Paper Lecture

A former Harvey Mudd College math professor is honored with an annual lecture but I don't think I have ever gone before. This year's description caught my eye.

Title:  A World From a Sheet of Paper

Abstract:  Starting from just a sheet of paper, by folding, stacking, crumpling, sometimes tearing, we will explore a variety of phenomena, from a magic trick and geometry to elasticity and the traditional Japanese art of origami. Much of the show consists of table-top demos, which you can try later with friends and family.

So, take a sheet of paper . . .  

Professor Tokieda grew up as a painter in Japan and became a classical philologist in France before switching to mathematics.  Prior to joining Stanford this past fall, he had been a director of studies in mathematics at Cambridge for thirteen years.  Most of his research is in macroscopic physics and applied mathematics. He is active in outreach in the developing world, especially via the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences near Cape Town. 

I am so glad I went, especially since the speaker asked that the event not be recorded. You can see a toy-based lecture here, which will give you a feel for the paper talk.

I took a few notes, but mostly the lecture made me want to go home and try my hand at some of the things he showed us, especially a Miura fold. It was not as easy as it looks.

I made this once before and am tempted to try it again.

Just writing this blog post took a while because there are so many amazing papers, amazing pictures, and seemingly limitless beautiful creations to admire. Now I remember why I took a break. I'll use what I have and stop looking.

Entertaining myself during a cello lesson

Unfolded

Boxes made in the waiting room

Food and Fun

This past weekend was the fourth annual pie festival,
started by the owners of the local shop called I Like Pie.

It has grown so large they close off two blocks and have more events at city hall and the public plaza.

At first I thought this guy's tattoo was real and wondered why he chose the pi symbol.  I asked where he got his tattoo and he thought I meant the ones on his arms and he said I didn't want to know!  He said the one on his neck was being given away by a church, along with free bibles.

More of the calorie-free kind of pi.

and more

Here is a recipe from the local newspaper,
but next time I hope to be part of the pie recipe card hunt. 

There was an actual baking contest and a pie-eating contest, but we missed those.  It was still fun to wander around and see what was happening in the village.

Grand opening!

Over two years ago D. packed up his office,  his building was demolished, and the new building began to grow.  Read about it here and here.  That time line does not include meetings spent choosing an architectural firm, sharing with the firm what the departments needed, and negotiating other aspects.

But the end is here!  D. is in his new office and this past weekend was the grand opening, which coincided with the college's Founders Day celebration.  My friend and fellow blogger posted some great pictures on her new blog.  I have (quite) a few, too.

Of course there were speeches.

Instead of a ribbon cutting President Oxtoby released the bowling balls,
which smashed the atom.

The making of the spirograph

These were made by D.

Notice anything special about the room numbers?

Outside were more activities.  This spun like a merry-go-round and the kids
were supposed roll the ball to each other.  What do you think will happen?

What will happen when two people push off together but their swings have different lengths?

Upstairs the math department had people playing with hexaflexagons, Rubik's cubes, and prisms.

In the basement there were 3D printer demonstrations, laser printing, lab tours,
and a bowling broken during the trial phase of the atom smashing.

The circus club did demonstrations.
This guy is amazing!

A student shared his electronic Rubik's cube made for electronics class.

Another student project demonstrated waves.

 Of course there was swag.

A four-color rocket pen

A 3D-printed die - I heard that one student tried to make weighted dice.

There were so many happy people going through the building all afternoon.  Let's hope the same is true for many years to come.

Book performance

I didn't feel like I could call this blog post a book reading because the author did not read.  He is a a mathemagician and he performed some of his magic at the book store.  I had seen the routine before but I still enjoyed it since the author is so enthusiastic.

I had never seen this performance before and I am guessing my teenager will learn it and I'll be hearing it on long car rides.

Today the author posted this on Facebook

I was so happy since I had been mourning the loss of the palindromic year, 5775.

Pi Day

Since the people in the U.S. write the date with the month followed by the day, we get to celebrate Pi Day, which is 3-14 (3.14, the ratio of the circumference to the diameter).  Some people suggest we should celebrate tau, which is 2π, but it hasn't caught on.

from State Farm

Today was special because not only were the first two digits to the right of the decimal point represented, by including the year and the time the first nine digits were represented.

How to celebrate?  The Pomona College Math Department made a shirt (and shared it with a physicist).

Most of the family went to the Pie Festival in town.

I made onion pie for dinner

and served bread and Apple Pie Jam.

