Weekly Online Lesson Online Lesson Archives Grade Level: 3-12 Subject: Math

Online Math Games

For many of you, the traditional school year is nearly over. Maybe you're wishing you had just a few more days to enjoy the thrill and excitement of studying math . . .

NOT!

Ok, so you're probably thinking more about long days of fun and sun at the local water park. Summer is a great time for fun and games, but you don't have to rule out math to enjoy some great gaming action on the Internet. And since you've got to learn math anyway, you might as well have some fun doing it.

In this lesson you'll try your brain at some of the greatest interactive math games on the Web. You'll need a Java-compatible browser and your sharpest math skills for these fun and challenging sites.

Let the games begin.

A+ Math

A+ Math is a site designed for math learners in the elementary and middle grades. Here you can practice your basic math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) as well as some advanced skills (order of operations, fractions, algebra).

You can start by brushing up your skills with Flashcards. Choose from the list of either Java (faster and more fun) or Non-Java flashcards. If you select, for example, Multiplication, the flashcard at the top shows you a problem and you have to key in the answer below. Click Enter or press the Enter key to move on to the next flashcard. The program tracks your score as you go.

When you think you've had enough basic practice, click the Games link to head for the fun. You can choose from MATHO (Bingo combined with math), Hidden Picture, and Concentration, each tuned to the math skills you want to work on.

Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles

Advanced gamers will want to visit Alex Bogomolny's Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles site, which features more interactive math tools than perhaps any other site on the Web. Click the Games & Puzzles link to find a list of 39 (and growing) great games, all of which you can play online.

Start by trying the first game, called 3 glass puzzle. The trick is to pour water (represented by check boxes) from one glass into another until one glass contains exactly 4 oz (4 check boxes) of water.

Not only does each game present a math challenge, it explains the mathematic logic behind each solution. Try all 39!

Spirograph

The path of a point fixed relative to a circle that rolls along a straight line is called a trochoid. The easiest way to visualize this phenomenon is to think of the path of a reflector on a bicycle as someone is riding on a level street. The reflector rotates around the hub of the wheel, but yet the hub of the wheel is moving relative to the ground.

Now think about what happens if the circle is instead rotating around another circle. In other words, the cyclist is now pedaling his/her way around the equator, instead of down the street. Mathematicians call this path an epicycloid. The rest of the world calls them SpiroGraphs. Your parents probably grew up playing the game—little did they realize how much math was involved.

At the Spirograph site, you can create beautiful Spirograph images online . . . and explore the math principles behind them.

To draw a picture, set the following parameters:

Radius1 (R)

Radius of circle (equator) centered at the origin.

Radius2 (r)

Radius of circle (bicycle wheel) centered at (R+r,0)

Position (p)

Distance of Point (reflector) from the center of Circle2, the circle of radius r.

Velocity

Speed at which the SpiroGraph is drawn, with 0 being the slowest and 10 being the fastest. Can be adjusted while drawing is taking place. Sometimes half the fun is seeing your SpiroGraph being drawn! Sometimes not!

Resolution

Controls how precise the SpiroGraph is drawn

When the parameters are all set, click Draw and watch your image unfold. Click Clear to erase that drawing and create another. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will find some suggested parameters to try for some cool effects.

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