Fibonacci -- Italian Mathematician

Born about 1170, Leonardo Pisano or Leonardo of Pisa or Leonardo Bonacci or Leonardo Fibonacci, is one of the most well known Italian mathematicians. Although it is believed he was never known as Fibonacci during his life. Since Hazel and I have been exploring Italy this month, I thought I would share an Italian mathematician as well. He was educated in North Africa where his father, Guilielmo, was a diplomat. Fibonacci introduced Europe to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system as well as what is now called the Fibonacci Sequence (although it was discovered earlier in India). The Fibonacci Sequence or Fibonacci Numbers are probably what Leonardo is best known for. They are easy enough numbers that young children can pick it up. There are many great books about Fibonacci and his numbers available that are appropriate for Hazel. Here are some we found at the library.

Mathematical Art: DIY Fibonacci Spiral and My Big News

 

I have BIG NEWS!! My life is changing. After leaving teaching high school math sixteen years ago to get married and focus on family, I am going back to the classroom full time in the fall. Then on top of that news I have been helping out four days a week in the school's directed learning center since someone left at the end of April. My life has been a bit different, and you can tell by the number of posts I have been doing. This will mean some changes to Crafty Moms Share, but I am not sure the extent yet. I will change my focus to more math-based posts but am hoping to still review some books, especially math focused ones and young adult ones so I can connect with my students. I will also be doing more origami, so be ready for review of origami products. 

Math Lessons: Math in Nature

Today I am sharing some books to combine math with nature. Now as a math teacher I know the importance of seeing math everywhere. It allows the student to really see why mathematics was invented. People needed to understand the world around them and mathematics helped them do this. 

Mathematical Dates & Exponents -- Math Lesson

As I was listening to the radio today I heard the deejay talk about the special date today and I'll admit it had not occurred to me. However I realized it was the perfect time for some math lessons!! Some dates are special mathematically. Many people enjoy the sequential ones like December 13, 2015 (12/13/14). However there are other special dates. February 4, 2016 is a special one. When it is written in numbers it is 2-4-16. Can you find the relationship?

Pythagorean Theorem Fun -- DIY Mathematical Art

 

As I continue to think about my new job in September and plan for what I want to hang in my classroom, I am exploring the Pythagorean Theorem. The Pythagorean Theorem is probably one of the most well-known or well-remembered theorem in math. It is often taught in both algebra and geometry. In algebra it lends to working with exponents and roots and in geometry with triangles. I have seen memes saying how people did not use the Pythagorean theorem today, but I have also been told by many people that they have used it in their lives from building a new deck and woodwork to programming and more. Although math has real life applications and was mostly discovered to explain the world, much of math is taught to help develop the brain of our children. In high school the brain is just beginning to truly develop its logic skills and math is huge in helping with this. The Pythagorean theorem also is mentioned (incorrectly) in the Wizard of Oz. Yes, it is this famous!

Although it is named for the Greek mathematician, Pythagoras, it was known throughout the world before his time. It is referenced in Ancient Egypt and Babylon (around 1900 BC). Apparently, it did not become as well known until Pythagoras stated it. There are many proofs of this theorem and some of them like the one below is a visual proof.

The History of Zero--Asian Pacific American Heritage Blog Series and Giveaway Post

This post is part of the Asian-Pacific American Heritage Blog Series and Giveaway on Multicultural Kid Blogs. You can enter the giveaway at the end of the post. There is a link party for all Asian-Pacific American Heritage posts on Multicultural Kid Blogs. We also have a link party for Japan posts in our Global Learning for Kids this month. Next month will be India.

History of Zero:

Can you imagine a world without zero? Or perhaps you wonder why we need to represent nothing at all? For centuries there was no mark or symbol of zero. The history of the number zero begins in Asia. It is believed that the first people to have a symbol for zero were the Babylonians. The Babylonians had inherited the counting system of the Sumerians which was the first to have a symbol instead of hash marks for each number.

Around 1450 B.C. By Свифт/Svift (my work) 
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Pi Day Activities for Different Ages

 

On March 14, mathematicians and much of the world celebrate Pi Day. Since the approximation of the number pi is 3.14, March 14th was picked for the day. It was first celebrated in 1988 in San Francisco. As a math teacher I get excited for Pi Day, however our school is always on spring break on March 14th so I don't get to celebrate it with my students. This year I thought I would do a round-up of Pi Day activities and try to share ones for different age groups since much of what I see are for younger kids and I teach high school. Be sure to start your celebration with some pi jokes and riddles like these. Some of the Best Things in Life Are Mistakes shares a round-up of free Pi Day decorations! By the way Pi Day is also Albert Einstein's birthday. You can also have a birthday celebration for Albert!

