Mustard Seed School said they will take a new “Ð(Angle)” on Valentine’s Day this week. To honor St. Valentine, the school will celebrate an “I LOVE Math” Day on Friday, Feb. 13. It includes school-wide math activities, visitors who use math daily at work and for enjoyment, and a guessing game to determine exactly how many small candies fit in a 15-cup container.
Interestingly, three Mustard Seed alums will be back to answer questions about the ways they use math in their jobs. The panel this year is made up of: Thomas Johnson (MSS ’98, University of Scranton ’06, Masters in Teaching from Seattle University ’08), who teaches math at Shallcross Academy in Philadelphia; Katie Lawrence (MSS ’99, Brown University ’07), who is an assistant editor at John Wiley & Sons in Hoboken, and Matt Meyer (MSS ’00, Rice University ’08), who is a market analyst for the Natural Gas and Power Trading Department of BP in Houston.
The panelists join the students for estimation and guessing games, as well as discuss a long term topology problem the student have worked on for two weeks. This problem is a classic question that was solved by Leonhard Euler in 1735. He extended his thinking on the “Seven Bridges of Königsberg” problem to launch the entire field of topology.
The panelists also visit all the classrooms throughout the school to have the children explain what they are learning in math and ask questions of the visitors. The panelists give a book to each class to remember “I LOVE Math” Day.
Can’t argue with those facts and figures!