Monthly Archives: September 2011

WIM Video: The Platonic Solids by Emily Peters

Posted on September 30, 2011 by girlsangle

Here’s the latest WIM video, featuring MIT postdoctoral fellow Emily Peters discussing the Platonic Solids.

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Feeling Functions in Your Bones: Arctangent

Posted on September 28, 2011 by girlsangle

We have a lot of intuition about the things we do every day. If a mathematical function describes one of these habits, all that intuition applies to understanding the mathematics. Imagine standing at the edge of a road. Perhaps you’re … Continue reading →

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There’s More to Learning Math than Mathematical Aptitude

Posted on September 26, 2011 by girlsangle

Ever since I founded Girls’ Angle, I’ve had frequent discussions about gender segregated math education. Here’s an argument I often hear from those opposed: “I believe girls and boys are equally capable at doing mathematics, and, therefore, they should not … Continue reading →

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Math and MEMS: More Exponentials

Posted on September 23, 2011 by girlsangle

Yesterday, Allyson Hartzell, the Director of Failure Analysis, Test, and Reliability at Pixtronix, Inc., visited Girls’ Angle to tell us about how she uses math in her work. She works with Microelectricomechanical Systems, or MEMS. MEMS are tiny machines. They … Continue reading →

Posted in applied math, Math Education | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Exponential Growth is REALLY Powerful!

Posted on September 21, 2011 by girlsangle

Internet traffic, the Richter scale for measuring earthquakes, the spread of disease, our response to brightness, and Intel co-founder Gordon Moore’s Law all involve exponential growth. Exponential growth even applies to noodle making, as I’ll detail below! With all these … Continue reading →

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Does 0.999… Really Equal 1?

Posted on September 19, 2011 by girlsangle

One of the most oft-asked questions in K-12 math is: Does zero point nine repeating really equal one? Here’s the short answer: Yes! And here’s a longer answer,

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Calculating the Volume of a Regular Tetrahedron

Posted on September 17, 2011 by girlsangle

Tonight I joined in on the fun at the Games Night at Math Prize for Girls. Picture a large banquet hall filled with large tables each showcasing a different kind of math-related hands-on activity. Girls came from all over the … Continue reading →

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Girls do Math: Surprised by the Surprise

Posted on September 14, 2011 by girlsangle

I occasionally run into people who seem surprised that girls do math! “You run a math club for girls? I thought math was for boys…”

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Similarity Simplifies

Posted on September 12, 2011 by girlsangle

When you see that two figures are similar to each other, everything becomes simpler. Suddenly, you realize that if you understand one figure, you know everything about the other, except for its absolute size. I was observing some students solving … Continue reading →

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Math Accommodates Many Ways of Thinking

Posted on September 8, 2011 by girlsangle

Today marks the beginning of Girls’ Angle’s 9th session and fifth year of existence. To celebrate the occasion, I’m blogging about one of the core philosophical principles of Girls’ Angle: Math Accommodates Many Ways of Thinking. In fact, I am … Continue reading →

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