Month:

What determines where leaves are positioned on branches?

  • September 9

Leaves are what plants use to gather sunlight, necessary for plants to grow and thrive. This means that it is to a plant's advantage if their leaves' position is such that all leaves receive the most possible sunlight - minimizing overlaps and shadow wherever possible! Different plants use different strategies and arrangements to make this happen, though there are some common trends across many different species. By using a protractor to measure the angles between leaves, we can tease out some o... CONTINUE READING

How tall is the Ad Astra sculpture?

  • September 9

Join Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics on a math walk. He uses the power of similar triangles to calculate the height of a giant sculpture inside the NorthPark Center. How can we estimate the height of the sculpture without getting a ladder? This video was supported by NorthPark Center. Supplementary Activity Guides for this video to extend student learning for K-12 grade levels are freely available here:... CONTINUE READING

What is the angle at the very top of the Ad Astra sculpture?

  • September 9

Join Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics on a math walk. With the help of friends, he attempts to estimate the angle at the top of this very tall angle at the top of the Ad Astra sculpture. This video was supported by NorthPark Center. Supplementary Activity Guides for this video to extend student learning for K-12 grade levels are freely available here: https://talkstem.org/talkst... CONTINUE READING

What Kinds of Angles Are There?

  • September 9

Angles can be found all around us, but what types of angles are there? We find various angles on UT Southwestern’s Medical Center to discuss! Join talkSTEM and UT Southwestern faculty and grad students as they explore the STEM concepts on their campus. You can freely print the angle-a-tron tool onto an acetate using this pdf: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JPfBIatPfkZzi... CONTINUE READING

How Does a Sundial Work?

  • September 9

Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor discusses the science behind sun dials, and how they work. You can create your own sun dial at home.... CONTINUE READING