Every morning I wake up and look at Al, my Aloe plant.
And lately I’ve been thinking to myself “He looks like a square root curve!”
Although eventually he’ll look more like an upside-down parabola.
Application Challenge
Can You Crack It?
Here’s a code-breaking challenge from the British Intelligence Agency GCHQ:
http://www.canyoucrackit.co.uk/
Crack the code, enter the keyword, and according to this article, you’ll be directed to GCHQ’s website where you can apply for a job.
But hurry: you’ve only got about a week left to solve this puzzle!
Resources Technology
Mathematical Documentaries
This is a nice collection of mathematics-themed documentaries:
http://www.cosmolearning.com/mathematics/documentaries/
There are 30 or so documentaries here, many from the BBC’s Topics in the History of Mathematics, such as Non-Euclidean Geometry and the Birth of the Calculus.
Other documentaries of interest include biographies of Florence Nightingale (whose contribution to statistics is often overlooked) and John Nash (Nobel prize winner and subject of the film A Beautiful Mind).
There are also a number of traditional lecture series available as well.
Appreciation Numbers
Worst Discount Ever
This has to be some kind of record for smallest difference between sale price and regular price.
Using the standard formula for percent change
we find the difference in sale price and original price to be
That’s a 0.8% discount! Was this really worth printing up a “SALE!” sign?
NYT Resources Sports Teaching
Math Lesson: European Debt Crisis
My latest contribution to the New York Times Learning Network is a Math Lesson designed around exploring loan repayment and risk assessment in the context of the European Debt Crisis.
In this lesson, students interact with some cool infographics, collect debt data, run the numbers on possible loan repayment schedules, and explore an elementary notion of “risk” in finance.