Recently, the family and I were taking in an afternoon in Boulder, CO. After taking in a lunch at the lovely Dushanbe Tea Room we took a stroll along Boulder Creek. Right by a retaining wall stands this object. This monument demarcates how high the waters rise for a flood of various magnitude. Zooming in … Continue reading Just how high was the Big Thompson Flood? And how often will a flood like that occur?
If the sun is an 8 foot diameter balloon, what is Pluto?
Artifacts The following clips are cribbed from Nova: The Pluto Files in which Neil deGrasse Tyson sets up a model of the heavenly bodies of our solar system, comparing their sizes relative to the sun and each other. Not all of the clips were able to be chopped to give the appropriate bleep sound. So we … Continue reading If the sun is an 8 foot diameter balloon, what is Pluto?
Let them get it wrong: Caloric Quandary
Artifact & Facilitation I must have cylinders on the brain. Maybe because they're actually one of the few traditional geometric shapes that we actually interact with on a regular basis? Maybe it's because they're readily measured? Anyway, here have a Coke can and one of those mini-Coke cans. Though it's dependent on you exactly what … Continue reading Let them get it wrong: Caloric Quandary
CNET has some TV viewing size/distance recommendations.
Feels like there's a similarity (and a lot of other stuff) type problem in here. Artifact From CNET: In a perfect videophile world, you'd want to sit no closer than 1.5 times the screen's diagonal measurement, and no farther than twice that measurement to the TV. For example, for a 50-inch TV, you'd sit between … Continue reading CNET has some TV viewing size/distance recommendations.
Red Solo Cup / I Lift You Up / Let’s Find the Volume! / Let’s Find the Volume!
Hat tip to @mathhombre. Artifact The red Solo cup, apparently. Guiding Questions What are those little markings between 12 oz and "Top Me Off, Bro"? Can you use proportions to find it? Similar polygons? Volume? Help me out here. Can I have a ruler? Can I use Geogebra to diagram this? Wait, can't I just … Continue reading Red Solo Cup / I Lift You Up / Let’s Find the Volume! / Let’s Find the Volume!
The Pizza Casbah 30-inch pizza challenge
This is a picture of a single slice of pizza from my favorite pizza place in Fort Collins, Pizza Casbah. My god that looks amazing. I’m getting hungry just looking at it. This is a picture of an entire Pizza Casbah, 18-inch pizza (presumably, that means the diameter of the pizza is 18 inches): It … Continue reading The Pizza Casbah 30-inch pizza challenge
Pythagoras and Pele; Gooooooooooooaaaaaaaa… (to be continued)
…ooooaaaaalllll! There’s about a hundred different ways you could use the following artifacts to construct a lesson around Pythagorean’s Theorem. So I’ll just toss out all the artifacts and let you, esteemed teacher, take it from there. I’d love to get feedback and suggestions on how to implement these materials in the comments below. Artifacts … Continue reading Pythagoras and Pele; Gooooooooooooaaaaaaaa… (to be continued)
emergent math 