POWs Week 3

Submissions are due by the end of the day on Friday, September 30th.  Make sure to scan your work and put it in your Mathematics/POW folder with a name of LASTNAMEWeek2.  See me with questions.  You may work with a partner but make sure you note that on your submission and you both must submit a copy for credit.

Algebra 1 - POW3
Geometry - POW3

Science Friday Math Stories

Check 'em out. Link.

Mr. J, can I make one of your puzzles?

Why, yes you can!  You just need a piece of plywood (1/8"x12"x12"), 15 minutes and access to the Ciongoli Center for Innovation.  I have saved my files in a folder in "documents" named "Johnson".

To make a puzzle, you need to print two different files.  A greenblue file and a red file.

The greenblue file is to raster (engrave) the wood with words and designs.  It also includes a vector pass which outlines letters for emphasis and draws simple lines quickly on the surface of the wood.   Note: rastering takes a long time and is impractical for drawing thin lines - much better to go with fast speed vectoring!

The red file does the real cutting (through the wood) and is typically done after the greenblue print.

The settings I use for the two prints:

greenblue:  Raster 100% speed / 100% power    
                    Vector  100% speed / 100% power

red: Raster Off  
        Vector 10% speed / 100% power

After printing, my puzzles usually require gluing.  Make sure you take your time and are as precise as possible with alignment as a small mistake will send your puzzle to the trash heap.

Hope you give it a try!  Let me know how it goes.
Ed

Stewart Coffin, the geometry genius behind the puzzles

He designed most of the puzzles I find the most clever and counterintuitive.  See this article about the life and work of Stewart Coffin Link.  Also, Indiana University has an extensive puzzle collection (I must go!) and a database of 496 Stewart Coffin puzzles can be found here.

POW - Week 2

Submissions are due by the end of the day on Friday, September 23rd.  Make sure to scan your work and put it in your Mathematics/POW folder with a name of LASTNAMEWeek2.  See me with questions.  You may work with a partner but make sure you note that on your submission and you both must submit a copy for credit.

Algebra Week 2 - Link

Geometry Week 2 - Link

Fluency leads to Understanding

Great piece on how mathematical fluency relates to skills, procedures and conceptual understanding.  It's no surprise that it requires practice and chunking to develop proficiency.  Link.