It's all in the numbers!

We are surrounded by numbers. There is no way around them yet most people will express thoughts of math being their least favorite subject in school. What makes matters even worse are the mathematical misrepresentations encountered on a regular - daily, often more than once a day - basis! 

YES! The decimal point makes a difference! $0.50 is NOT the same as 0.50¢!
YES! There is a difference in 1/3 vs. 1/2. The '3' on the bottom does NOT make it a bigger amount!
YES! Each 'little mark' on a ruler does have its own meaning! Allowing or disallowing one of those 'little marks' can definitely make a difference! 

For many people, math is difficult and some say, "I just don't get it!" For those reasons plus many more, it is important to practice math every chance one gets, especially our children.

If for some reason, you don't think math makes a difference, check out the challenges at the end of this post and visit this site...

6 Small Math Errors That Caused Huge Disasters

As for today, Today is...

World Maths Day

The World Maths Day (World Math Day in English) is organized by 3P Learning, an e-learning centre based in Australia in conjunction with UNICEF to raise funds for education needs in Africa and other poor countries.

World Maths Day is one of the world's largest global educational events aimed at lifting numeracy standards in a fun and meaningful way. World Maths Day involves participants playing 60 second games, with the platform heavily based on "Live Mathletics" found in Mathletics. The contests involve mental math problems appropriate for each age group which test the accuracy and speed of the students as they compete against other students across the Globe. The simple but innovative idea of combining the aspects of multi-player online gaming with math problems has contributed to its popularity around the world.

The World Education Games will be taking a break in 2014 from official competition and will return in 2015. By completing the pre-registration form, we can keep you updated via email on the latest news and information regarding the next World Education Games, as well as other events.

 

A Bit of History

• On 13th March 2007 the first World Math Day was held and in 48 hours, 98 countries and 287,000 students participated. The success ensured World Math Day an annual event.
• In 2008, practice sessions began by February with one million students and 150 countries participating.
• In 2009, a brand new website for the World Math day was launched in the February practice session. Nearly 2 million students from 204 countries took part in the online games.
• A Guinness World Record in 2010 was set with 2.5 million students from 236 countries. Some new rules and games were also introduced.
• 2011 saw the World Math Day become part of the World Education Games.
• In 2012, over 5.9 million students from 240 Countries and Territories around the World registered to take part in the games with the World Maths Day being the biggest attraction.

With a break in the competition, we will just have to wait to see what's in the numbers for 2015! In the meantime, let's encourage our children to discover new number-themed activities. Be prepared for the competition and have fun with math!

EVERYDAY CHALLENGE: 

Ask your child to be on the lookout for the math mistakes that make a difference OR do it yourself! You may be quite surprised at the frequency of misrepresentations that really make some businesses look quite dumb.

Can you spot the error?

 This is the one that really gets me...you see it EVERYWHERE! You can save bundles by challenging the misplaced decimal or misuse of the ¢ sign, or simply get screwed with misadvertising...