## Concepts vs procedures

A persistent topic in mathematics education is whether to focus on conceptual or procedural knowledge. After reading Kris Boulton’s recent post that argues, “It depends,” I found myself thinking about the disconnect between arithmetic and algebra. What is needed to understand…

## Graphing and the coordinate plane

Dan Meyer’s latest post is on an exercise involving using a gridless coordinate plane to place fruit along two dimensions. The goal is a worthy one: To give students the opportunity to explore what the coordinate plane is without getting tied…

## Writing Rationals with the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic

The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic says that all integers greater than one can be written uniquely as the product of prime numbers. Another way of stating this is that, if $$P = (p_1, p_2, p_3, …)$$ is the (infinite) set…

## A trio of math limericks

Inspired by Math with Bad Drawings, here a trio of my own limerick creations: Two circles surrounding a square Was more than the poor thing could bear. It made itself fetal ‘Til planar was hedral. Cylindrical nets are a snare!…

## Transformations as Functions

Most high school geometry textbooks will proclaim that there are four basic transformations. Three of these (translations, reflections, and rotations) are rigid transformations; the resulting copy (image) is congruent to the original version (pre-image). Here are examples: The first example…

## Multiplication Table Slide Rule

Using Publisher, I’ve created a slide rule for multiplication tables (up to 10×10). To use it: — Print it out and cut along the dotted line. — Move the 1 on the bottom part to any single digit on the…

## Town Squares problem

A friend of mine, a father, recently posted this item on his Facebook feed. It’s from Pearson, and he was struggling figuring it out. I also had to read it several times to figure it out. This is a large…

## The Geometric Proof of Infinite Primes

I was recently wondering why Euclid, the geometer, published a proof that there is an infinite number of primes. I should have known that his proof is geometric. It is: “Let A, B, and C be distinct lengths that cannot be…