# Math Teachers At Play — #98

So this is Math Teacher’s At Play … the 98th edition! You know what’s really interesting about 98? It’s $$47 \times 2$$. No, that’s clearly false. $$49 \times 2 = 98$$. That’s much better. Ok, so here’s a question, are there more facts about 98 than there are non-facts (aka lies) about 98 or the other way around or are they equal in cardinality?

You know, those born in 1998 are becoming legal adults in the US this year. Was Windows ’98 around then? Would the song 99 Red Balloons have been just as popular if it were 98 Red Balloons?

What’s so special about $$98-29$$?

Let’s face it, 98 is one short of 99, the cooler number.

Ah, ye old times tables. Caroline Mukisa (@mathsinsider) gives a 31 day plan to learning the times tables.

Fractions tend to be a huge stumbling block in math education. Rachel at You’ve Got This Math talks about “Equivalent Fraction with Pattern Block Task Cards”. It’s a fun intro to fractions for the very young kids and could be a nice refresher for older kids.

In a related article, Denise Gaskins (@letsplaymath) has Playing With Math Shapes.

Speaking of which … a joke intermission! Why are topologists so fit? Because they’re always in shape! Haha. Get it. Topologists. Shape. It’ll be a comic that’s coming soon. I haven’t done one in a while.

Another in fraction land we have in Christine Newell’s (@MrsNewell22) own words

As CCSS implementation continues, teachers are still grappling with transitioning away from old procedures and making meaning out of those procedural concepts. Previously, converting improper fractions to mixed numbers was taught as a rote skill, with little to no conceptual understanding developed for students. This blog post was inspired by a lesson that attached some meaning to the work of converting between mixed numbers and improper fractions by emphasizing that it is truly just a case of fraction equivalence. Students were successful with models (number bonds, number lines, fraction tiles) in learning this concept.

The full article is titled Fractions Greater than One, or the Artists Formerly Known as Improper Fractions

Next, we have a solid article on Using Narration to Evaluate Math Learning from @Tri_Learning. This is about more than finding math in every day things, it’s about connecting with mathematical concepts and being able to explain and discuss. There are many good examples given here and whether you homeschool or not, it’s worth checking out.

On a similar topic, Cav (@srcav) writes wonderfully about Dialogic Teaching and Problem Solving.

And here is my version of it in There’s No Wrong Answer In Math.

I love when Math and Art meet. John Stevens (@jstevens009) talks about Mr. Sierpinski and the Triangle of Doom. A great title and a better article. This is a pretty good classroom activity for pretty much any age group.

Benjamin Leis explores divisibility. What is the remainder when 999,999,999 is divided by 32? I find these problems and explorations to be a lot of fun and engaging. They really do get students playing with numbers and finding patterns!

Roman Smirnov puts down some challenging math problems in this Friday the 13th article. I’ll admit I couldn’t solve the first problem. 🙂

Ok, and this concludes Math Teachers At Play! Make sure to give a the articles linked here a visit!

MTAP #99 will be at Eat Play Math.

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