Difference between revisions of "Games and mathematics MA375S12Walther" - Rhea

Revision as of 14:11, 2 February 2012

For interactive games relating directly to our Discrete Mathematics class, check out these games that may help in understanding some of the chapters within our book. Interactive Demonstration Applets For example: In Chapter 10, we see the below picture helps demonstrate concepts involving the Shortest Path Algorithm (Dijkstra's).

For those of you majoring in Mathematics Education, here is a website which contains games for students all the way from kindergarden to eight grade. Math Playground Games For middle school and high school students, try this site for games. HotMath Games

An interesting article I found while researching was called Odds on: the maths behind game shows published by ABC Science. This article discusses how mathematics could be used on everyday game shows to put the odds of winning closer to your favor. Although it is an opinion piece, which quotes Simon Singh, about how math strategies are better than your chance instincts it shows different ways to better win prizes on game shows by switching to his methods. Game shows such as Deal or No Deal and Let's Make a Deal which were popular and are popular shows on television today are discussed.

Also, sticking with the same game show theme, John A. Rock wrote an article called Mathematics Behind Game Shows: The Best Way to Play in May 2008. There are many problems for practice involving all types of mathematics, focusing on probability mostly. The author makes the problems fun by using well known subjects in the problems; for example, The Price is Right, Jeopardy, Dodgeball, Find the Fake, Coin Flip, etc. These problems can be done by anyone for fun on your own or in group activities in a classroom.

More information and games to come soon. If there are any requests for certain types of games or anything else, please let me know! Thanks, Carolyn Hanes

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Thanks for sharing info Carolyn.

I only want to add a little "game" I am beginning to play this semester- Project Euler. It is a small project initiated by Colin Hughes in which he and his peers posted mathematical challenges of all level, from novice (e.g. Problem 1:"Add all the natural numbers below one thousand that are multiples of 3 or 5." to extremely difficult (Problem 368: Kepmner Like Series).

What is interesting about project Euler is that it is like an Massive Multiplayer Online gaming experience for incredibly nerdy types (me, included)- you create an account, level up by solving more and more problems, score achievements, and share your answer to another user through problem-specific forums. Solving the problem alone is only marks the entrance to the Project Euler; the real challenge begins when you share your answer with other users to search for the most elegant (and therefore, beautiful) solution. For instance, I answered problem number 3 by writing a brute force program, thereby taking ~4-5 seconds to get my answer (any program that I write that takes more than a second to execute is an ill-written program). But I found another user who wrote a more efficient program that could do the same task in less than fraction of a second because he actually used his brain to recognize and craft a more efficient approach to the solution.

My aim is to solve at least one problem per week, starting tomorrow 23 January. This pace will certainly slow down as the difficult of the problem increases, and for anyone who wants to play the game together, please let me know at lee832 at purdue dot edu

Also, if anyone is interested in a fun math event to help out with then this event is for you! The Math Counts Competition is coming to Purdue and they are looking for some volunteers. Here is some information about what Math Counts is and how to get involved:

On Saturday, February 11, Purdue will be hosting the MathCOUNTS Regional competition here at Purdue University, and we are looking for volunteers to help out with the event. MathCOUNTS is a national middle school competition for students who excel in mathematics. MATHCOUNTS emphasizes fun and excitement through its signature competition program, which is entering its 29th year. Since 1983, over 6 million students have participated in MATHCOUNTS, and compiled data indicates that there is a strong correlation between participation and higher SAT scores, selection of STEM majors in college, and selection of STEM careers after college. The regional competition is a fun day where some of the brightest mathematics students in the region/state get to compete for a place in the national competition.

Volunteers will be needed from 8am to about 1pm. A volunteer can work all or a portion of the time. Their basic duties could include: helping with set-up and check-in, helping administer the tests; or help scoring the tests. Here is the schedule for the day. Volunteers will receive a free lunch and are invited to stay for the afternoon countdown round and awards. 8:30 a.m. Registration 9:00 Welcome and Introductions (10 min.) 9:10 Sprint Round (40 min.) 9:50 Break (15 min.) 10:05 Target Round (45 min.) 10:50 Break (10-15 min.) 11:00 Team Round (20 min.) 11:30 Lunch (provided - 1.5 hour) 1:00 p.m. Count Down (1 hour) in Class of 1950 Building Lecture Hall 2:00 Awards (following countdown)

Anyone who is interested in volunteering or has questions can contact Jerry Woodwar (jwoodwar@purdue.edu) or Vince Drnevich (drnevich@purdue.edu), Professor Emeritus, Civil Engineering, Purdue University. Thanks, Carolyn Hanes