Taken from NASA.gov:  One of the reasons that ancient peoples could not predict total solar eclipses was because they did not appreciate the mathematics involved in forecasting. Also, many of the parameters needed to accurately predict eclipses had not been astronomically measured until the first century CE.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #35: The Math Behind the Solar Eclipse
2. Go to this site to read about eclipses. Then click the arrows to go through the quick facts. Record several details.
3.  Watch this video, The Coincidental Geometry of a Total Solar Eclipse, to learn more about the math involved. Take notes while watching.

4. Read and take notes about total solar eclipses at National Geographic Kids. 

5.  *Advanced: Take the NASA Challenge X Marks the Spot Linear Equations. Print out the activity sheets to get started.

6. *Advanced: Take the NASA Challenge Exploring Angular Diameter.

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

Where is your favorite place to eat pizza?  My Top 3 are Sortinos, Mama’s Pizza, and Papa Johns.  Of course whenever we eat pizza as a family, we have to make up some math problems!  Explore some “pizza math”!

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #34: Pizza Math

2. Watch the video, Pizza Pi, and add details on your recording page.

3. Now watch this video, The Twitter Pizza Equation Explained ,and add details to your recording page showing the math behind the pizza sizes.

4. Omni has a great site with information on pizza math and an pizza size calculator. On the left side there are a few articles about pizza. Record the title of each article and 3 details from each one on your note taking sheet.

5. Now try out the calculator. You can use the measurements from one of the videos or create your own and see what the comparisons are. Record what you find.

6. OPTIONAL: Calculate the area, circumference, and price per square inch of the next pizza you order.  Make a display of the math/calculations.

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

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.