Tag: Math

Pantograph: Early Copy Machines

A pantograph, first invented in the early 1600s, was used to make exact copies before there were any Xerox machines around. It’s a simple mechanical device made up of four bars linked together in a parallelogram shape. Here’s how it…

Graphical Multiplication

The trick looks impressive, so be prepared for jaw-drops when you show this to kids and adults. But can you figure out how it works? I’ll give you a hint: think about how to represent placeholders of powers of 10……

Math Recommendations

Most resources that public school advisers suggest for gifted or bright kids are a ‘mile wide and an inch deep’ – they don’t really go into depth on any one area. After traveling to dozens of home school conventions for…

Mental Mathemagic

We’re going to throw in a few math lessons here and there, so if math really isn’t your thing, free free to just watch the videos and see what you think. All of these lessons require only a brain, and…

Squaring Two-Digit Numbers

This neat little trick shortcuts the multiplication process by breaking it into easy chunks that your brain can handle. The first thing you need to do is multiply the digits together, then double that result and add a zero, and…