We Use Math Blog

The Dartmouth College Math Department and the Neukom Institute for Computational Science sponsored a video competition called “Math-O-Vision.” The winner and runners-up received cash prizes for their videos showing how math is integrated in the world. Click here to check out their amazing videos!

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, researchers at Vanderbilt University discovered that kindergarten students are not being challenged enough in math. Teachers reported spending 13 days per month on skills students had already mastered. Researchers concluded that a more advanced math curriculum for kindergarten students would lead to an increase in end-of-the-year math achievement tests. Click here to read more about the study.

A study from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Vermont uses a math pattern analysis to analyze whether Twitter users are happier farther away from home. Researchers sought out the negative and positive words in the Tweets they studied, and combined those results with an analysis of the user’s geographic location. Where were Twitter users happiest? Click here to find out!

What better way to get excited about math than with a fun movie? Movies can help display the many real-world applications of mathematics, from sports to art. Click here to check out a list of great films. Sports fans, try Moneyball for the story of the 2002 Oakland A’s and how an analytic approach to the classic game of baseball saved their team. What are your favorite math movies?

The only one of its kind in North America, the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath, for short) opened last December in New York City. MoMath is designed to spark the public’s interest in mathematics and how it applies to the world around us. Interactive exhibits, geared toward 4th-8th graders, highlight the versatility and wonder of math. This museum even offers a traveling “Math Midway, ” which is available for schools to rent!  Click here to view a CBS News report on the Museum of Mathematics that showcases a few of the museum’s greatest features. To access MoMath’s official website, click here.