MONSTER Primes!

Our first unit will cover factors and multiples. A special type of number is called a prime number. You'll remember that prime numbers only have two factors: itself and one.

It's easy to rattle off the first few prime numbers - 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13...

But how about when numbers become larger? 4,729 and 7,919 are both prime numbers.

179,424,691 is also a prime number.

So is 797,003,437!

How do you think these huge prime numbers are discovered?

Adam Spencer is an Australian radio host. He isn't a professional mathematician; rather, he is simply fascinated by math like many of you!

 One of his mathematical interests is prime numbers. In his TED Talk, Adam describes how "monster" prime numbers are discovered by mathematicians all over the world.

Why do you think "hunting" for "monster" primes is so fascinating? 

Would you be interested in helping hunt for monster primes?

In honor of April Fools...

In honor of April Fools' Day, check out this cool video on how to make your writing funnier!

Round Triangles..

Check out this cool video sent to me from Andrew C.!

Folding paper can get you to the moon??

Check out this awesome TedTalk video about how folder paper can get you to the moon...

1. How many times can you fold a paper? Try until the paper gets too small to be folded any further

2. Define exponential growth. How does it work?

3. How many times do I have to fold a piece of newspaper to get 0.008 inches if the original height of my newspaper is 0.002 inches high?


Credit to my fantastic high school student assistant, Matt Chan, for finding the video and writing the questions!

Hat Riddle!

Here's a new riddle..

Good luck!

RSA Encryption and Prime Numbers

Did you know that factoring is used everyday to keep your information online safe?

RSA encryption is the standard way that websites keep your information safe from hackers and thieves. For example, when your parents buy something online with a credit card, RSA encryption helps make sure that their credit card information is not stolen!

This is an awesome real-world application of factors.

Check out this cool Numberphile video to learn more:

Music is Math

Check out these cool videos - all the music and animation are generated through MATH and CODING!

Curious about how these videos were made? Check out this site which contains the program that was used.



Music Is Math from Glenn Marshall on Vimeo.

How to win at Rock Paper Scissors!

Have you ever played Rock Paper Scissors? Do you think it's purely up to chance or can there be strategy?
Check out this Numberphile video for some strategies on how to win...

Be sure to play the same during a break and let me know how it goes!

Math Fails!!!

Check out these funny math fails.  What makes these fails?  Have you seen any math fails? Post a comment!

#mathchallenge of the week from Instagram

If you have Instagram (and you are at home) post your answer on the post!  If you don't have Instagram (or are at school) post your answer as a comment here!

Math in the Real World: Pixar Movies!!!!

You know that math is all around us.  But did you know that math is used extensively when making movies?

Here is an incredible video that discusses how the animation studio Pixar (yes, the same Pixar of Toy Story and Finding Nemo fame!) uses math when producing their movies.

Watch the video and comment responding to the questions below!

1) What surprised you in the video?
2) What math mentioned in the video do you already know about?  What you don't already know about?
3) What would you like to learn more about after watching the video?

Copy Change Flip! Multiply by the reciprocal!

Why do these tricks work when dividing fractions?

In class, we discussed what a reciprocal is, and began discussing why it works.  You also wrote some blog posts answering why you think multiplying by the reciprocal works.

But here is a full explanation - in mathematical terms - on why multiplying by the reciprocal works.

Read the article and write a short summary on why multiplying by the reciprocal works when dividing fractions.  Then, write an example that demonstrates your understanding of the article.

Dots and Boxes

Have you ever played dots and boxes?  Here is a video that shows you how to win every time...

Awe

I saw this video at the EdTech Singapore Summit this weekend and was absolutely awed by it!  Check it out:

I'm happy to saw that I was awed quite recently.  I am taking a dive certification course and just last week I had my first pool dive.  My first breath underwater was AMAZING and I had to constantly remind myself that I was able to breathe at the bottom of a swimming pool!  It made me even more excited to go diving in the ocean next weekend.

When was the last time you were awed by something?

Share as a comment below!