Month:

Why is There a Gap in the Building’s Facade?

• September 9

This building has a unique design element – there is a gap in the facade of the building. Why would there be one? In this video, which is geared for high school students and older, Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor, discusses temperature changes that we are used to, here in Dallas. He goes on to explore the mathematical relationship between change in temperature and the expansion factor of aluminum. Supplementary Activity Guides fo... CONTINUE READING

How Many Different Ways Can You Count?

• September 9

Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor, admires the modern structure of a high rise building in the Arts District and highlights the fact that there are many different ways to look at a mathematical problem. These methods may include: decomposition of the larger area into smaller rectangular areas and finding the larger area and then subtracting the areas of each rectangular array. He illustrates these methods by observing the windows on... CONTINUE READING

How Can we Estimate Really Tall Things We Can’t Reach?

• September 9

Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor, uses the mathematical properties of rectangles to help him measure the width of louvers that are extremely high us. Supplementary Activity Guides for this video to extend student learning for K-12 grade levels are freely available here: https://talkstem.org/talkstem-activity-guides/ Support for these guides w... CONTINUE READING

How Do Artists Use Math to Mix Colors?

• September 9

Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York and walkSTEM advisor, admires this large and visually stunning artwork outside the front doors of the Dallas Museum of Art. He looks at this artwork and wonders how the artist “mixed” colors in this mosaic to create various effects that we, as viewers, can appreciate. He introduces the color wheel to us an interesting example of a math model. He discusses: how is the color wheel a useful mathematical model? a limited... CONTINUE READING

What’s My Question (Introduction)

• September 9

Viewing the world through a mathematical lens is a great and easy tool to practice in our daily lives. We organize various math walks and video tours to help grow wonderful mindset. Here, we outline some of the steps we take to interact with math in the world around us and to create place-based, math learning opportunities. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL 2115393. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in... CONTINUE READING

What’s My Question – Geometric Shapes & Transformations

• September 9

We take a look at the math theme of geometric shapes and transformations, practicing how to find shapes in the space around us and using basic starter questions to begin to analyze what we see. Follow along with us as we put these methods to the test in the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL 2115393. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of th... CONTINUE READING

What’s My Question – Estimation, Quantity, and Scale

• September 9

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

How Many People Can Fit on the Observation Deck?

• September 9

At Camp Whispering Cedars, Girl Scouts climb a winding series of steps to reach the top of an observation deck, where they can stargaze or have meetings. We wonder how they might estimate exactly how many people could have fun stargazing sleepover party on the deck! Supplementary Activity Guides for this video to extend student learning for K-12 grade levels are freely available here: https://talkstem.org/tal... CONTINUE READING

What is the Slope of this Staircase?

• September 9

We explore how to use slope, the ratio of height to horizontal distance, to better understand how stairs are designed based on international building codes to keep us safe. Supplementary Activity Guides for this video to extend student learning for K-12 grade levels are freely available here: https://talkstem.org/talkstem-activity-guides/ We invite all interested groups to reach out and find more informat... CONTINUE READING

What is the Highest Point on the Swing?

• September 9

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