Maths Week Newsletter April 12/04/24

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Welcome to the April Newsletter

Dear Readers,


We hope that you had an enjoyable Easter Break,


The April Spring brings us back to school with many exciting events and activities throughout the month.


We would like to thank you all those who participated and supported the recent Engineers Week and Maths eyes - International Maths Day competition.

Once again we have Maths Beyond the Textbook by Douglas Buchanan. If you dont read to the end of this newsletter you are missing a monthly treat of maths musings, ideas, puzzles and wisdom garnered over a lifetime of teaching. Unfortunately Douglas has decided to finally end his famous in-school challenges, but thankfully he will still be coming to Maths Week Ireland with his popular presentations.

In this issue

  • Maths Eyes Tagline Competition

  • ‘Fun Maths’-  Izak9 Cubes project

  • Spotlight- Leonhard Euler

  • Mathematician of the month

  • Sci Fest 2024

  • Events This month

  • Maths week team at Engineers week

  • Maths Beyond the textbook with Douglas Buchanan


    On behalf of all the Maths Week team,

Eoin Gill

Maths Week Ireland Coordinator

IDM Maths Eyes Tagline Competition

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of our Maths Eyes tagline competition on International Maths Day. There was a great response with 399 recorded entries.

€100 vouchers are on the way to…

Follow us on TikTok!

Spotlight

This Month

Online seminar: Playful Approaches to Mathematics in Senior Primary

23 April 7pm

Read more

Upcoming


Robert Boyle Summer School


ICEDIM Women in Mathematics Day 2024

News

Maths Week Team @ Engineers Week

Engineers Week was held from the 2nd to the 8th of March across the island. The week is designed to introduce primary and secondary school children to the diverse world of engineering.  The event encourages engineering organizations to collaborate with their local schools through various activities to interact with the students. This combination of professional expertise and learning-by-doing inspires children to see how engineering is part of everyday life.


The Maths Week team was involved in setting up multiple problem-solving workshops across the South East for students between the ages of 8-16 with activities such as Making their own mini robot (DrawBot/ BrushBot) Workshop, Structures Workshops, Additive Manufacturing: 3D Printing, Social Robotics,an online Bridge Design Competition. Industrial kits to ‘Build your own Mini robots’ were also sent to schools across the South East of the island.  

Read More

Maths Beyond the Textbook

This is going to be a short newsletter because most of you will be enjoying the restful time during the Easter break.


The end of an era


I have decided to close my maths challenge programme in May 2024. There is always a time in one’s life to complete a project when on a high. I will still be involved with Maths Week Ireland and Maths Week England and continue with these newsletters.


In the near future, I hope I can offer a programme of presentations for large groups of young mathematicians involving maths puzzles and maths magic.


Puzzle of the month (from Dudeney’s publication)


OUT AND HOME


Colonel Crackham says that his friend, Mr. Wilkinson, walks from his country house into the neighbouring town at the rate of five miles per hour, and, because he is a little tired, he makes the return journey at the rate of three miles per hour. The double journey takes him exactly seven hours. Can you tell me the distance from his house to the town?


April Fool!


Math Class Shadow = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blOrY-nEGaE
Internet Connection error = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiNrkWKIkd0


Fun maths facts for kids


MamaTeaches has laid outa list of interesting facts and there are lists of maths games and puzzles.


Learning math doesn’t have to be a chore! Discover some math facts that will delight your students!


Interesting Math Facts


Learning your math facts can require memorizing lists of numbersthat are added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided. That is not interesting atall; it is an exercise in memorization. But numbers can surprise you. Read onfor some interesting math facts that will delight your students.


Fun Math Facts


Check out this list of fun math facts. Some of these facts aremore interesting than others, but all will have you see the wonder in math.


1) Every Odd Number Has the Letter “E”


This math fact is strange but true. It only holds true for English, however. Think about it. Look at these odd numbers:


  • One

  • Three

  • Five

  • Seven

  • Nine


What do they all have in common? The letter “e”. Some even numbers also contain the letter “e”, but not all (think of two, four, and six).


2) The Opposite Faces on a Die Add Up to 7


If you roll a die and it comes up with 1, you know the opposite side is a 6. Why?


Because the opposite sides of the die always add up to 7. You can look like a real mind reader when someone rolls a 3. (Because you know the opposite side must be 4). The same is true for 2 and 5.


A Number Is Divisible by 3 If Its Digits Add Up to a Multiple of 3

You can also do a quick trick to see if a number is divisible by 3.


First, you have to know the multiples of 3: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, etc.


If you have a large number, like 312, you can tell if it is divisible by 3 by adding its digits.


3 + 1 + 2 = 6


Since 6 is a multiple of 3, 312 is divisible by 3.


3) You Can Use Your Fingers to Learn Your 9s Times Tables


Place both hands palms down in front of you.


Consider the problem 9 x 1. (Think: 1 = “first”)


Place your first finger down (that is the pinky of your lefthand).

How many fingers are to the left of your pinky? 0

How many fingers are to the right of your pinky? 9

9 x 1 = 09 (or more simply, 9)

  Now try 9 x 2. (Think: 2 = “second”)

Place your second finger down (that is the ring finger of yourleft hand).

How many fingers to the left of your ring finger? 1

  How many fingers to the right? 8

o 9 x 2 = 18


It works for every math fact from 9 x 1 to 9 x 10.

2 Is the Only Even Prime Number

A prime number is a number divisible only by 1 and itself. Thefirst five prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11.

2 is a prime number because its only factors are 2 and 1.

Every other even number has 2 as a factor (so it can’t be prime)!

When You Multiply Numbers with 1s, Weird Things Happen

Here is a weird math phenomenon:


1 x 1 = 1


11 x 11 = 121


111 x 111 = 12321


1111 x 1111 = 1234321


11111 x 11111 = 123454321


It just goes on and on like that!


Adding 9 Will Knock the Number Down

Adding 9 can be tricky to learn, but not when you think about it this way.

Say you have the problem 9 + 7.

Knock the number 7 down by 1; you get 6.

Now add 10: 16

  • 9 + 7 = 16

  • It works every time. Consider this bigger problem:

  • 9 + 63

  • Knock 63 down by 1: 62.

  • Now add 10: 72.

  • 9 + 63 = 72

If a Number Is Divisible by 9, All Its Digits Add Up to a Multiple of 9

This is one of the fun math facts that resembles the 3s trick,

You can tell if a number is divisible by 9 if all its digits add up to 9.

  • 36: 3 + 6 = 9

  • 108: 1 + 0 + 8 = 9

  • 990: 9 + 9 + 0 = 18

When You Add or Multiply, the Answer Is the Same No Matter the order

This is another interesting math fact (it’s called the commutative property).


When you multiply a string of numbers, they can be in any order. The answer is the same.

6 x 8 = 48 and 8 x 6 = 48

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10 and 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 10

Learning them is not only interesting, but it will also make your students better at math!


You May Also Like:


•                             Apple Addition Digital Math Game

•                             11 Math Board Games for Kids

•                             10 Multiplication Games for Kids Who Hate Math


Puzzle solution – out and home


The distance must be 13⅛ miles, so he walked into the town in 2⅝ hours and returned in 4⅜ hours, making 7 hours, as stated.


And finally …


The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.