Good morning! Looking for math in the real world? Here are four new math lesson plans based on a Times series by Prof. Steve Strogatz. — The Learning NetworkMaking Math Make Sense
Ten is called a “triangular number.” Can your students figure out why? The bowling pins arranged above are a hint. Once they have the idea, can they list other triangular numbers? In the series “Math, Revealed,” Prof. Steven Strogatz tells mathematical stories for “anyone who wants math to actually make sense.” Each installment starts with an object, uncovers the math behind it and follows it to places you wouldn’t expect. With the help of Prof. Strogatz and the math teacher Patrick Honner, we’ve turned that series into four lesson plans — on taxicab geometry, the golden ratio, the math of packing and number patterns. Where can math take your students? Recent Times Reporting on Education
More Ways to Teach With The Times
Quick Activity: Studying ‘Coolness’What qualities make someone “cool”? Ask your students to agree on a list of specific traits, and then show them the chart below. Does anything on their list match?
A new study suggests that there are six specific traits these people tend to have in common: Cool people are largely perceived to be extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous. How did researchers plan and carry out such a study? This edition of Science Practice can help your class understand the methodology and design a similar study of their own. Before You Go, See What Teens Are Saying About …
In reaction to viral TikTok “day in the life” videos, students told us about their own daily schedules. Here are a few of our favorite excerpts: My routine consists of waking up to my alarm playing “Many Men” by 50 Cent. Then I get up and take a quick cold shower, which makes my hair the perfect thickness; otherwise, it is too straight. I do my hair routine, using sea salt spray and a diffuser. — Braedin from Iowa Like many others, my life is boring. I am not a famous influencer, or a popular kid in school, or a well-known intellectual. I am just me, a quiet wallflower with a small group of friends, social anxiety, average grades, and an average life. I wake up, go to school, hide in my room and do homework or read alone, eat dinner with my family, go to bed, get too little sleep, and repeat the next day. I am completely and utterly average — and that’s OK. — Arianna from Illinois As the oldest of four kids in a Hispanic household, a day in the life for me seems like more than just a mere 24 hours. Everyday I start my day up at 5 a.m., getting breakfast ready for my siblings and parents. After my siblings are ready, I head to school at 7:20 a.m. for classes including AP Chem, AP Bio, and AP Calc. After school, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., I am leading clubs, hanging out with friends, or running on the track. Once I get home, I spend the next 4 hours locked in cleaning, cooking, and helping with homework the best I can before my parents get home. The last few hours of my day I romanticize the grinding of homework with the light of a single lamp on my desk. — Alyssa from California We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to LNfeedback@nytimes.com. More next week.
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