arts & crafts & educational

When Does a Heap of Sand Stop Being a Heap?

When Does a Heap of Sand Stop Being a Heap?

When Does a Heap of Sand Stop Being a Heap? Sorites Paradox or the Paradox of the Heap Something new to do when you are building summer sand castles. Tuning fork by John Walker stamped with note (E) and frequency in hertz (659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) If you remove one grain of sand at a […]

Read More

Filed in: arts & crafts & educationaleducation Tags:

What Are Fractals?

What Are Fractals?

What Are Fractals? Animated fractal mountain (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Fractals If you try to measure something irregular, like the coastline along a creek, you will find that the shorter the measuring unit you use, a one-foot long stick instead of a three-foot-long yardstick, for example, the longer the thing will be, infinitely. Normally, in geometry, you […]

Read More

Filed in: arts & crafts & educationaleducationPlaytime Tags:

Make Your Own Abacus with Popsicle Sticks

Make Your Own Abacus with Popsicle Sticks

Make Your Own Abacus with Popsicle Sticks How to Use an Abacus A Chinese abacus (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Although I studied Chinese in college and have been to China three times, most recently this summer, I had never learned how to use an abacus until researching this activity. If you understand simple addition and subtraction, you can […]

Read More

Filed in: arts & crafts & educationalDIYeducationPlaytime Tags:

Seven Bridges of Konigsburg

Seven Bridges of Konigsburg

Seven Bridges of Konigsburg Graph theory. The problem of the Seven Bridges of Königsberg. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I used to think that there was no point in giving someone a math problem that was unsolvable. What could you learn from that except your tolerance for frustration? It turns out, though, that mathematicians, even when they suspect a […]

Read More

Filed in: arts & crafts & educationaleducationPlaytime Tags: