Articles

 


This area of MasterMathMentor.com is a repository for additional math resources.

 

All of This Material is Free

 

Chaos

An interesting project done by a former student of mine on chaos theory. 

 

      Click Here to visit our Chaos page.

    


CoronaVirus

It is hard to remember when COVID19 wasn't a part of our everyday life. But I started to pick up stories on it in January of 202 as it decimated Wuhan, China. Back then, I had hopes it would follow the path of a logistic curve and level off and it never would get outside that area. But I knew the danger of exponential growth. I wrote about it daily. I like to think I was one of the few who was worried about COVID long before it was a term everyone would know and despite intimately.

 

1. Growth in China: my day-by-day coverage of the origin of COVID.

 

Click here for CoronaVirus1

 

 

 2. Once it got to the United States, I tried to track it. I realized very quickly that there would be dedicated websites that would do it much better and efficiently.

 

 

Click here for CoronaVirus 2

 

 

3.  Remember the term "Flattening the Curve"?  Early in the pandemic, I explore what that really means mathematically.

 

Click here for Flattening the Curve

 

 

Cryptology

An interesting excursion into Cryptology.  Starts easy and gets quite involved, showing good uses of matrices. Includes an Excel spreadsheet setup to function as a cipher system.

 

      Click Here to visit our Cryptology page.

 

 

Fairness

An article, inspired by a major and costly snafu at my resident condominium, examines what it is meant for a financial problem to be "fair" to all.  It looks at mathematical solutions to the question of payment and determines that math isn't always the answer to ethical situations.  This is a nice article that can be understood by students with only basic knowledge of mathematics and will get them thinking and hopefully talking about fairness.

 

Click here to read the Fairness Article

 

 

Handshakes

There are M men in a room and W women in another room for a morning workshop. All the men shake hands and all of the women shake hands. In the afternoon, the men and women come together and all the men shake hands with all the women. How do the values of M and W affect the number of handshakes. An interesting analysis for students with some probability combination theory under their belts.

 

Click here to read the Handshake problem

 

 

Hurricane Dorian

In August of 2019, fearsome hurricane Dorian was bearing down on Florida. This was a category 5 hurricane that ended up spinning pretty much over the same location for 24 hours. And while we were not in the crosshairs of the worst of it, it was touch and go whether we would feel the effects of it which would be sure to do a lot of damage. While waiting it out, I did an analysis that determine how close Dorian would actually come to us.  A good article for calculus students to show how integration can be used in real life.

 

Click Here to read the Dorian Article

 

 

Illusions

64 optical illusions, some old and some very new, perfect for the end of a class period. Done in 12 Powerpoint slide shows which should also work in Keynote.

 

     Click Here to visit our Illusions page

 

 

Reading Math

I used to record math books for the blind and dyslexic. There is an art to reading mathematics. Complicated expressions need to be read so that there is no ambiguity. Geometric figures like the one on the right require a lot of thought. Books are recorded on the fly and readers must know instantaneously how to read math. Learn about this art by clicking on the link.

 

      Click Here to visit our Dyslexia page

 

Teaching Outside the Box

26 articles about the art of teaching mathematics writen by Stu. Interesting math facts and puzzles that will fascinate students. Tips on creating exams, grading homework, handling observations, and other important aspects of running a class.

 

      Click Here to visit our Teaching Outside the Box page

 

What's the Average?

An article written by Stu that differentiates the concept of average when looking at it from a calculus point of view and a statistics point of view. 

 

       Click Here to visit our What's the Average? page.

 

 

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