# IntMath Newsletter: real life math, anxiety and Euclid’s Elements

By Murray Bourne, 09 Dec 2010

9 Dec 2010

In this Newsletter:

1. Resource - real life math topics
2. Thanksgiving for less math?
3. Math anxiety Bill of Rights
4. What did Euclid really say about geometry?
5. Tan lines
6. Christmas math
7. Final thought – success

## 0. First thoughts

This is the final IntMath Newsletter for 2010.

Most people stop thinking about math at the end of the year (as you'll see in Thanksgiving for less math? below), so this edition's topics are fairly light.

I'm working on several new things for IntMath.com, including a mobile version of the site. Hopefully it'll be ready for release early in the new year.

You can help IntMath.com by telling others about it - your friends, your teacher or anyone else who may benefit from it.

On with the Newsletter.

## 1. Resource - real life math topics

Yummy Math claims to "provide teachers and students with mathematics relevant to our world today".

Recent topics have included:

• Holiday movie data
• Salaries and percentages in sports
• Dates of religious festivals
• Metric conversions
• Spread of disease in Haiti

Yummy Math is by Brian Marks (middle school math coach) and Leslie Lewis (retired math teacher). The intended audience for the lessons is grades 7 to 12.

Check out Yummy Math

## 2. Thanksgiving for less math?

 The times when people visit IntMath.com indicate when interest in math is highest. Thanksgiving for less math?

## 3. Math anxiety Bill of Rights

 Here's a list that reaches out to math educators. Is it reasonable? Math anxiety Bill of Rights

## 4. What did Euclid really say about geometry?

 Euclid's math textbook has been in use for over 2,300 years. What did Euclid really say about geometry?

## 5. Tan lines

 Here's a fun take on one of the trigonometric curves. Tan lines

## 6. Christmas math

It's nearly upon us, so here are 2 articles on Christmas (from the archives) .

#### (a) The 12 Days of Christmas - how many presents?

 What is the math behind the "12 Days of Christmas" song? The Twelve Days of Christmas - How Many Presents?

#### (b) Christmas costs and the true meaning

 Some thoughts on Christmas, including what we probably really should spend our money on. Christmas costs and the true meaning

## 7. Final thought – success

Here's a great quote from speaker and author Patrick Combs:

If at first you don't succeed, you're like everyone else who went on to greatness.

I wish everyone a happy festive season and I hope 2011 brings you all health, happiness and success in math!

Until next time, enjoy whatever you learn.

See the 3 Comments below.

### 3 Comments on “IntMath Newsletter: real life math, anxiety and Euclid’s Elements”

1. Boima Korgbe says:

I came across the website this year and it has been of great help to me, most especially the tutoral dvds by Jason Gabson.

2. David Fiscus says:

Hi Murray,

Thanks for Euclid's math textbook. I have always wanted to read it.

3. Jaff Lawrence says:

Besides whatever the diagram are intended to present, I observe that it clearly brings out the three dimensional nature of a tetrahedron which that many students are not able to sketch or draw.

### Comment Preview

HTML: You can use simple tags like <b>, <a href="...">, etc.

To enter math, you can can either:

1. Use simple calculator-like input in the following format (surround your math in backticks, or qq on tablet or phone):
a^2 = sqrt(b^2 + c^2)
(See more on ASCIIMath syntax); or
2. Use simple LaTeX in the following format. Surround your math with $$ and $$.
$$\int g dx = \sqrt{\frac{a}{b}}$$
(This is standard simple LaTeX.)

NOTE: You can't mix both types of math entry in your comment.