Tag: OpenLab 8

Part 1:

Video 1- How many kinds of infinity are there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23I5GS4JiDg

ViHart discusses the many types of infinity, such as Countable Infinity and Alpha Null. She also describes the “flavors” of each infinity and how they can relate to real world examples.

Video 2: A Song About a Circle Constant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtxmFlMLYRI

In this video she creates a catchy, or possibly annoying, tune about “Tau”.  While the song describes the numerical value of tau, 6.2831…, she also, rather ingeniously, took the individual numbers of Tau’s value and equated them to notes on a musical scale.

Video 3- Pi is (Still) Wrong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG7vhMMXagQ

ViHart continues in yet another video to rage against Pi. She believes that using Pi is inferior to using Tau. She has confidence that mathematics should be simple and elegant as possible. Pi, versus Tau, is less efficient and less graceful.

Parts 2 & 3:

Video- Optimal Potatoes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5RyVWI4Onk

This video is a hilarious and practical look at the mathematics, geometry, of Thanksgiving Dinner. Vihart brilliantly breaks down the mathematical relationship of mashed potatoes moats and the amount of gravy said mashed potatoes can hold. This clever application of mathematics to a seemingly random subject, Thanksgiving Dinner, is precisely the type of innovative teaching strategy that needs to be used to be able to draw a student into the beauty of math.

Vihart has packed this video with little tidbits of math. For instance, I did not know that any two-dimensional shape, when inflated, will turn into a circle.  Vihart’s strategy of explaining subjects such as this in nontraditional ways is the essence of teaching. By using both music and the internet she could create a learning technique that is both relevant and engaging. This sort of adaptability is one of the cores of a good teaching philosophy.

I do question if such techniques would be practical in a classroom environment. While the videos are wonderful I would like to know if, and how, she translates this style of teaching to an actual classroom setting. Obviously, she could not cook dinner in classroom, so how does she create comparable examples?

Part 1.

a) Doodling in Math: Sick Number Games- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhlv5Aeuo_k

The video discussed about the different types of number games you can create just by simply looking at the different qualities of a number.

b) Fractal Fractions- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5z-OEIfw3s

The video discussed how a simple a number can be simplified into a complex of fractions and still equal to the original value.

c) Hexaflexagons- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIVIegSt81k

The video was about how creating a hexagon out of paper can demonstrate a pattern as you play around with it.

Part 2.

I will focus on the second video. When I first saw the video, I was a little surprised and confused about everything that was going on. Mostly because it was going all too fast. When I saw it the second time, I actually took breaks to fully understand what was going on and I was mind-blown. I couldn’t imagine something so simple can become something so complex. All due to the power of algebra. I learned that anything is possible as long as you follow the rules of algebra and I mean ANYTHING. Two questions come to mind after watching this video. 1: why don’t teachers demonstrate these mind-blowing facts to students? 2: is there a special case when this wouldn’t work? Or will it always work?

Part 3

This video might’ve not had the typical classroom vibe when it comes to teaching mathematics but regardless, this video was teaching mathematics to the viewer. It definitely gets you to see a simple number in a more complex way. This video will get the viewer to start thinking of the endless possibilities a number can have. That’s something I hope to accomplish in my future classrooms, to have students see or approach a problem in their own unique way. One way I can accomplish that is by letting students play around with concepts or by opening their minds to completely new point of views in mathematics.  I wouldn’t want students to follow everything like robots. Similar to the idea in the reading assignment Lockhart’s Lament, that students should have the opportunity to be creative in mathematics.