March Madness is an exciting time for basketball fans, where 68 college teams compete in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion. But did you know that math plays a crucial role in understanding and predicting the outcomes of these games?

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #33: Math Madness
2.  Read about March Madness at at DOGO news. Add some information to your recording sheet from the article.
3. Watch this video about the perfect bracket.  You will need a coin or this online coin flipper.  On your recording page, record your flips totals, and the math that he introduces. Then answer to this question:  What are the chances of choosing the winner of every game in the entire tournament?
4. Print out this activity from Yummy Math Activity: Does Seeding Matter? Read the page and do the math. Reminder for your teacher-the answer key to this activity can be found in the math mini spark folder.
5. Share your math mini spark recording page and Does Seeding Matter activity with your teacher/EY coordinator.

A narcissistic number is a number that is the sum of its own digits each raised to the power of the number of digits. It is also known as a pluperfect digital invariant (PPDI), an Armstrong number (after Michael F. Armstrong) or a plus perfect number. 

Narcissistic Numbers aren’t actually that confusing if you know how to do a couple things.  Check out this math mini spark so that you can learn more about these peculiar numbers!

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #32: Narcissistic Numbers
2. Watch this video by Numberphile. Take notes on your recording page.

3. Look at the list of Narcissistic Numbers on Wolfram Alpha. Record several of them.

4. Pick a Narcissistic Number to “work out” on your recording sheet to prove it works.  See example below.

5. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Whether you’re a football fan or not, it’s interesting to look at the history of the Super Bowl.  This math mni spark has you predicting, collecting, and displaying some data related to the Super Bowl.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #31: Super Bowl Math

2. Make some predictions.  Without looking online for the answers, predict how much a 30 second ad cost to run during the Super Bowl in the following years:  1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012, 2022.  Record these predictions on your recording page.  Next to your predictions, use this site to record the actual cost for those years.

3. Why is the Super Bowl in roman numerals? Read this article to find out. Record what you learned.

4. This article talks about the geometry, angles, and statistics associated with the Super Bowl. Write a summary of each paragraph on your recording sheet.

5. Your choice Use the data and graph type you would like to show Super Bowl Data

Pictograph idea Pick 5 NFL teams and write those on the x-axis of your graph.  Using this site, record how many Super Bowls each team played in.  Use a helmet, a football, or some other picture to display the data.  Make sure to include a key for your graph (i.e. 1 football = 1 Super Bowl).

Scatter plot idea  Use the data on this site.  Use the x-axis to represent the year and the y-axis to represent the cost of a 30 second ad.  There are several tools you can use to make your graph including Numbers (app on the iPad), Create A Graph website, Scatter Plot Tool, and others.  Share your completed graph with the EY Coordinator at your building.

6. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

I found this very complex mathematical formula that allows one to figure out the day of the week any date falls on.  Don’t let the formula intimidate you!  I did this with some 3rd graders today and with a few explanations, they were able to figure it out.  So can you!

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #30: What day of the week is it?
2. Watch this tutorial to learn the process.

3. Figure out the day of the week you were born on using your birthdate and year. Add your math steps to your recording page.

4. Figure out the day of the week for another date in history (Pearl Harbor, Declaration of Independence, etc.) and record your math on your recording page

5. Check this Math is fun page to see if you did the math correctly. Check your work.

6. Scroll down to the bottom of the post to read about the Zeller’s Algorithm in JavaScript code that is used to find out the day of the week. Write down some patterns that you notice in the code.

7. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Check out another method to find an exact day with this math mini spark #90.

A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #29: Fractal Fun

2. Watch this video to build your background knowledge about fractals. Record several details on your recording page.

3. Draw Sierpinski’s Triangle by watching this tutorial

4. Check out the connection between Sierpinski’s Triangle and Pascal’s Triangle by watching this video. Record notes on your recording sheet.

5. Watch this video about Fractals and write about what you learned on your recording sheet.

6. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow! Explore this math mini spark to learn more about the snowflakes. 

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #28: Let it Snow!
2. Watch this Khan video that shows you how to draw a Koch snowflake fractal. Explain this process and draw a sketch of this on your recording page.
3. Read this article about snowflakes. Summarize each paragraph on your recording page.
4. Follow the step by step instructions and make a few of your own 6 pointed snowflakes. Take a picture and add to your recording page.
5. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Perplexors are logic puzzles that can help improve deduction reasoning skills. They are available in different levels.  By using the “cross-out-and-circle” technique, you will practice logical thinking in order to find the correct answer. This math mini spark is brought to you by Hailey K. from Rockbrook.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #27: Perplexor Puzzles

2. Watch this tutorial to get started

3. Solve the perplexors written by Hailey.

Perplexor 1      Perplexor 2    Perplexor 3

4. **More Advanced-Print out this puzzle and watch this Video Tutorial instead of steps 2 and 3

5. Write/type your own perplexor.  Make a copy of this template to help you get going on writing your own. Create an answer key as well.

6. Ask 2 different people to complete your perplexor.

7. If you would like a set of perplexors, ask your teacher or EY/coordinator.

8. Share your perplexor and the answer key with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Check out the perplexor badge at the EY website.

I love everything about fall…football, leaves changing colors, pumpkins, candy corn, and costumes!  This math mini spark has a variety of activities to choose from.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #26: Fall Math
2. Print this coordinate plane graphing activity. Take a picture of your final project and add it to your recording page.
3.  Do a candy corn science experiment. Look over the supplies for the experiment. Ask your teacher or EY coordinator if you need helping getting what you need. Take pictures and record the results for each liquid on your recording page. Prompts to answer are on the experiment page.
4. Print this Halloween candy probability activity. Take a picture of your final project and add it to your recording page.
5. Print this pumpkin math activity. For this activity you will need a tiny pumpkin. You can also use an orange or an apple.
6. Share your math mini spark recording pages/activity sheets  with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Math concepts are fantastically weaved into all kinds of artwork and Cloud Gate, or “The Bean”, in Chicago, IL is no exception!  Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor’s first public outdoor work in the the United States.

Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rmlowe/6144649661

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #24: The Bean

2. According to the city of Chicago website, The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a “gate” to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives. Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high.  Watch this summary video below and record 5-10 details on your recording page.

3. Watch a video on how they “Clean the Bean”. Record 3 sentences about what you have learned about this process on your recording page.

4. Take a look inside the Bean during construction.  What math and science was involved in creating the bean?

5.  “The Bean” is 33 feet high, 42 feet wide, and 66 feet long. It weighs about 110 tons — roughly the same as 15 adult elephants. Suppose a regular bean was sitting next to Cloud Gate. Do some research to find out the dimensions of a regular bean.  Do some math calculations. About how many times bigger is cloud gate? Record your work on your recording page.

6. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Thanks to the Hoffart boys at Sunset for inspiring this math mini spark!