A Great Big Valentine full of Math Puzzles

It only seems appropriate to share this great big valentine full of math puzzles on February 14. Sarah Carter is a high school math and science teacher in Drumright, OK and her Math = Love blog is full of great resources.

Sarah recently created a page with links to all of the puzzles she's shared across various posts going back to 2011. Although many are geared for high school students, some may work for elementary or middle school and adaptions can be made to the basic ideas shared.

Teaching Math with Google Drawings - Eric Curts

Northwest Ohio Google Certified Innovator for Education Eric Curts delivers a great webinar on using Google Drawings for teaching math.

Eric takes viewers through the ins and outs of Drawings but excels when he starts to unpack Common Core standards and show practical activities for elementary teachers. The geometry examples are good but the fraction activity is really innovative.

Check out the recording of the webinar as well as some great tip sheets for using Google Drawings for any purpose at Teaching Math with Google Drawings 

Go Ask Siri to Divide 0 by 0. I Dare You.

The best laugh of today came from asking my iPhone's Siri what zero divided by zero is. I won't spoil it with her response. It's something you will have to give a try. She would make quite the math teacher.

The Easiest Way To Learn Fractions With LEGOs - YouTube

Yep, it's that easy. Cutting Lego blocks like that isn't. Great video that will stick with your kids. Thanks @scottsy for sharing.

The Easiest Way To Learn Fractions With LEGOs - YouTube.

Turn all of the sensors in your Android devices into learning tools

I recently read a great article from Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook blog about utilizing all of the different sensors that are part of so many mobile devices and turning them into learning tools.

Matt, a fellow Google Certified Teacher, recently did a Hangout with Rebecca Vierya. Rebecca and Matt met at the Austin Google Teacher Academy and she shared some of the Android software she and her husband developed to tap into all of the power that phones and tablets possess but isn't easily accessed for learning.

The Vierya's free Suite of Tools at Google Play is simple to use and contains the following apps:

• G-Force Meter - ratio of Fn/Fg


• Linear Accelerometer - acceleration


• Gyroscope - radial velocity


• Barometer - atmospheric pressure


• Roller Coaster - G-Force Meter, Linear Accelerometer, Gyroscope, and Barometer


• Proximeter - periodic motion and timer


• Hygrometer - relative humidity


• Thermometer - temperature


• Magnetometer - magnetic field intensity


• Light Meter - light intensity


• Sound Meter - sound intensity


• Tone Generator - frequency producer


• Orientation - azimuth, roll, pitch


• Stroboscope

According to the developers, "Useful for education, academia, and industry, this app uses device sensor inputs to collect, record, and export data. in comma separated value (csv) format through a .txt file sent via an e-mail or through Google Drive. All analog data is plotted against elapsed time (or clock time) on a graph. Users can export the data for further analysis in a spreadsheet or plotting tool. The app also allows for a tone generator output."

Through the user interface a number of the sensors can be used together for all kinds of different explorations of math and physics concepts in the real world.

On her own site, Rebecca has compiled a ton of links where the tools have been referenced at all levels of academia from elementary schools to higher education.