Category: letter

September 10, 2012

September 9th, 2012

Dear Americans,

I love America–its geography, people, history, and cultures are a rich and wonderful heritage. It is a diverse land filled by diverse people who are united in continuing the beautiful experiment that our founders started almost 300 years ago. But American history goes much farther back than that. It includes the 300 year colonial period, the age of exploration, the great Pre-Columbian civilizations, and those who crossed the Bering strait over 12,000 years ago. The geography of the United States of America is engraved in each of those acts.

The United States includes winding rivers, snow-capped mountains, oceans, diamond deserts, wheat fields waving, and golden valleys. Today we’ll also sing the praises of that geography and talk about how it makes us who we are.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
September 7, 2012

September 6th, 2012

Dear Searchers and Seekers,

Today’s probably my favorite lesson of the year. We’re going to find all the prime numbers through 100 by using the sieve of Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes was a Greek scientist and mathematician from over 2000 years ago, but he knew things that people would have to relearn. He not only knew the earth was round, but he was able to measure its circumference within 2%. He also drew a map of the world, was a poet, a musician, and an athlete. He’s one of my personal heroes.

Eratosthenes’s sieve shows us the power of faithfully following a simple and clever method. Today, we have supercomputers that find insanely large prime numbers, but the work of creating a method and following it will never be replaced by computers.

Remember, math is the science of patterns. As we’re messing around with multiples, be on the lookout for the beautiful and intricate patterns that dance all through our amazing number system.

To the hunt (for primes),

Mr. Heimbuck
September 5, 2012

September 4th, 2012

Dear Number Classifiers,

Humans make sense of the world by classifying it. We put like things in one heap and different things in another. We do the same thing with numbers. There are endless ways to classify numbers, but mathematicians have agreed on a few ways that are most useful. You’ve already learned how to classify numbers as odd and even. Yesterday we talked about classifying numbers by their divisibility. Today we’re going to talk about classifying numbers as prime or composite (or neither!).

Prime numbers are an interesting topic, and they’re important to our everyday lives. We won’t quite get into cryptography today, but you have prime numbers to thank for keeping your secrets secure in the digital world. Mostly, we’ll think and talk about the strange but illuminating nature of prime numbers. Their charm might just convince you that there’s some kind of logic lurking behind the universe’s deepest mysteries.

Happy Classifying,

Mr. Heimbuck
30 September 2011

September 30th, 2011

Dear Estimators,

Math is like horseshoes–most of the time, close enough is good enough. Usually, an estimate will give us the information we need. Sometimes, however, we have to be precise. Good mathematicians have to know how to do both. More importantly, good mathematicians have to know when estimates are appropriate and when it’s time to calculate precisely. As always, math thinking is about creating a method for solving a problem, not just doing the arithmetic.

Today, we’ll make magnitude estimates for products. The orders of magnitude are the powers of ten–1, 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, etc. By estimating the magnitude of the product, we’ll not only be able to check our calculations, but we’ll learn about the wonders of our number system. That’s really what it’s all about.

Sincerely,

Mr. H
29 September 2011

September 29th, 2011

Dear Geometers,

Archimedes was one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, but when he died as an old man, he was still drawing circles in the sand. Circles are an endless mystery: they are an enclosed space with infinite sides. Unlike many other shapes, circles appear in nature–ripples in a pond, craters in the moon, the eye of a hurricane, the face of a sunflower. Ancient people studied these circles and from them created the field of geometry.

Today, we’ll create circles using one of the geometer’s best friends–the compass. With this simple tool, we’ll be able to create beautiful, intricate designs. As we’re doing it, look for patterns, look for symmetry, and be prepared to be amazed.

Sincerely,

Mr. H
27 September 2011

September 27th, 2011

Dear Statisticians,

Numbers become data when we collect them and analyze them. For our data to be good, we have to go about collecting it in accurate, reliable, and precise ways. For our data to be meaningful, we have to use it to draw conclusions. The world is full of data. Some of it is good, some of it is bad. Some of it is reliable, some of it is not. Your job is to find the good data, analyze it for meaning, and use it to say something true about the world.

One tool for analyzing data is landmarks: median, maximum, minimum, range, mode, and mean. These landmarks help us make sense of data. Today we’ll collect data, organize data, and analyze data using landmarks. Then, we’ll use it to try to say something true about the world.

Sincerely,

Mr. H
26 September 2011

September 26th, 2011

Dear Problem Solvers,

When we do math, we’re learning how to think. More importantly, we’re learning how to solve problems. In the “real world,” no one actually does arithmetic, but those who know how to are better at solving problems because they’ve had lots of practice and they have a powerful method for doing so.

You’re going to have to solve problems every day of your life, numerous times, almost constantly. What should I believe? What is true? What is the good life? What kind of toothpaste should I buy? Those are the types of philosophical problems that math prepares us to tackle in analytic and truthful ways.

So when you’re doing your math today, spend less time worrying about your answers and more time thinking about your thinking. The most important thing you learn from math can’t be written on the other side of an equal sign. It’s in your head.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
26 September 2011

September 25th, 2011

Dear Satellite Dodgers,

Did you see the news about the falling satellite? It weighed six tons and was the size of a school bus! When it re-entered the atmosphere, it broke into smaller pieces, but scientists said it had a 1 in 3200 chance of landing on a person. What do you think the odds were that it would have landed on you?

This week we’ll talk about probability. When you learn to think probabalistically, the world lets you in on its not-too-well-hidden secrets, you make better choices, and you don’t waste precious time worrying about 6-ton satellites falling on your head.

Look at the globe or the map. Where do you think the satellite probably landed?

Let’s have a great day.

Sincerely,

Mr. H.