Of course we had to pull out our collection of Sir Cumference books.

Now we need to plan our trip to a country that writes the day and then the month so we can celebrate on 22/7, a common approximation of π.

Playing with numbers

I set my alarm for 9:09 so I would be sure to get 9:10.11 on 12/13/14, but I was trigger happy and got it too early and the camera was too slow to take another shot.  I reset the alarm for 9:09pm.  If I had been thinking in 24-hour time I could have aimed for 12/13/14 15:16.17.  But I didn't.

This time the picture was not as good but at least I got it.

p.s.  Thanks to the tip from reader NMR you can read here about a baby born in Cleveland at 10:11 on 12/13/14.  The article also had this important information.

Saturday's Dec. 13, 2014, represented the last sequential calendar date for at least 20 years, if you count Jan. 2, 2034, or 89 years if you choose to wait for Jan. 2, 2103.

Mathematics

Claremont Unified School District has adopted an integrated approach to math, which means instead of studying geometry one year and algebra the next, each year has a mix of subjects.  This has trickled down to the elementary school and instead of working with Everyday Math, which was also integrated, they may adopt California GO Math at their next board meeting.

Families received an email inviting them to check out the materials.

Good evening Claremont families!
Instructional materials for elementary mathematics have been reviewed by District staff and are being recommended for adoption by the Claremont Unified School District.  As part of the process, these materials will be on display for public review and input prior to their recommendation for adoption at the August 7 meeting of the Board of Education.  
Materials will be on public display between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the Atrium level of our District Office at 170 West San Jose Avenue, Claremont.
We welcome your input and look forward your feedback!

I felt as though it were my civic duty to take a look.

K-6 materials

Sixth grade materials, including class book, homework book, teacher guides, enrichment guides, common core guides, assessment guide, differentiated instruction guide, and digital information.

a sample page, with a real life problem about texting

 I hope these books don't have to last more than one year since the pages are perforated.  I have concerns about the use of color, too.  But those are minor relative to the content.  I am hoping for the best.

Gas Station Gambling

I don't know if Arco gas stations have spread to the east coast, but around here they are known for not taking credit cards and passing the savings onto the customer by charging less for gas.  There is one in the way to the pool, so even though I usually cycle there, I don't mind driving once every other week (or so) and buying gas on the way.  (Lesson learned - I decided to ride my bike on Monday and stop by later, about 5pm, and there was a line of cars waiting.  That is not for me so I drove home and went back today).

There are three ways to pay for the gas.  By the pumps is an ATM-like piece of equipment, but instead of dispensing money it takes money after you enter your pump number.  You can also go inside and say, "Twenty on two," or something like that (I felt like a real Californian when I started doing that).  The third way I'll discuss later.

The game begins when you guess how much money to put down.  You could just guess over, put down a lot, and get change at the end.  You could put down whatever you want and if it isn't full you just go about your business.  This doesn't work for me because since September 1996 we have recorded every tank of gas that has been put in the car, including the date, the amount, and the trip mileage.

The best days are when I put money down and and the tank fills with just a few cents left.  In the old days I would have gone inside for the change, but I have become a rebel and pump the last few cents worth even though the rule says not to top it off.  Not so long ago D. helpfully pointed out that $0.12 of gas at $3.79/gallon is not enough to cause a spill.  It was a life-changing lesson.

What will also be life changing is the third way of paying for gas.  As I was looking for the link to add to this post I learned that I could buy pre-paid gas cards.  I would get the card, use it like a credit card, and never have to guess how much to put down, never break the rules by pumping a little more, and never have to stand in line behind someone dealing with lottery tickets!  Amazing!

Math Field Day

After doing well on a school-administered test, A. was selected as one of five students from his grade to represent the school at a district-wide Math Field Day held at Harvey Mudd College.  The students from his school along with students from several (but not all) other elementary schools in the district were given another exam, which was proctored and graded by Harvey Mudd students.  Afterward the kids had a chance to learn about physics with a professor and other students.

 A. did not qualify for the next level (a Math Field Day held by Los Angeles County Office of Education), but was enjoyed the day more than expected.  He was very pleased that he designed the winning car, which was powered by blowing through a straw.

At the celebratory lunch he was sharing a few of the problems, including (not sure how to write this) one over 2 plus 3 over another fraction so you if you solve it you end up with one over 78 over 29.  He hadn't learned what to do next, but knows the trick now.

I don't think we'll start studying for next year, but I am grateful for the positive experience.