Category Archives: Real-World Math

Exponential Harmony with Sketchpad

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Scott Steketee

Last week was the fourth session of my spring Advanced Secondary Math Methods class at the University of Pennsylvania. Each year I assign a semester project in which groups of three students use lesson-study techniques—on a small scale—to create, test, … Continue reading →

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Beat a Path to the Museum of Math

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Daniel Scher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7xPo1YXzY”>video

As a New Yorker, I have no lack of museums to suit my every viewing whim. Matisse? Just head to the Metropolitan. Edvard Munch? The Scream is at the Museum of Modern Art. But where should I go when I’m … Continue reading →

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Monopoly Math

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Lainie Johnson

Scan the headlines and you’ll see a stream of stories about educational technology: 1 to 1 iPads, teacher blogs, the flipped classroom… the electronic beat goes on. I’m not pining for the silky feel of chalk on my fingertips, but … Continue reading →

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Cross-Curricular Teaching of Data and Probability

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Josephine Noah

We here at Key really love our TinkerPlots software. And we’re always talking about the power of using it cross-curricularly—using data to enhance understanding of, say, science or social science topics, as well as using these contexts to motivate the … Continue reading →

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Creating Origami Whirlpool Designs with Sketchpad

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Daniel Scher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mmlKbGNXhM&w=480&h=360]

Tomoko Fuse is a Japanese origami artist whose designs are highly geometric. A Google search for her origami models reveals a plethora of boxes and intricate three-dimensional structures, many of which are folded from multiple sheets of paper and then … Continue reading →

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How Low Can You Go?

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Elizabeth DeCarli

I heard a great radio interview on NPR this week with Tim Storms, who holds the Guinness Book of Records for the lowest note sung by a human. He sang a few low notes for the interview—so low that my … Continue reading →

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Data Visualization in the Age of HTML5

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Josephine Noah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKY6QW8YIB8&feature=player_embedded”

My partner and I spend a fair amount of time talking about data visualization. He’s a computer programmer who works on websites that gather and display large amounts of data related to energy production and consumption. This data can be … Continue reading →

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Lessons from the News

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Elizabeth DeCarli

There’s nothing like reading the local paper over breakfast to start your day off with a grimace. Take this headline from Wednesday’s San Francisco Chronicle: “State’s college tuition rising fastest in nation.” Just what California parents need, more stress! The … Continue reading →

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The Mathematics of Logos

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Karen Greenhaus

As you may know, we created a new logo for Key using a circle and rotational animation to create a visual representation of pi. Karen Coe describes this in her post Branding Isn’t About Math. Are You Sure About That?, … Continue reading →

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The Big Bad Math

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Ian Rosenfield

“What do you like about working here?” I asked during my interview to work at KCP Tech. I was rather struck by Vishakha’s response that she liked being able to help people learn math. She thought that it was completely … Continue reading →

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