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This is the August 2014 Transum Newsletter bringing you the latest news from Transum Mathematics. If you are in the UK or US you are probably enjoying your well earned summer holiday right now but if you are in Australia or New Zealand it's business as normal I presume.
The puzzle of the month is One Torch Tunnel. Good Luck
I have now returned from my holiday on the island of Koh Mook where I read Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos. It inspired me to create the Magic Square Puzzle (see below) and set my mind wondering about the database of Sudoku puzzles he describes. I really enjoyed it and recommend it as fascinating Maths teacher holiday reading.
Alex's Adventures in Numberland
I now need to read his other book, maybe another holiday is needed!
Alex Through the Looking-Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life
Did you know that you can keep track of the progress your pupils are making on Transum Mathematics? Enter the names of the pupils in your class in the Class Admin application and enter the email addresses used by the pupils when registering their trophies. Click on the 'more' button on the main Class Admin page then scroll down to find the Trophies button. The table records instantly the trophies earned by your pupils in a compact table so you can see who is doing well and who may need some help.
Shunting Puzzles was created. An interactive activity to go with the 9th January Starter. Though this activity is not explicitly mathematical it does require abstract thought, logical deduction and the generation of a strategy. The real skill is to have more than one tram moving at the same time to minimise the time taken to complete the task. Currently the record for level 1 is 27 seconds! Can you beat that?
Double Take and Cat Apult are two modern style computer games that are very addictive. Unfortunately they don't work on older web browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 but most people using the Transum website are using more up-to-date software thankfully.
The T Puzzle has been around since the year 1900 but the Transum version was born at 1900hrs on the 19th July. There are links lower down the T Puzzle page linking to the other Transum Tangram activities.
I was surprised when creating the Magic Square Puzzle to find how many different groups of four numbers added up to the magic total. A recommended activity for pupils of all abilities.
Finally you can now generate isometric paper from the Graph Paper Shine+Write page and the Sieve of Eratosthenes has been updated with assorted comments each time a task is completed.
John
PS. There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
