The Future of Mathematics

Stephen Wolfram in one of the great geniuses of our time; His status in England is somewhat like a modern day Isaac Newton. As a young man he solved a famous math problem that stumped mathematicians for years. His newest invention is an online tool that will compute whatever you ask of it. Some think that his new search engine will move the Internet beyond Google into a new age.

Your task today is to click on the link marked Wolfram Alpha. Once there ask the site to solve the following equations:

1. X + 5 = -4

2. Make a graph of the equation x squared plus two equals eleven.


3. Enter your birthday and find what is most interesting in the report you receive.


4. Find the distance between Hartford and Miami


5. Make up a question of your own and post both the question and the answer to me as a
comment.

Post all the answers to me as a comment.

Mathematics and Beauty

A teacher of mine would often say that he found mathematics beautiful. As I watched some of you make the curve stitching patterns I began to see how beautiful mathematics can be. Today we are going to create a pattern using computer tools. The link marked pattern tool will bring you to an interactive pattern maker using the path of a turtle. I want each of you to figure out what the controls of the tool do to change the pattern. Once you create a pattern that you like open a word document and copy and paste your image. Save the document and email it to me.

My email is: gengs001@hartfordschools.org

Finally leave a comment that answers this question: do you find the making of patterns beautiful?

Slumdog Math

In the movie Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal the main character, wins 20 million rupees. Rupees are the currency that is used in India like our dollar is used in our country; what I would like to know is how much money did he win in dollars? The link to the right named "money converter"has a list of all the currencies used around the world. Your challenge today is to convert 20 million rupees to dollars. Use the link as a tool to help you solve the problem.

Your second challenge is to use google to answer the following questions;

1. What is the population of India?

2. How many people are poor in India?

3. How much bigger is India than the US in population?

4. The major religion in India is called Hinduism; In the movie the little boy in the movie with the bow and arrow is a representation of the god Rama; There are an infinite number of gods in the Hindu religion; How many gods are there? Explain you answer in three or more sentences.

Equations as Patterns

A bird rises from a tree and creates a path in flight. If we could graph his path what could we learn? This is one of the main principals of mathematics. There are many tools online to graph patterns as equations. Your challenge today is to graph the following equations and answer the the questions that follow:


1. Graph x + 2 and answer the following questions:

What do you think the 2 does to the equation?

Does the letter x determining the picture on the graph?

2. Graph x^2 -3 and answer the following questions.

How does the x^2 change the picture?

What does the -2 do to the graph?