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...
