A Mixed Bag of Mathematics, Science, and General Interest Web Sites

I remember a certain weather reporter who would talk about a “mixed bag” of weather conditions that were heading in our direction. Well, today’s tech tip is a mixed bag of mathematics, science, and general interest web sites that are interesting and even fun.



The Hundred Greatest Theorems http://personal.stevens.edu/~nkahl/Top100Theorems.html

Having spent many years teaching mathematics to students in grades six through twelve, I could not resist a list of the Hundred Greatest Theorems. The chart includes links to many of the theorems and the mathematicians associated with them. Dates are also included in the chart.

I have taught some of these theorems, but certainly not all of them. The inclusion of the theorems in the list is based on "the place the theorem holds in the literature, the quality of the proof, and the unexpectedness of the result." Archimedes’ Area of a Circle, the Pythagorean Theorem, and Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem are a few of those included in the list.


Anita’s Origami
http://www.ulster.net/~spider/diagrams.htm

Origami Now!
http://pem.org/origami/

Two origami sites provide instructions for folding many interesting creations. The instructions for the first site are a combination of words and sketches. The instructions for the second site are contained in videos.


Optical Illusions and Mind Tricks http://www.lovethosekids.com/illusions/aaillus.htm

Enjoy this list of optical illusions. Can you explain how or why they work? Could your students draw some original optical illusions?


Wired Science
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/
This PBS site has links to science features, videos, blogs, and education helps.


Science 2.0
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=science-2-point-0&sc=rss
The April 2008 Scientific American has an interesting article about Science 2.0. M. Mitchell Waldrop writes about a new practice by some researchers of posting raw results online. How will this practice affect science discoveries and the scientists who make those discoveries?


Image: http://flickr.com/photos/piddysplace/149266960/
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en