Homeschool Math Newsletter, Vol. 22
September 2008

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Greetings! This is Maria Miller from HomeschoolMath.net and MathMammoth.com.

Solving Math Problems - a Reference for Teachers FREE SHIPPING All Solution Processes Explained in Detail 200 Solved Problems Ready for Teaching Middle School and Up Sample Problems at www.JohnRDixonBooks.com

In this month's newsletter:

1. Math Mammoth news
2. A bar diagram problem
3. Review of Kiss My Math and Math Doesn't Suck by Danica McKellar
4. Squares that aren't squares and parallelograms that aren't parallelograms?
5. Tidbits

1. Math Mammoth News

I guess I don't have anything particular to report this month. I've been working on updating and revising existing books. For example, I added Euclid's game to Add & Subtract 2-B book. I'm in the process of adding rounding lessons here and there. And trying to also keep up with the 5th grade project.

2. A bar diagram problem

This was asked of me recently:

Please solve this using the bar/block diagram method. My friends and I are stumped....

Desmond had 480 more oranges than pears. After selling half of his oranges and half of his pears, he had four times as many oranges as pears left. Find the number of pears he had at first. Thank you!

This problem is from a Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) paper. PSLE is the final examination for primary school students in Singapore. So, you would expect to see these kind of problems in Singapore Math.

My first attempt for solving this was like this:

It shows the difference being 480. The red lines are halving the quantities of pears and oranges.

But I quickly noticed this was way off. The amount of pears needed to be way less than the amount of oranges.

My second attempt was like this:

Read on!

3. Review of Kiss My Math and Math Doesn't Suck by Danica McKellar

Recently I had the delight of receiving a review copy of Math Doesn't Suck and Kiss My Math by Danica McKellar. Danica is well-known for her acting career, and her books are best-sellers.

I realize some of my readers may feel flabbergasted at these titles. Well, there are pros and cons. Simply click here to read the review and to see what I have to say.

4. Squares that aren't squares and parallelograms that aren't parallelograms?

First, I want to highlight some simple square problems that I saw at MathNotations blog.

The idea is that we know certain things about the figures, but do those things guarantee the figures are squares? And if you don't think so, your mission is to draw a quadrilateral with the given information but that clearly does NOT look like a square.

I also wrote another, Are these really parallelograms?, for which the answers are in a separate post.

Problems like this practice students' logical thinking.

5. Tidbits

• An AHA! abacus moment in the life of a preschooler - that is, my preschooler.
   
• Timed drills for math facts?
   
• SpaceTime TV
  Watch educational videos online from full length documentaries to short video clips featuring shows from PBS, National Geographic, and the History Channel.
   
• Dimensions
  Interesting movie - which is available totally free online - about how mathematicians can visualize the fourth dimension. Some of that stuff will give you "mathematical vertigo", but some of the chapters are easy enough for middle schoolers on up, teaching about stereographic projection, the difference between 2nd and 3rd dimensions, complex numbers, and more.
   

Let me know if the resources in this newsletter were interesting and/or benefited you in some way - or if not! Just hit "reply" in your email program and write me back.
I wish you success in your math teaching!
Maria Miller