Well I guess it must seem like all I ever do is go on holiday! Actually, work and life have been so hectic that the only time my batteries are recharged enough to blog are after I’ve taken time away. Check out the Cambridge MathsJam blog to see what else I’ve been up to in the past few months.
So I had the chance last week to spend a few days in the Canadian city of Toronto and the surrounding area. Here’s some of the maths I spotted.
The very first walk we went on took us past Canada’s Walk of Fame, where I snapped this picture of a ‘star’ who lends his name to a problem that causes arguments among probability enthusiasts the world over:
A little further along the road, I was outraged by this misuse of mathematical symbolism:
No wonder our students misuse the equals sign to be a “the answer is” sign!
Moving on, while stocking up on some important groceries I noticed that in Canada you can buy cereal with magnitude and direction:
The most awe-inspiring parts of the trip were the natural beauty and force of nature that is Niagara Falls, and the towering man-made achievement of the CN Tower. First the falls:
Here are some facts about Niagara falls. I wonder what it’s possible to deduce from the picture.
And here’s a view looking pretty much straight down from the CN Tower. I wonder if it’s possible to estimate the height from this picture. Visit the CN Tower Website for all your CN Tower factoids.
Well after all that I’m pretty hungry. Can you estimate the calories in this picture?
Finally I was drawn in by this basketball court.
I’m sure it’s to put mathematicians off their game by distracting them with intriguing patterns!
I’m already thinking about where to go on holiday next, once my Masters thesis is submitted. Any suggestions of maths-rich holiday locations? Any favourite maths pics from where you are?
June 27, 2012 at 09:27 |
There is also another objection to raise about the misuse of the = sign – it seems to be in the wrong place altogether!
It looks like the + and = signs need to swap places, unless cycling causes a lot more damage to the environment than I thought
November 5, 2012 at 07:32 |
[...] I am not the only Maths teacher who discovers examples of Mathematics on their holidays. Check out Alison Kiddle’s post on her NRICH [...]
November 5, 2012 at 07:46 |
Hi Alison, I also look for examples of Mathematics when on holiday. My latest post on Webmaths shows two examples I found in Bali. I also put a link to your holiday post. Perhaps if a group of Maths teachers contributed a few of their own examples we could develop a useful resource? Jeff Trevaskis
November 6, 2012 at 14:29 |
Thanks for dropping by, Jeff! Did you see my original holiday maths post http://ajk44.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/maths-i-saw-on-my-holidays/? I love the idea of getting more people to do the same and putting together an image bank of mathematical pictures to be used to prompt discussion in classrooms!