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geometry posts

This shape is a lie! Activity

by David Shaw, 30 May 2019 | 0 comments

This shape has a little secret. It’s known as a chamfered cube, and it’s not as perfect as it first seems…

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Tom’s quilt brainteaser Brainteaser

by David Shaw, 17 October 2018 | 0 comments

Brain icon

Tom’s just finished sewing a quilt! It’s made of lots of equal-sized squares of fabric sewn together. Currently, it’s 12 squares long and six squares wide. Tom tried putting the quilt on his bed, but it’s the wrong shape.

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Winning at maths News

by David Shaw, 23 August 2018 | 0 comments

A gold disc or medal with a bearded man's portrait.

Time to celebrate! For only the second time ever, an Australian has won the most famous prize in mathematics – the Fields Medal. Let’s take a moment to celebrate the achievements of the winner, Akshay Venkatesh.

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Mathematical hunches inspire decades of research News

by David Shaw, 12 April 2018 | 0 comments

Abstract image of glowing colours and shapes.

It’s that time of year again! The winner of the Abel prize, mathematics’ answer to the Nobel, has been announced. This year’s winner is Robert Langlands, a mathematician more famous for asking questions than answering them.

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Blood-splatter by numbers Activity

by David Shaw, 16 February 2018 | 1 comments

A blood spot with measurements for width and length

Blood left at a crime scene can tell you a lot about the events. To rewind the clock and look back in time, you just need a ruler and some trigonometry.

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Pack it in with pentagons News

by David Shaw, 23 January 2018 | 0 comments

Image of a grid, each square is a differrent colour and divided up by different shaped pentagons.

What kinds of shapes pack a flat surface with no gaps? Squares are great for floor tiles, and bees stick hexagons together. With a bit of work, you can get any triangle, no matter how stretched, to fit together without gaps. But what about pentagons? These five-sided shapes are awkward, but some types fit together.

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Twisted snowflake Activity

by David Shaw, 27 September 2017 | 0 comments

A strange shape with rotational symmetry

Have you ever made a paper snowflake? Here’s a different twist on a classic craft activity.

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Octahedral map Activity

by David Shaw, 27 June 2017 | 0 comments

Time to create a map! Making a map of the entire Earth is tricky, because paper is flat, and planets are curved. There are lots of different ways to ‘flatten’ Earth, and each way produces a different shaped map. This method is super spiky as it involves triangles.

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Mathematical treasure hunt Activity

by David Shaw, 16 May 2017 | 0 comments

a pearlescent shell

Maths is everywhere! But it can be hard to find if you don’t know what to look for. Try this mathematical treasure hunt and you’ll soon discover some amazing mathematical secrets!

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Big square, tiny envelope Activity

by David Shaw, 20 March 2017 | 0 comments

A square poking out from insidea rectangle.

Here’s a quick puzzle for you – this square is too wide for its envelope. Can you find a way to make it fit?

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Double helix cover

Double Helix

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