Discovery Math Activities Round-Up

I saw a meme on Facebook that says: "Think you're bored? When Sir Isaac Newton invented calculus it was during the plague. Do you have any idea how bored you have to be to invent calculus?" Now the truth is Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a German mathematician, published the same discoveries around the exact same time as Isaac Newton. Each mathematician claimed the other stole his ideas, but it is believed that both actually discovered the same thing separately around the same time. (For more about Isaac Newton click here and I share a little more about both men here.) 

NEW this week--Middle grade books Plus a GIVEAWAY!

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Yesterday I shared two new this week picture books and today I have two new this week middle grade novels to share. Middle grade novels have a recommendation for ages 7 to 12. One of the books is a mystery having to do with sports and the other is a multicultural book about family, friends, and math. Plus there is a giveaway for one of them. We are going to start with Danny Chung Sums It Up by Maisie Chan and illustrated by Natelle Quek. This book is recommended for ages 8-12.

The Math Inspectors Series Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a set of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As a high school math teacher, I love finding fun ways to share math with kids. Recently I have been reading Learning to Love Math by Judy Willis, M.D. In it she mentions how math is the one school subject that conjures up a series of emotions for most people and usually they are negative. I cannot tell you how many times people tell me they can't do math or hated math when they find out I'm a math teacher. One of the things Dr. Willis mentions is we need to change this in society. We need to stop telling kids that adults didn't do well or hate math. Parents, teachers, coaches, etc. are giving kids permission to not do well in math and to not really try. So please if you are one of the people who does not like math or didn't do well, please keep it to yourself. Don't give kids the permission to be like you. It is something we are working on at our school this year. With that said I get to share a great series of middle grades mystery novels about a bunch of math loving students who use their math to solve mysteries!! The series is The Math Inspectors by Daniel Kenney and Emily Boever.  This series is recommended for ages 9 to 12.

Fun & Useful Math Books for Different Ages

 

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today we get to talk about one of my favorite subjects! MATH!! As a former high school math teacher, I always love talking math. My life has been a bit busier because I have been volunteering and subbing at the high school end of Hazel's school. My volunteer work is helping kids with their math and sometimes even being in the classroom as an extra adult to help. I love it! It feels good to be back in the classroom and especially without all the grading and politics! Today I am going to share four books that involve math, and they range for ages 7 through adult. We will start with the origami book. Origami is a fun activity to bring into the math classroom and there are so many math applications involved. The book There's Math in My Origami! 35 Fun Projects for Hands-On Math Learning by Fumiaki Shingu, shows how math can be taught in the origami projects. It is recommended for ages 7+.

What Are Frozen Fractals? A Lesson on Fractals to Go with Disney's Frozen Movie and Let It Go Song

Hazel and I LOVE Disney's movie Frozen. We are constantly listening to the soundtrack in our car. One of our favorite songs from the movie is Let It Go. If you have not heard the song or seen the movie you can
check out the song from the actual movie (with movie scenes) from Disney's website.

Sharing Saturday 15-13

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! There were so many incredible ideas shared. I had a very hard time choosing features this week. There were just too many I wanted to feature! I decided on some favorites (including Women's History Month and spring posts), Easter Features and Painting Features (it seemed like many people had different ideas on painting this past week). These are just a sampling, so please go back and check out the other amazing ideas. I know I found many I want to try.

Exploring Italy

By Map of Italy-it.svg: F l a n k e r 
(File:Map of Italy-it-2.svg) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

This month we have chosen to explore Italy. Hazel really enjoys exploring a country each month. We explore by reading books about the country and stories from the country, listening to music from the country, cooking and trying food from the country and making crafts. I chose Italy this month since we are going on our own and Steve is Italian. I figured it would be fun for Hazel to learn more about where half her ancestors come from plus Steve and his mother tell her a bit about Italy and Italian all the time. We started with some books from the library about Italy.

Mesmerizing Math -- Book Review

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Yesterday was the big math day known as Pi Day. It occurs on every March 14 since the irrational number pi is round off to be 3.14. And of course this year was even more special since if you round it off a few more digits later it is 3.1416 and thus the date 3/14/16 or March 14, 2016. Since I have already shared the Multicultural History of Pi, Activities for Pi Day and Where Pi is Taking Us in past years, I did not share any new Pi Day post. However it seems appropriate to share a fun math book this week with you. Now last week I shared a book comparing the Eastern parenting styles to the Western parenting styles and asked the question of why many Asians perform better in math and science fields than non-Asians. One of the big answers was that the Asian parents really push math at a young age. The book also discussed that the use of exploring mathematics does not work for all children and that in the Asian culture children are taught how to do the math and have it drilled in to their heads with worksheets and such. This book does not do that. In fact I would say Mesmerizing Math by Jonathan Litton and illustrated by Thomas Flintham is the perfect book that will let kids explore some of the more fun aspects of math.