Mathematics
Even though Penn State York does not offer a degree in mathematics, there are a lot of math courses being taught on campus. The SPARK Collection is designed to provide background information as well as interesting perspectives on mathematics.
WHY MATH AND SCIENCE CAN BE SO CHALLENGING
THE EINSTELLUNG EFFECT
In this phenomenon, an idea you already have in mind, or your simple initial thought, prevents a better idea or solution from being found (p.17).
B. Oakley
A Mind for Numbers
BOOKS
Math Art: Truth, Beauty, and Equations
Stephen Ornes
Chaos: Making a New Science
James Gleick
The Joy of x: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity
Steven Strogatz
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
Charles Seife
Measurement
Paul Lockhart
Prelude to Mathematics
W. W. Sawyer
A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even if You Flunked Algebra)
Barbara Oakley
ARTICLES
“Is Your Brain Wired for Numbers?”
The Scientist, October 2021
“Simple Set Game Proof Stuns Mathematicians”
Quanta Magazine, May 2016
“Mathematicians Have Solved Traffic Jams, and They’re Begging Cities to Listen”
Fast Company, January 2020
GAMES
PRIME CLIMB
How to play
Learn and master multiplication, division, factorization and prime number concepts by combining colors.
Prime Climb is a beautiful, colorful, mathematical board game designed for 2 to 4 players. Roll the dice and add, subtract, multiply and divide your way to the center of the board, picking up Prime cards and bumping your opponents back to start as you go. The first to land both pawns on 101 wins the game! Everyone can learn to multiply and divide using Prime Climb’s unique color coding. Inspire deeper mathematical understanding while mastering arithmetic! Awaken your love of math, with Prime Climb.
Math Fluxx
How to play
It all begins with one basic rule: Draw one card, Play one card. You start with a hand of three cards… add the card you drew to your hand, and then choose one card to play, following the directions written on your chosen card. As cards are drawn and played from the deck, the rules of the game change from how many cards are drawn, played or even how many cards you can hold at the end of your turn.
Math Fluxx is really all about the numbers. Players use positive integers (whole numbers) in their quest to achieve mathematical Goals. But it’s not just putting 4 and 2 together to “make” 42; use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to achieve the Goal, or draw three extra cards if you have all of the digits in the Goal number!!
Zeus on the Loose
How to play
Play cards strategically, adding numbers as you climb up the mythic mountain. Grab Zeus when the total reaches a multiple of 10. Better yet, summon the strength of Apollo, Poseidon, or all-powerful Hera to bring Zeus within your grasp. Reach the top of Mount Olympus with Zeus in hand and you’re a mortal among the gods. To play is human. To win, divine!
SET
How to play
The award-winning game challenges players to race to find as many SETs as they can! A SET is three cards where each individual feature (color, shape, number and shading) is either all the same OR all different! The first player to see a SET calls out “SET” and grabs the cards—there are no “turns” and no luck here!
Because it has a rule of logic, and because players must apply this rule to the spatial array of patterns all at once, they must use both left brain and right brain thought processes! At the end of the game, the player with the most SETs wins! SET is prefect for a wide age range and number of players (including solo play!), and is a fun intergenerational game as well.
24 Game: Single and Double Digits
How to play
Object of the game is to make 24. You can add, subtract, multiply and divide. Use all four numbers on a card, but use each number only once. There is at least one solution to every card.
Proof
How to play
There are 100 cards in the deck, each with a single number on it between 0 and 100. For optimal fun, certain cards appear more than once, like the mental-math-friendly single digits. Others, like the more reclusive primes, don’t appear at all.
Nine cards are placed face up as a 3-by-3 grid in the center of the table. At the same time, all players (including the dealer) study the cards in the grid and try to create an equation using at least three cards and as many math symbols as needed.
Only addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (x), division (÷), and square roots (√) are allowed, but they can be used in any way necessary! Players can add as many of these symbols (plus parentheses) in any order needed to make the math work. However, each number card can only be used once in a given equation, and numbers not on cards in the grid cannot be used at all.
Play a game here!
Mastermind
How to play
Test your code-cracking prowess with Mastermind, the challenging game of logic and deduction. Can you crack the code in 10 moves or less? Can you create a code that can’t be cracked? Mastermind is a great strategy game…and one of the world’s most popular games ever. It’s easy to learn and fast to play and with thousands of code possibilities, it’s different every time. The Codemaker sets a secret code, then the Codebreaker tries to match the code using logic, deduction and maybe a little bit of luck.
After each move, the Codemaker gives clues to the Codebreaker. Make the code even more devious by using multiple pegs of the same color or by leaving one or more peg holes empty. With so many possible code combinations, every game is guaranteed to be a brainteaser.