Pascal’s triangle

Number Pyramids

In this meeting, we explored Henri Piccioto’s number pyramid puzzles through notice/wonder, generating questions for problem-solving and additional puzzles for students.

At the beginning of the meeting, we shared some favorite sources of puzzles we like to use with students, include Which One Doesn’t Belong, Sometimes, Always, Never, and Open Middle.

Then I introduced Number Pyramids. Thank you to Henri Piccioto and his amazing web site of math resources. Here is the sequence we used:

Making Trains from Cuisenaire Rods

Inspired by Mathematical Mindsets, by Jo Boaler, we explored questions related to “trains” made out of Cuisenaire rods.

A few of us are reading Mathematical Mindsets, by Jo Boaler, as part of a book group on LINCS that will start this coming Monday, April 17th. The book is similar to Boaler’s other writing in that it cites evidence of recent work in brain science to show that everyone can learn, that the brain is plastic and grows like a muscle when used, and there is no such thing as math people and non-math people. Boaler also argues for an approach to developing growth mindsets that is rooted in mathematics. The book includes examples of low-entry, high ceiling problems that can be used to develop mathematical mindsets. Continue reading “Making Trains from Cuisenaire Rods”

A big thank you to Turning Point for hosting us this month and raising the bar for all future hosts. We started with a tour of TP’s building and saw their classrooms, offices, and rooftop deck (!). Evidence of great student work is everywhere with student posters and presentations on the diverse topics of supply and demand, classified ads for housing, and dice and probability. It was wonderful to see such a beautiful, well-established community-based education program with full-time staff. And they provided refreshments!

For this meeting, we looked at Pascal’s Triangle, since it came up in discussion at the end of the October craps meeting Continue reading “Pascal’s Triangle”