Month: September 2017

On September 11, 2017, i attended the national museum of Mathematics. After arriving, i began to examine many of the exhibits. The museum itself has two floors, filled with roughly 25 exhibits. The exhibits were cool, attractive, and meaningful,  they are also very interactive for both kids and adults. At first i went to where it shows number lines. In this exhibit it explains in simplicity why number lines are important and how they are used in mathematics. There was also an interactive game that allowed you to run onto a pad with a number line on it, in this game you can run across the number line as numbers appear on a screen, you are given points for how many you can run to in the given time. Another exhibit featured at this museum was the history of Pythagorean theorem. In this exhibit it explained the importance of Pythagorean theorem and how its used in mathematics. The interactive part of the exhibit was that there were three triangles, two of the smaller ones can be filled up with the same blocks as it takes to fill the one larger one. i found this one really interesting because it shows how triangles relate to one another and how important that really is. In all, this museum experience was interesting and meaningful. i learned several things about math while also using my student card to get a discount. (although in the book on page 14 it says i could have gotten in for free, it was 11$ with the discount)

 

 

I think I’ve always been someone that recognizes the value of life and the promise of future. I have always felt that having the chance to live your own life and be happy is a basic human right and that it’s something everyone should be able to enjoy. This is a large contributing factor to why today I signed up to join the “To Write Love On Her Arms” club. The club spreads suicide awareness and promotes prevention and it seems like it’s going to be a good group for me because I will hopefully be able to make a difference in the world regarding this major problem. When I signed up it was a fun atmosphere with people smiling and handing out food and info. It definitely got me excited to be a part of the club!

Me and math don’t really get along all that well. I think this started in middle school when my teacher began using a website called DeltaMath. On DeltaMath it didn’t matter how close you were to the answer, if you weren’t right on the money you didn’t get credit. In retrospect I understand why it worked that way, but at the time it was the bane of my existence. So with all that in mind, the Idea of going to the National Museum Of Math didn’t really peak my interest, but after finding out how close it was to Baruch my love of convenience outweighed my hatred of math, and I was on my way. When I walked in I was pleasantly surprised to find that this museum wasn’t glorifying the kind of math that I had come to despise, instead it was highlighting all the cool things that can be accomplished with math. There were puzzles, mazes, and a whole bunch of other stuff I didn’t initially expect to find in a museum of math. Something that stood out to me was this activity where you had to use a program to design a shape, and the shapes that people liked would be 3D printed and put on display. Sadly, my skill didn’t really match my enthusiasm when it came to that activity and while I planned on making an intricate and cool shape I ended up making a virtual snowball. Another cool thing they had was a programmable cannon, pointed at a basketball hoop. It was the job of the visitor to set the velocity and angle of the cannon, then load up a basketball and hope for the best. While this was one of the more complicated attractions of the museum it became clear after a few successes in a row that it was pretty difficult to miss the hoop when using the cannon. Overall the Museum of Math was a pretty good time, and as sappy as this sounds I think that it showed me the cool side of math when up until that point I only chose to see the boring side.
– Michael Jones

The Latinx Heritage Month event was a lot more exciting than I had expected. The dj was full of energy as he got the crowd pumping. The students were vivacious, and of course hungry. I enjoyed some delicious Spanish food such as tostones, fried cheese, empanadas, and a batata icy. I was thrilled when I saw they were giving out the same icy’s that my dad used to bring home. I hadn’t had one in almost a year. It was great to taste it again, especially since it brought back good memories from my childhood. My friend and I got to sign up for clubs such as the Dominican club. I am now very excited to go to one of the meetings and meet other people who share the same Dominican pride as me. I was content with both the music and the food. I was surprised how quickly the 2nd floor changed from a regular, busy college hall to a crowded party setting with great music blasting from the speakers. We grooved to the beat as we watched a few dancers get funky on the dance floor. My friend and I then took a few pictures at the photo booth which I thought was fantastic, mostly because I felt special walking on the red carpet.