MathPickle
85 Followers
Alberta, Canada
About the store
Gordon Hamilton (MMath, PhD) is a mathematician and board game designer. He founded MathPickle.com in 2010 to inject hard, fun problems, puzzles and mini-competitions into math classrooms world wide. In the last year he has been featured twice in the New York Times. In November 2013, he co-hosted a conference of mathematicians and educators to select thirteen curricular unsolved problems of mathematics - one for each grade K-12. In 2015 he will be co-hosting a conference on integer sequences in the math classroom.
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Programs & methods
Lazy Lemur Multiplication
Lazy Lemur Multiplication keeps students aware and focussed as they use the standard multiplication algorithm. Too often I was seeing students just blindly jumping into an algorithm and then letting their mind wander. Sloppy work was the result. Lazy Lemur Multiplication keeps students on their toes as they must stop the standard algorithm midway-through if they see an unwanted digit.
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Standards for Mathematical Practice:
All MathPickle puzzles including Lazy Lemur
3rd - 6th
Arithmetic, Math
CCSS
4.NBT.B.5
, 5.NBT.B.5
Animal Subtraction ($500 challenges)
Animal Subtraction is beautiful for all children learning equations like 7-3 = 4. While the bulk of your class learns subtraction, your top students will be engaged by tough problem solving. There are also puzzle-sheets which require harder subtraction problems like 35 - 21 = 14.
The 45 minute time is what I've listed for the time, but you could easily do animal subtraction once a week for a month. Many students benefit from creating their own puzzles, and others will enjoy looking for gener
2nd - 4th
Arithmetic, Math
Ballast - multiplication puzzle with $100 classroom challenge
Each multiplication puzzle consists of three warships that need to be loaded with ballast so that they are balanced. Unfortunately this is impossible for one of the ships - it will keel over and sink no matter what you do. The other two ships can be loaded with ballast so they are nicely balanced.
Multiplication difficulty ranges from easy (2 x 3 = 6) to hard (13 x 17 = 221).
Problem solving difficulty ranges from easy to open ended.
3rd - 5th
Arithmetic, Basic Operations
A little bit of Aggression - Subtraction Game ($500 challenge)
"A little bit of Aggression" is a great way to give a classroom practice with subtraction while engaging your top students in tough problem solving. Think of it as a superior variant of Risk. There are a number of critical differences: 1) Armies do not move and 2) Armies attack into a neighbouring area and win if their total value is greater than the defender. The subtraction enters play in setting up armies.
It could be the only thing that students do in math class for grade 2 or 3, and I
1st - 4th
Arithmetic, Math
Ballast - addition puzzle with $100 classroom challenge
Each addition puzzle consists of three warships that need to be loaded with ballast so that they are balanced. Unfortunately this is impossible for one of the ships - it will keel over and sink no matter what you do. The other two ships can be loaded with ballast so they are nicely balanced.
Addition difficulty ranges from easy (1 + 4 = 5) to hard (59 + 69 + 25 = 153).
Problem solving difficulty ranges from easy to open ended.
1st - 3rd
Arithmetic, Basic Operations
Aggression X - Multiplication Game
This game reminds me a little bit of risk. There are big differences: 1) Armies don't move. 2) If allied armies neighbour an enemy space they may attack by multiplying their strength together.
I'm happy with it, but I'd love to know what you think. For a limited time I'm offering this at a beta-testers special rate.
The game is based on Eric Solomon's 1973 game, Aggression.
3rd - 5th
Arithmetic, Math
Showing 1-6 of 6 results
About the store
Experience
Gordon Hamilton (MMath, PhD) is a mathematician and board game designer. He founded MathPickle.com in 2010 to inject hard, fun problems, puzzles and mini-competitions into math classrooms world wide. In the last year he has been featured twice in the New York Times. In November 2013, he co-hosted a conference of mathematicians and educators to select thirteen curricular unsolved problems of mathematics - one for each grade K-12. In 2015 he will be co-hosting a conference on integer sequences in the math classroom.
Teaching style
All students, especially the top ones, should experience failure every day. Doing this in a light-hearted way helps remove the stigma of failure from the classroom. I fail in front of my students regularly. It's okay. I get over it. So will they ;-)
Awards & shining teacher moments
No honors or awards yet for MathPickle, but the uplifting testimonials and emails from educators make up for the lack of official recognition. Here is a sample:
"Hi Gordon, I stumbled upon your site, MathPickle.com, this morning and two hours later I'm still there. Just wanted to drop you a brief note to say thank you for all the great resources, ideas, and inspiring videos! I can't wait to use some these materials this Fall with my elementary mathematics methods students as well as try the unsolved problems with my two children. Thank you, Amy Tanner (Assistant Professor, Education Department, St. Catherine University)"
My own education history
BSc
(1988, University of Calgary)
MMath
(1990, University of Waterloo)
PhD
(1996, University of Calgary)
Additional biographical information
Gordon lives with his 6 year old daughter and 9 year old son in Calgary, Canada.
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