Circles

Lately, we have been doing quite a bit of math outside of our regular math curriculum. We love our math curriculum, RightStart, but I decided to slow down and do some other things "on the side." Most of this started with the Living Math I came across.

So, this week we read "Sir Cumference and the First Round Table: a Math Adventure" by Neuschwander. The book tells about the parts of a circle (circumference, diameter & radius) in an entertaining way.

The next day, I decided to try something I'd read about on-line. You are supposed to mix food coloring or tempera paint (probably a much better idea) with liquid soap and water. Then, you blow some bubbles with a straw and pop them on a paper. It is supposed to leave a pretty circle. Ours didn't.


Since that didn't work, we decided to try something else I'd read about. We added more food coloring and Alexandra blew a lot of bubbles. Then we laid a piece of paper on top. The results were OK, but not wonderful. Next time, we'll try the paint!


So, next we tried using an old-fashioned compass, which worked much better. Then, today I came across our RightStart Geometry kit which we have never used. Inside was a Safe-T Compass - it is wonderful! I'd never seen one before. We drew some circles and then Alexandra measured their radius, diameter, and circumference (using a piece of yarn). It worked pretty well!