World Maths Day

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Welcome to the March Newsletter

The ‘M’ in March Stands for ‘Maths’; 14th March is globally celebrated as ‘Pi Day’ or the international day of maths because that date is written as 3.14 (USA) and the mathematical constant Pi is approximately 3.14.

The International Day of Mathematics (IDM) coordinates celebrations and events across the globe, led by the International Mathematical Union with the support of numerous international and regional organizations.

The Theme for 2024 is “Playing with Maths” which taps into mathematical games, puzzles and other entertaining activities that help in exploring, experimenting, and discovering. It is an opportunity to explain and celebrate the essential role that mathematics and mathematics education play in breakthroughs in science and technology, improving the quality of life, empowering women and girls, and contribute to learning.

Get involved and participate in our Maths eyes - International Maths Day competition here.

You can gain some ideas by looking at some of our puzzle ideas and resources here.

You can put your event for ‘International Day of Maths’ on their map here such as  schools Gilford Primary School and Holy Cross College Strabane  in Northern Ireland and in the South, Our Lady’s School Terenure Dublin.  

Maths Eyes Challenge-International Maths Day.

There are also maths related events at Northern Ireland this month.

See below for details.

In this issue

• International Maths Day

• Spotlight- Albert Einstein

• Have you Got Maths Eyes-International maths day

• Events This month

• Maths Beyond the textbook with Douglas Buchanan

  
  

  On behalf of all the Maths Week team,

Eoin Gill

Maths Week Ireland Coordinator

Spotlight

This Month

South East Engineering Festival

News

Maths Week Team @ IMTA Conference

The IMTA celebrated its 60th Anniversary from 23rd to 25th February and the Maths Week team were honored to be invited to share the celebration. A gala dinner was held at the Castleknock Hotel on Friday followed by the conference on Saturday  in Maynooth University

The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Embedding Inclusion in the Maths Classroom’. Participants heard from researchers and practicing teachers with many great talks and workshops. Keynote speaker was Dr Aibhín Bray from Trinity College Dublin. We hope to be bringing you the best and brightest ideas from the presenters over the next few months.

Maths Beyond the Textbook

At schools, we are over halfway through the term and planning now begins on the end of term days and weeks and “holiday” work. This edition is, hopefully, building up your resources of ideas to keep the pupil interested in the subject.

Initially, I was an advocate for holiday work until I realised the pupils were returning to school begrudging me and losing interest in what they were doing in maths lessons. They missed out on a great deal of “life education” because of the many hours working at the kitchen table.

Here’s why holiday work assignments are not worth it

This article from Study.com puts the following argument forward:

“Homework has always been a controversial topic, but when it’s assigned over the holidays, it can spark even more debate. Let’s take a look at why holiday homework assignments are just not worth it.

While homework may have its benefits in certain situations, in others, it’s simply not necessary. One of these & others; is during holiday breaks from school—a time for students to take a break from their studies, spend time with family, and enjoy the true meaning of a holiday. Some teachers might think that holiday homework assignments are a good idea and a way to keep kids' brains sharp over a break, but in reality, kids typically get more than enough homework during the rest of the school year.

• Spending time with family is important

• Kids learn every day

• Many families travel during the holidays

• Students need a break

• Many parents do not agree with it”

My stance now is to introduce games, conundrums and other activities which has a

mathematical content. This newsletter gives you many ideas which can be used in the classroom and, more important, introduce to families so they are involved during the holidays.

Maths activities with an Easter theme

Transum has a compilation of activities covering the 8 to 13 age group.

Puzzle of the month

Counter Solitare (Henry Dudeney,1931)

This simplification of the board of the old game of solitaire lends itself to many entertaining little pastimes of patience. Copy the simple diagram on a sheet of paper or cardboard and use sixteen counters, numbered and placed as shown. The puzzle is to remove all but one counter by a succession of leaps.

A counter can leap over another adjoining it to the next square beyond, if vacant, and in making the leap you remove the one jumped over. But no leap can be made in a diagonal direction.

The following is a solution in eight moves: 5-13, (6-14,6-5),16-15, (3-11, 3-6),2-10,(8-7,8-16,8-3), (1-9, 1-2, 1-8), (4-12,4-1). This means that 5 leaps over 13 and 13 is removed, 6 then leaps over 14 and 14 are removed, and so on. The leaps within parentheses count as one move because the leaps are made with the same counter in succession. It will be seen that number 4 makes the last leap. Now try to find a solution, in seven moves, in which number I makes the last leap.

Let’s PlayTenzi and other dice games

As you are aware I am a great believer in increasing a pupil’s interest in maths, and one of the major solutions is playing games. Playing games with dice is not an expensive outlay with 100 dice being sold for less than £14 on EBAY.

Most dice games have simple rules but they help pupils practise maths facts, and develop a stronger understanding of whole numbers, fractions and decimals. No matter the age, we should always be building our children's number sense and flexibility with numbers.

The following websites have many examples of games andactivities and do encourage your pupils to create their own versions.

• We Teachers list 20 activities. The ones that caught my eye were No 14 “Block Out”, the traditional dice game, Shut The Box (number 10) and Tenzi (number 2).

• Choices for Children 16 activities

• Maths=Love Activities for pupils aged 9 – 14. Traditional games such as Martinetti, Tic Tac Toe dice game, Blocko.

End-of-term activities

Transum comes to the fore again with a wide range of activities which will give an uplift during the last days of the term, and maybe encourage the families to tackle some of the conundrums during the holiday.

Story books with a mathematical theme

The organisation Development and Research in Early Mathematics Education (DREME) writes:

“Storybooks provide a rich opportunity to build not only literacy skills, but also math understanding. Books with math concepts woven into the pictures and storylines can promote children’s mathematical thinking and introduce foundational math concepts such as numbers, shapes, patterns, and measurement. Asking questions and making observations about the math found in picture books can support children’s curiosity and enjoyment of math.

Like many engaging pieces of children’s literature, the math picture books recommended below contain fun and interesting storylines. Many are rooted in topics kids love(like animals, dinosaurs, magic, oceans, and more!).

The most important rule to keep in mind when selecting and reading a math picture book is to enjoy the stories and enjoy the children enjoying the stories! Read often, smile, and laugh.

Learn more tips for reading math picture books with young children in this blog post. If you’re a teacher educator, find tips for using math picture books in the classroom.”

COUNTER SOLITAIRE solution

Play in the following manner and all the counters except one will be removed in seven moves, and the final leap will be made by number 1, as required:2-10,4-12,6-5,3-6,7-15 (8-16,8-7,8-14, 8-3), (1-9, 1-2, 1-11, 1-8, 1-13, 1-4)