assumptions Archives | Talking Stick Learning Center

Intro to Voting Theory

Posted by Rodi Steinig

· Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020

(1/16/2020) Our overarching Math Circle goal is for students to invent and discover math for themselves. In this course, the plan/hope is that I’ll ask a bunch of questions and the students will invent their own voting methods before discovering what voting methods people have created throughout history. Pet of the World “What would happen if you got to vote…

Category Theory 1: Odd One Out

Posted by Rodi Steinig

· Sunday, October 28th, 2018

(October 25, 2018) An important concept in category theory, indeed in mathematics itself, is deciding which attributes to ignore when you conduct mathematics. Context matters. When you’re signing a contract to buy a car, you may not care what color the contract is printed on. But when you’re sending out your wedding invitations, you might care about the paper color…

Folklore – River Crossing – Collatz – the Elephant – Siri – Cannibals

Posted by Rodi Steinig

· Friday, May 22nd, 2015

(April 28, May 5, and May 12, 2015) We’ve had 3 sessions so far, and I see 3 big themes developing in this 5-session course for 9-11 year olds: Everyone thinks that “Everyone Else in the Room is Better at Math than Me.” Not everyone realizes what math is really about. There’s culture/folklore in mathematics that the kids are starting…

ESCHER #5: All About Assumptions

Posted by Rodi Steinig

· Friday, February 20th, 2015

ESCHER #5: All About Assumptions (February 10, 2015) I brought in some soccer balls to continue our discussion about which regular polygons can be tessellated. The kids discovered that the balls were a pattern of both pentagons and hexagons. The question became “Why?” Conjectures: Roundness? Size? Of course, since soccer balls are 3-D, they weren’t going to answer our question…

GARDNER #5: Life, Murder, and Box Tops

Posted by Rodi Steinig

· Tuesday, October 28th, 2014

LIFE (October 21, 2014) Last week’s boardwork was on display before the students arrived. M, who was absent last week, was early for class today. She saw the board and immediately asked, “Why does it say ‘die?’” “Ask them,” I told her, indicating J and L, who were also early for class. J set the board up for Life1. Then…

I LEARN SOMETHING: Mathematical Thinking with Five-Year-Olds, 4.0

Posted by Rodi Steinig

· Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

(April 8, 2014) We started out playing a few logic games – “Picking Fruit” and “Wearing Hats.” The students had fun using process of elimination to deduce what couldn’t be seen. The students announced one conjecture, then would immediately change their minds, then revert, etc. (Once again, insight is fleeting.) One student didn’t want to commit to any conjecture. …

A Mathematician’s Task (TEEN CIRCLE 1)

Posted by Rodi Steinig

· Sunday, November 10th, 2013

A Mathematician’s Task (TEEN CIRCLE 1) NOVEMBER 5, 2013 Suppose you have an opportunity to play a game that costs $1 to play. You have a 50% chance of winning. If you do win, you get $3, but if you lose, you get nothing. Should you play? I asked this question after some brief discussion of Math Circle practices…

Math Circle Blog: The Monty Hall Problem

Posted by Rodi Steinig

· Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

The Monty Hall Problem You are a contestant on a game show. The host shows you 3 doors. He tells you that the prize behind one door is $1,000,000 and behind each of the other doors is a goat. He instructs you to choose a door; you will win whatever is behind it. You choose a door. “But wait,” he…

The Talking Stick Blog

Intro to Voting Theory

Category Theory 1: Odd One Out

Folklore – River Crossing – Collatz – the Elephant – Siri – Cannibals

ESCHER #5: All About Assumptions

GARDNER #5: Life, Murder, and Box Tops

I LEARN SOMETHING: Mathematical Thinking with Five-Year-Olds, 4.0

A Mathematician’s Task (TEEN CIRCLE 1)

Math Circle Blog: The Monty Hall Problem

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