Integration Drawing Projects

So cool! Recreate a picture using integrals. Totally builds on the other work we had kids do making designs with functions in algebra I and pre-calc.

http://bowmandickson.com/2012/05/15/integration-drawing-projects-12/

Dragon Folding Patterns

http://bowmandickson.com/2012/07/14/math-circle-problem-folding-dragons/#more-1686

Cool pattern finding - not your usual pattern hunt. Plus I like the kinesthetic entry point--kids can think about the pattern in terms of how they're folding it, not just in terms of some of the "usual" pattern finding strategies.

The World as You've Never Seen It Before

http://www.worldmapper.org

Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.

How Many Stories?

The Storymatic claims to have six trillion stories in one box. For real?

http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?type=finalSale&productId=prod240087

From the description:

There are a million stories in the naked city, and even more in this little box. Ingeniously simple, this set of cards is designed to spark a tale, inspire a skit or just get the creative juices flowing. Each player draws 2 gold cards (occupations and character traits) and 1 or 2 copper cards (situations and objects), to set the story in motion. Where it goes next is up to you.

• A game, a teaching tool and a creative catalyst, all in one
• 540 cards (270 each of character traits/occupations and situations/objects) can be combined in endless ways
• Perfect for road trips, rainy days and impromptu improv nights

And should we talk about how the 540 cards can be combined in "endless" ways? 

Is the Google Offer worth it?

This came from some real-life math I was doing today as I was trying to book at flight from SFO to Chicago. Google Offers had a deal on airfare (on Virgin America): $50 for 50% off your next flight (round-trip or one-way). 50% off--awesome! But how good of a deal is this? Is this Google Offer always worth buying? How can you tell when it's worth it and when it's not? Is there a situation where it could even end up costing you more to use this Google Offer? How can we create a model to tell us when this Google Offer is worth it, and when it's not.

To complicate matters, this offer came out at the same time that I also happened to have a coupon for Virgin America--a coupon that I got for free from an online promotion--for 20% off my next flight. How does this change when it's worth it and when it's not worth it to buy the Google offer? How does it change the model?

Use multiple representations to explain your solutions (t-table, graph, equation, etc.)

Russian Stacking Dolls

Proportional reasoning meets volume, maybe? There have gotta be some connections between growth factors in 1, 2, and 3-dimensions. 

Also, just some cool pattern finding and different methods for problem solving.

http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=10211&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dydan1+%28dy%2Fdan+posts+%2B+lessons%29

More Than $1800 in Savings

This month's Costco coupon book says on the front "More than $1800 in savings, plus more than $3500 in online savings from Costco.com." Wow, what a good deal?

I'm curious to know how this is calculated. I only counted 76 in-store coupons, most with a savings of under $5. I'd love to talk to kids about the marketing strategy behind Costco's assertion, as well as just how much money you'd have to actually spend in order to save $1800 (or $3500!).