I'm in My Prime, How About You? (1510)

Prime Numbers

This is one of those math topics that I honestly don’t use in my daily life, and have likewise forgotten the basics to what makes a number a prime number. I vaguely remembered that 5 and 7 were some of the first ones on the list, but I obviously needed a refresher when looking at the difference between a prime and composite number.

Here is a great interactive game that really gets the heart thumping and brain moving. Prime Shooter requires a person to have a quick reaction time. I found myself at the edge of my seat trying to shoot the prime numbers!

Dictionary.com defines our numbers as follows:

Prime number:

A positive integer that is not divisible without remainder by any integer except itself and 1, with 1 often excluded: For example, the integers 2, 3, 5, and 7 are prime numbers.

Composite Number:

A number that is a multiple of at least two numbers other than itself and 1.

To give a few examples of these types of numbers you can look at the list of numbers 2-10 as the number 1 is only divisible by itself.

2 - This is divisible only by the numbers 1 and 2, so it is a prime number

3 – This is divisible only by the numbers 1 and 3, so it is a prime number

4 – This is divisible by the numbers 1, 2, and 4 so it is a composite number

5 – This is divisible only by the numbers 1 and 5, so it is a prime number

6 – This is divisible by the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 6 so it is a composite number

7 – This is divisible only by the numbers 1 and 7, so it is a prime number

8 – This is divisible by the numbers 1, 2, 4, and 8 so it is a composite number

9 – This is divisible by the numbers 1, 3, and 9 so it is a composite number

10 – This is divisible by the numbers 1, 2, 5, and 10 so it is a composite number

Off of the top of my head, I use a shortcut to decide if a number is prime by seeing if it is an even number, which is obviously divisible by 2. I also think to myself on whether the number is easily divisible by 3, 5, and 7. (This obviously gets a little more difficult as the numbers get higher.) When your brain fails you, it is easy to do a quick search for a table online. I’m including a link that is helpful for this. 

Prime Numbers List

Don't be afraid of the math items that you haven't used for years. Embrace the challenge, do a little research and refresh that part of your brain!

Snowflakes, in July?? (1512)

Abby's first attempt

Abby's Snowflake

My 6 year old daughter asked for help to make snowflakes over the 4^th of July weekend when it was 90 degrees outside! We were on a camping trip and had a little downtime this past weekend, and my artistic daughter wanted to make something fun. We got out her paper and markers and decided to make some snowflakes. I started showing her how the paper needed to be folded from a square, then into a triangle and then another small triangle. She has made them before of course, but it seemed to be a good math lesson for this camping trip. My 4-year-old son was interested too, but he couldn’t quite get the cutting down for such a small area with his little fingers. The first attempt on her own ended up in a piece of paper crumbled into many pieces because she had cut through the edges too far. She soon got the hang of how deep she could cut in, which edges corresponded to the outside and which were the middle of the snowflake. The symmetry when it is done is what she loves the most! She practiced making tiny slits, diamonds, circles and even hearts while cutting through the layers.

Here is a quick video on tips to make the perfect snowflake.

It is never too early to introduce children to the names of shapes and where we find them in our every day life. There also has been many times where we are sitting down with the Magna Doodle and draw shapes and pictures. My son likes to say, “Build a house Mommy”! Obviously in our brains we usually start with the outside square or rectangle, then the triangle for a roof, then the square windows, rectangle vertical door, circle doorknob and any other details we might be imagining at the time. By introducing kids to these images early in life, it puts it in their head to be on the lookout for them. For instance, a sailboat on the lake looks like it has triangles that make up the sail reaching up high above the rest of the boat. If a teacher can get the kids involved with fun projects and they are much more willing to spend the time on learning about math!