenevy 71
     Activity: Vertices, Edges, and Faces, Amanda Serenevy 74

Seized by a Good Idea, Stephen Kennedy 75
     Puzzle: Math Without Words #1, James Tanton 81

A Prison Math Circle, Bob and Ellen Kaplan 83
     Puzzle: Math Without Words #2, James Tanton 86

Agents of Math Circles, Mary O’Keeffe 89
     Puzzle: Food for Thought, Jan Nordgreen 94

The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival, Nancy Blachman 95
     Saint Mary’s Math Contest Sampler, Br. Alfred Brousseau 97
     Exploration: Candy Conundrum, Joshua Zucker 97

A Young Voice: Consider the Circle, Elisa Vanett 99

 
Homeschoolers Do Math

Section Introduction 103

Tying It All Together, Julie Brennan 105
     Game: Place Value Risk, Sue VanHattum 112

Advice from Living Math Forum, Julie Brennan 113
     Puzzles: Deep Arithmetic, Sue VanHattum 119

Transitioning to Living Math, Jimmie Lanley 121
     Game: Math Card War, Denise Gaskin 126

At the Eye of the Hurricane, Melanie Hayes 129
     Puzzle: Self-Referential Number Square, Jack Webster 142

One and a Quarter Pizzas, Holly Graff 143
     Game: Function Machine, Sue VanHattum 148

The Math Haters Come Around, Tiffani Bearup 149
     Puzzle: Magic Hexagon, Michael Hartley 155

Mapping the Familiar, Malke Rosenfeld 157
     Game: Racetrack, Sue VanHattum 159

Radically Sensible Ideas, Pam Sorooshian 161
     Game: Dotsy, Leonard Pitt, Cinda Heeren, Tom Magliery 168

A Young Voice: An Unschooler at College, Lavinia Karl 169


Passionate Teachers: In the Classroom

Section Introduction 173

Teach Less, Learn More, Sue VanHattum 177
     Game: Modular Skirmish, John Golden 181

Trust, Montessori Style, Pilar Bewley 185
     Puzzle: Measuring With Paper, by B. Zolkower, D. Abrahamson 190

Math In Your Feet, Malke Rosenfeld 191
     Game: Fizz Buzz, by Michael Hartley 197

Dinosaur Math, Michelle Martin 199
     Puzzle: Alien Math, Amanda Serenevy 201

Better Teaching Through Blogging, Kate Nowak 203
     Activity: Candy Launcher, Sean Sweeney 208
     Background:Using Math to Describe Gravity, Sue VanHattum 213

Putting Myself in My Students’ Shoes, Allison Cuttler 217
     Puzzle: What Number Am I? Jonathan Halabi 220

An Argument Against the Real World, Friedrich Knauss 221
     Puzzle: Octopus Logic, Tanya Khovanova 223

Area of a Circle, Fawn Nguyen 225
     Exploration: Coloring Cubes, Joshua Zucker 227

Textbook Free: Kicking the Habit, Chris Shore 229
     Activity: Guess My Dice, Kaleb Allinson 231

Math Is Not Linear, Alison Forster 233
     Puzzle: A Little Math Magic, Jonathan Halabi 239

A young voice: Geometric Delights, Luyi Zhang 241


Resources

Introduction and Internet Resources 247

Math and the Electronic Commons, Maria Droujkova 252

Creating Math Teachers at Play, Denise Gaskins 255

Math Playground: Designing Games for Real Learning, Colleen King 260

Supporting Girls, Sue VanHattum 266

How to Become Invisible, Bob Kaplan 280

Starting a Math Club, Maria Droujkova, Sue VanHattum 282

Conclusion 285

Sue’s Book Picks 297

Hints for Puzzles 306

Meet the Authors 311

Acknowledgements 320

Index 322