SamizdatMath

To quote Charles Dickens (from The Pickwick Papers) “What fresh misery is this?” This is what happens when you have time on your hands and you’re thinking to yourself, “well, how can I bring bles’sed torment unto my students this week?” Many (many) years ago I had a student in my sixth grade class (you probably had them) who would respond to any “do now” problem with a quick look and the brag “oh, this is so easy!” And then after fumbling his way through 3 or 4 methods, all featuring a lapse of

Think about it: the average American eats over 40 slices of pizza a year; if you live to be 80, and assuming you start at around 5 years old, this is 75 years of pizza x 40 slices per year, or 3,000 slices in your lifetime! Since this delicious food is such an important part of our life, doesn't it make sense that we understand everything there is about the economics of buying pizza? This is a series of activities that examines the economics of pizza in several different ways. First, it shows

Teach your students the importance of ratios and unit rates.

Note: this is the same as the "winter theme three part number logic puzzles," but with "silly icons" instead of "winter icons." This is a sequel to Silly Creatures Number Logic Puzzles, a fun little booklet that your students can put together in about 3 minutes and features 2 kinds of objects to decipher. This version involves three different objects to interpret, which will really give them something fun to do and most likely fry their brains by working logically - and because this is somethin

This is a collection of 12 different division reasoning problems that require your students to understanding through written explanations. No, it doesn't mean your students are going to explain the long division algorithm by writing about the steps they took to solve the problem. First of all, who cares? Second of all, it doesn't really show a mastery of the concept of division; it only shows they have memorized the steps in an algorithm that is totally unnecessary to memorize in an age of calcu

"STOP THAT ZOMBIE! is a truly "hands on" approach to working with addition and subtraction, with links to algebra, patterns and problem solving. The basic puzzle is simple: using the numbers 1- 6, distribute them around a triangle so that each side adds up to 9 (thus, trapping the zombie in his cage!) Where it gets really cool is this: you can arrange those same 6 numbers to add up to 10, 11, and 12 on each side. But the fun doesn't end there: you can differentiate this by using the numbers 2 -

You see those gift cards hanging on the rack near the checkout counter? Well, they're a total ripoff, and this activity will show your students once and for all why they should just never, ever buy them. And maybe you won't either! Using a listing of 4 different values of gift cards from a popular "big box" store (whose name shall not be named here, except for the fact that they pay their employees substandard wages, prevent them from unionizing and then encourage them to go on food stamps....)

We are reflective teachers who embrace the CCSS Standards for Mathematical Practice. We are committed teachers who want to take the magic out of mathematics and focus on the beauty of sense-making. We wish for teachers everywhere to seek coherence and connection rather than offer students memorized procedures and short-cutting tricks. Students are capable of rich conceptual understanding; don't rob them of the opportunity to experience the discovery of new concepts. We acknowledge that this is

"Trap That Turkey" is a truly "hands on" approach to working with addition and subtraction, with links to algebra, patterns and problem solving. The basic puzzle is simple: using the numbers 1- 6, distribute them around a triangle so that each side adds up to 9 (thus, trapping the turkey in the pen!) Where it gets really cool is this: you can arrange those same 6 numbers to add up to 10, 11, and 12 on each side. But the fun doesn't end there: you can differentiate this by using the numbers 2 -

Stop That Rat! ? Why would anyone want to "stop that rat?" Well, because it's really fun to watch your students work on this puzzle, which comes in gritty color as well as black and white. 63 pages of rat fun! Seriously, the basic puzzle is simple: take the disks which are numbered 1 - 6, and arrange them on the board so that each side adds up to 9. However, things get very interesting when you find out that you can re-arrange the 6 numbers to add up to 10, 11 and 12. But it gets better than th