DNA is the molecule used to store genetic information in living things. Despite the vast amount of information it stores, DNA is physically very small, curled and bunched up thousands of times – in fact, if DNA was fully stretched out, it would be incredibly long! We make calculations of just how long here. Join talkSTEM and UT Southwestern faculty and grad students as they explore the STEM concepts on their campus.... CONTINUE READING
Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor admires the unique grid up high above this space. Some questions that you get to explore are: What are louvers, and why are they useful?Can you identify other natural or man-made items which perform the same function or purpose as the louvers at the Winspear Opera House? What are the attributes of a quadrilateral, of a parallelogram? How could you measure the length of an object that is a far away fr... CONTINUE READING
Library bookshelves are filled with fantastic books – but is there any quick and easy way to estimate how many are in a given area? Join us as we discuss our solution!... CONTINUE READING
Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor discusses the differences between a labyrinth and a maze and poses the math questions that directly relate to the design of a labyrinth, which is a winding path that never repeats, and yet has only one route that can take you from the outer edge to the center. How do you design a labyrinth? How many different labyrinths could there be or is this the only one?... CONTINUE READING
The sculpture Undulating X is constructed from metal in the shape of a giant chromosome, a discrete spool of DNA within a cell. But if a chromosome were actually this size, rather than microscopic, how big would the person who it belongs to be? Math can help us figure that out. Join talkSTEM and UT Southwestern faculty and grad students as they explore the STEM concepts on their campus.... CONTINUE READING
There’s a pattern of overlapping circles in the ground pavement around the medical center – but is there any way to estimate how many circles there are? We investigate a few different methods of figuring it out! Join talkSTEM and UT Southwestern faculty and grad students as they explore the STEM concepts on their campus.... CONTINUE READING
Renzo Piano, the architect who designed the stunning Nasher Sculpture Center, had a favorite ratio that becomes a repeating motif in the design and the measurements of the building. How can we figure it out? Join Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor, as he (together with a group of friends) takes some quick measurements to figure this out. Supplementary Activity Guides for this video to extend student learning for K-12 grade levels are... CONTINUE READING
Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor estimates how many people could potentially fit in the arena for an event.... CONTINUE READING
Estimation, quantity, and scale help us understand aspects of the world around us that we can’t always interact with directly – these tools help us understand large objects and numbers, and ways to represent them. We discuss the questions students at the St. Philip’s School and Community Center posed within this math theme to show just how intuitive this can be! This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL 2115393. Any opinions, findings, an... CONTINUE READING
Scouts love visiting Camp Whispering Cedars for its amazing ropes course – great for bonding and pushing new boundaries! The course features a zip line, ropes bridge, climbing wall, and a towering three-person swing. The swing made us wonder – exactly how high is someone pulled to start the swing? In order to figure this out, we use shadows and similar triangles. Supplementary Activity Guides for this video to extend student learning for K-12 grade levels are freely available here:... CONTINUE READING