TED Talk on the Coral Reef in Crochet

In this video, Margaret Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring talks about the Coral Reef in crochet, hyperbolic geometry, and the use and fun of doing hands-on math & science.

Apparently, mathematicians had long thought that you couldn’t build (I guess: embed in our normal euclidean three dimensions) a hyperbolic surface, even though they only had to look at a sea slug or even the lettuce on their plates to know better.

Filed under: Biology, Crochet, Hands-on math & science, Math

links for 2009-04-28

• Common Sense for Uncommon Physics | Cosmic Variance
  Tricks to get 'a feeling' for very large or small quantities. I learned from this post that light travels a foot per nanosecond (12 million miles a minute, according to Monty Python) and that
  "the sensitivity of the human eye is such that it can see a match flame from a mile away"
  and …
  "an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray has about the same energy as a good fastball."
  (tags: physics)

Filed under: Quick links

The Pi-day effect…

on the pageviews of Qulog:

A few days before 14 March lots of people searching for random facts on pi and pi songs find Qulog… and when Pi day is gone, they’re all gone too.

Filed under: Qulogistics

Cube in crochet

As a follow-up on my earlier post with pictures of a yellow crocheted bead and cube (which at some point got quite some visitors from a knitting and crochet group on yahoo, if I remember well) I present you another cube in crochet.

This time with pictures of the making-of! Let me know if you made one yourself.

Filed under: Crochet, English, Hands-on math & science

links for 2009-04-12

• Screencasts maken zonder software te installeren | Antoine van Dinter: Frans & ICT
  Dit klinkt handig: online een screencast maken (een filmpje van je beeldscherm).
  (tags: web screencast software)

Filed under: Quick links

Making waves

Een prachtig filmpje waarin kunstenaar Rueben Margolin zijn bewegende beeldhouwwerken (kinetic sculptures) laat zien. Zijn inspiratie vindt hij bijvoorbeeld in de kolken in het water tijdens een raft-tripje of de manier waarop een rups zich voortbeweegt.

Mooi voorbeeld van hands-on math&science zoals ik het bedoelde! :-) Letterlijke houtje-touwtje-machines die een golvend wateroppervlak nabootsen, of de optelsom van twee sinusgolven met verschillende golflengte.

Via writer’s blog.

Filed under: Design, Hands-on math & science, Math, Nature, Nederlands, Science

links for 2009-03-04

• KleinKracht: Sterrenkunde in het basisonderwijs
  Gevonden via het NTvN: Karin Heesakkers, sterrenkundige en voormalig IT-er, maakt en geeft onderwijs over sterrenkunde op basisscholen.
  (tags: sterrenkunde onderwijs)

Filed under: Quick links

links for 2009-03-03

• SAM Animation Home Page
  Do it yourself stop motion animation! Download the software, hook up a web cam and make your own movie.
  Could be an alternative presentation form for students, a way to escape the endless list of posters and power points.
  (tags: science education video software free)
• Noorderlicht Noorderlog bericht: Krabbeltjes houden je bij de les
  Ik wist het wel, dat die tekeningetjes die ik tijdens overleggen en vergaderingen maak niet zinloos zijn! Deed het vroeger ook al tijdens college. Toch fijn als onderzoek uitwijst dat t inderdaad ergens goed voor is… (Al mis je het voordeel van aantekeningen die je kan nalezen)
  (tags: geheugen tekenen psychologie)

Filed under: Quick links

links for 2009-02-24

• Chemistry Meets Choreography to Enhance Student Comprehension | Edutopia
  Learning about chemical reaction by dancing.
  (tags: chemistry education dance)

Filed under: Quick links

How to stay healthy

If you thought that everything healthy is dull and/or tastes bad, think again:

singing is the key to long life, a good figure, a stable temperament, increased intelligence, new friends, super self-confidence, heightened sexual attractiveness and a better sense of humor.

Brian Eno on This I believe

Bonus Youtube video, because laughing is also very healthy:

DaVinci’s Notebook with The Title of this Song

Filed under: English, Music, Sillyness