Math and Magic in Camelot!

After a long hiatus from blogging, I'm back with a wonderful surprise!  I'm very excited to announce the release of the second book in the Math and Magic Adventures series - "Math and Magic in Camelot"...

When Lulu and Elizabeth find themselves in Camelot, they are expecting to meet King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Instead, the twins enter the world of the Lily Maidens, an organization of women who travel through legends and time in pursuit of knowledge.  

But dark forces are uniting against the Kingdom; Merlin, the Black Pig, and a vast army of men and mythological beasts are marching for Camelot's gate. Only the magic of science, mathematics, and poetry can preserve honor's code and defend the Kingdom against the impending onslaught of evil.

Book Club Week 1 and Giveaway {Math and Magic in Wonderland}

Welcome to the Math and Magic in Wonderland Book Club!

Over the next eleven weeks, I'll be hosting a virtual book club based on my math adventure novel Math and Magic in Wonderland.

A copy of the book is all you need to get started on a grand adventure into the world of recreational mathematics (math as entertainment)!

Each week, we'll be playing with the math, language, and logic topics found in a single chapter. I'll be posting ideas for extension activities, videos demonstrating the concepts for the week, and additional resources. I'm really excited for the opportunity to share all the extra ideas that have been floating around my brain which I didn't have room to include in the book (as in Marco Polo's famous words: “I did not tell half of what I saw.”)

Reviews for Math and Magic in Wonderland

Some wonderful reviews have started coming in for "Math and Magic in Wonderland".  Please check out the reviews and follow these fantastic blogs:

"Puns, poetry, and plenty of puzzles. Tangrams, tessellations, truth-tellers and liars. History tidbits and many classics of recreational mathematics. 

No matter how challenging the topic, the book never talks down to the reader."

Review from Denise Gaskins, author of "Let's Play Math":
https://denisegaskins.com/2016/07/11/review-math-magic-wonderland/

Upcoming Book Club and Math Circle {Math and Magic in Wonderland}

There is no Frigate like a Book  

To take us Lands away,  

Nor any Coursers like a Page  

Of prancing Poetry –   

This Traverse may the poorest take         

Without oppress of Toll –   

How frugal is the Chariot  

That bears a Human soul.

                               -Emily Dickinson

Have you ever read a book that you just had to tell all your friends about?  What about an enthralling math problem you just had to share?  If you nodded at the former suggestion and chuckled at the latter one, you are not alone!  One of the reasons I wrote my book, Math and Magic in Wonderland, was to make the world of mathematics as fun and accessible as the world of literature.

My family has been having such a wonderful time playing along with my math adventure novel, that I just have to share it with others.  Today I'm excited to announce the Math and Magic Book Club and Math Circle.  I invite other families to join us as we read through the book and "play math" together...

Learning about Pythagoras

In our study of ancient Greece last month in homeschool, the twins (almost 6 years old) learned about Pythagoras and his followers (the Pythagoreans).  Here are some of the activities we did (many were from the book Classical Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in Ancient Greece and Rome by Laurie Carlson.  Here's a bit of what we did..

Math Teachers at Play #59

Math Teachers at Play is a monthly Blog Carnival showcasing math activities and puzzles from teachers, parents, and homeschoolers all around the blogosphere.  It is organized by Denise Gaskins at Let's Play Math, and I'm very excited to be hosting the 59th carnival on Learners in Bloom.

The number 59 is a prime number, and has a twin prime 61 (a consecutive prime number that differs by 2).  It's also the sum of three prime numbers: 17 + 19 + 23 = 59.  If you divide 59 by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 you get remainders of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. 

The regular icosahedron has 59 stellations.

Here's a little puzzle for you: 59 is the smallest prime that can be expressed using the digits 1 through 9 in order with only the addition and multiplication symbols between them.  Can you find a way to express it with these rules?  (one solution is at the end of this post).

And now on to the great ideas that were submitted this month...