Tag Archives: Christmas

182. Chrismaths 12

On the twelfth day of Christmas Maths Sandpit gave to me .. some Time Lords a-leapfrogging!

Image credit: blastr.com

Download the poster: On the twelfth day of Christmas

 

As you’ve been downloading the posters, you’ll have noticed I haven’t strictly kept to the verses of ‘The Twelve days of Christmas’. However, if you do a little bit of research you’ll find that the verses have changed since 1780 and around the world there are variations. The lost verses include ’11 badgers baiting’, ’12 bells a ringing’, ‘8 hounds a running’ and ‘9 bears a beating’!

180. Chrismaths 11

On the eleventh day of Christmas the Muppets gave to me …

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Image credit: The Muppets

Download the poster: On the eleventh day of Christmas

 

Hint: There are 10 types of people in the world – those who understand __ __ __ __ __ __ and those who don’t.

176. Christmas Craft

So, what to craft for that maths geek special someone … may we suggest polyhedral dice pillows?

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These squashy beauties are from ¡The Anticraft!. There are full instructions and helpful diagrams on the website. These would also be a great classroom resource.

Warning: the folks at Anticraft are honest in their language, so don’t click if you prefer subtler prose.

178. Santa’s Secret

Santa’s secret is that he can get your class to revise harder topics – without them realising!

Equipment

Activity
Paper chains are made from equally sized strips of paper. Each loop is made from a strip of paper, which has one end glued to the other.

Question 1
How many 3cm by 18cm strips of paper can you cut from a sheet of A4 paper? Remember, each strip is made from one complete piece of paper.

Question 2
If each strip has an overlap of 1cm, what is the circumference of the loop made? What is the diameter?

Question 3
When two loops are attached there is an overlap of 0.5cm. How long would a chain of 12 loops be?
Hint: two loops with diameter 4cm would have a combined length of (4+4-0.5)cm = 7.5cm.

Question 4
A room has dimensions 5m by 7m. How far is it diagonally across the room?

Question 5
How many loops would a paper chain have if it reached diagonally across the room?

Extension
To make the chain hang in U shape, rather than stretching flat across the ceiling, 5 extra loops are added per whole metre of chain. How long would the chain diagonally across the room be? How many loops?

Challenge
How many sheets of paper would be required to make enough paper chain to hang in a U shape joining every corner of the room?