Math for Love is dedicated to transforming how math is taught and learned. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience math as the dynamic, beautiful, rigorous art form that it is. We believe that if everyone gets this experience early, we'll have far fewer people fearing and avoiding math, and far more engaged by it and comfortable with using math as it naturally arises in their lives.
From a practical viewpoint, this means we're constantly searching for the most powerful way to share transformative math experiences, and make it simple for teachers to do the same. Currently, most of our time is devoted to professional development for teachers, curriculum development–we just finished writing a summer school curriculum for Seattle Public Schools–and game development. Our first game, Prime Climb, has been extremely popular since its debut in a year and a half ago, and we have high hopes for our new game for younger kids, Tiny Polka Dot.
There's enough luck in the game that neither one of us has built up a decisive lead in total games won. Which is good for our marriage.
a) with my grandmother?
Yes.
b) in math class?
Definitely!
c) on a roller coaster?
Bad idea. You'll lose the pieces, and won't be able to see what dice you've rolled.
d) on a second date?
This would be a good way to establish whether you and your date have common interests.
e) without a calculator?
I never use a calculator when I play, personally. We include a color-coded multiplication table with the game to help with play. It's really a game of weighing the relative value of lots of small decisions. Each individual calculation is relatively straightforward, but it can still be tricky to see your best move.
f) after drinking two glasses of wine?
We keep waiting for some engineering grad students (or somebody) to make Prime Climb a drinking game. So far, no one has reached out to us. That said, drink away.
Tiny Polka Dot! This is a game for 3 to 8 year-olds. We're really excited about it, because it's effectively a suite of games that allows you do introduce, practice, and conceptually understand virtually all the numeracy you need for Kindergarten and first grade. I think it has the potential to become an indispensable tool in homes, preschools, and Kindergartens.
As of my writing this, there are 6 days left in our Kickstarter campaign, and I think we're going to fund within the next 24-48 hours. So it's going to happen!
I've got to go with Belphegor's number: 1000000000000066600000000000001
Here's what's amazing about it.
1. It's prime.
2. It's a palindrome! (Meaning it reads the same front to back as back to front.)
3. At its center it contains 666, the infamous "number of the beast."
4. On either side of the center there are 13 flanking zeroes.
It's arguably the world's unluckiest number.