You’ve probably never thought about combining math and art class, but maybe now, you will! This teacher shares his new approach to math, where he uses colors to represent different numbers.
He assigned 10 numbers to 10 different colors — zero is white, one is black, two is red, and so on. That means combinations of numbers become combinations of colors. The result is an equation that’s educational and pretty at the same time!
What starts as multiplication or patterns quickly begins to look more like art class than math class. But behind the colors is real number sense, memory tricks, and a whole new way of thinking about equations. Turns out math might be a lot more visual — and creative — than most people realize.
In Searching for Life in Our Universe Using Math, scientists explore how math can be used to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. Learn about Frank Drake's famous equation, which considers factors such as the rate of star formation, the number of stars with planets, and the potential for life on those planets. Despite the vastness of the Universe, the equation relies on factors that are still largely unknown, making the search for intelligent life a complex and ongoing challenge.
In The Go Jetters and the Mysterious Valley of Balls, the Go Jetter crew is in Kazakhstan visiting the Valley of Balls. The valley is known for its thousands of almost perfectly round rocks. Ubercorn shares funky facts about how the rocks were formed and the mystery that still surrounds these spherical wonders. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Go Jetters, a series that follows the adventures of four international heroes as they travel the globe visiting landmarks and solving environmental problems with Ubercorn, a disco-dancing unicorn.
In Islamic Advances in Math and Science Helped Update the Math of the World, host Andrew Marr takes us back to the 9th Century. The Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Khwarizmi and other scholars are using measurements and calculations to calculate the Earth’s circumference and create an updated map the Earth. Learn how the work of the Islamic scholars impacts today’s technology and mathematics. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Andrew Marr's History of the World, a story of human history that uses reenactments, modern footage, and storytelling to explain history’s greatest achievements.
Meet the Numberblocks — little blocks with big ideas who make learning numbers fun and exciting for young children ages 3–7. Numberblocks helps kids build number sense as the characters come together, break apart, and explore how numbers really work. This free collection of printable games and colorful worksheets games give little learners hands-on practice with counting, odd and even numbers, and simple addition and subtraction. Perfect for use at home or in the classroom, these ready-to-use activities turn math practice into joyful play.
Plus, watch full episodes on the official Numberblocks YouTube channel!
In The Magic of Math on the Soccer Field, host Marcus du Sautoy tries to convince one math reject that math is present everywhere in the soccer game he loves — from quadratic equations on the pitch to the probability of a team winning. Du Sautoy makes the case that the soccer players are intuitive mathematical geniuses. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Horizon: Why Maths Doesn’t Add Up, where Marcus du Sautoy introduces the elegance and wonder of math to a “math reject,” traveling from the classroom to a four-dimensional world.
Being an astronaut is no joke — for your brain and your body to be prepared, you need to train, not unlike sports or school. Want to train for a soccer match? You may need to go for runs or lift weights. Need to prepare for a math test? You may need to repeat your times tables. Going into space soon? You may need to put on a space suit and get strapped into a full-sized replica of the International Space Station, then submerged in a 12-meter (40-foot!) deep pool for six hours. At least, that’s what astronaut Rosemary Coogan did to make sure she was ready for her spacewalk.
Coogan was chosen from 22,000 applicants to become a European Space Agency astronaut and may be the first Englishwoman to set foot on the moon.
Space preparation is daunting, but she had teams of supporters like divers and control room workers to make sure she was safe. The spacewalk test is meant to make sure that Rosemary could survive the conditions off of earth, even when things don’t go according to plan.
Bring the delightful Numberblocks characters into your math classroom with this engaging number sense printable bundle, perfect for PreK–Grade 2 learners! Packed with colorful worksheets, this bundle includes important number sense concepts like the number line, place value in tens, comparing numbers, simple addition and more! Here's some of what's included:
- Blockzee Puzzles: Trace to finish the greater than and less than sums.
- Friendly Fluffies: Add to make 7 and help the Numberblocks escape the tickles
- Hello, Twenty: Count to 20 in lots of different ways!
Want more? We have tons on the site. Just search "Numberblocks"!
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
Snip, stick, and design your very own Numberblock Fair! Cut out and arrange fairground rides and stalls to create a play space for Twelve and the Numberblobs to explore. Perfect for math centers, small group work, or a fun Friday activity.
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
What if homework meant baking a cake, designing a board game, or building something creative instead of filling out worksheets? One elementary school has replaced traditional homework in subjects like math and reading with hands-on projects that students can choose themselves.
Supporters say the new approach makes learning feel more real and less stressful. Students report having more choice, more family time, and more fun. A cooking project, for example, can still involve math, reading, measuring, and following directions — all while making something you can actually eat.
But not everyone agrees. Some people wonder whether creative homework truly prepares students for the more demanding assignments they may face later in middle school, high school, and beyond. Others worry that without regular practice, students may miss chances to build discipline, organization, and study habits.
So what counts as real learning: finishing worksheets — or using skills in everyday life? This school’s homework experiment is raising big questions about how kids learn best.
You’ve probably never thought about combining math and art class, but maybe now, you will! This teacher shares his new approach to math, where he uses colors to represent different numbers.
He assigned 10 numbers to 10 different colors — zero is white, one is black, two is red, and so on. That means combinations of numbers become combinations of colors. The result is an equation that’s educational and pretty at the same time!
What starts as multiplication or patterns quickly begins to look more like art class than math class. But behind the colors is real number sense, memory tricks, and a whole new way of thinking about equations. Turns out math might be a lot more visual — and creative — than most people realize.
In Searching for Life in Our Universe Using Math, scientists explore how math can be used to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. Learn about Frank Drake's famous equation, which considers factors such as the rate of star formation, the number of stars with planets, and the potential for life on those planets. Despite the vastness of the Universe, the equation relies on factors that are still largely unknown, making the search for intelligent life a complex and ongoing challenge.
In The Go Jetters and the Mysterious Valley of Balls, the Go Jetter crew is in Kazakhstan visiting the Valley of Balls. The valley is known for its thousands of almost perfectly round rocks. Ubercorn shares funky facts about how the rocks were formed and the mystery that still surrounds these spherical wonders. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Go Jetters, a series that follows the adventures of four international heroes as they travel the globe visiting landmarks and solving environmental problems with Ubercorn, a disco-dancing unicorn.
In Islamic Advances in Math and Science Helped Update the Math of the World, host Andrew Marr takes us back to the 9th Century. The Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Khwarizmi and other scholars are using measurements and calculations to calculate the Earth’s circumference and create an updated map the Earth. Learn how the work of the Islamic scholars impacts today’s technology and mathematics. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Andrew Marr's History of the World, a story of human history that uses reenactments, modern footage, and storytelling to explain history’s greatest achievements.
Meet the Numberblocks — little blocks with big ideas who make learning numbers fun and exciting for young children ages 3–7. Numberblocks helps kids build number sense as the characters come together, break apart, and explore how numbers really work. This free collection of printable games and colorful worksheets games give little learners hands-on practice with counting, odd and even numbers, and simple addition and subtraction. Perfect for use at home or in the classroom, these ready-to-use activities turn math practice into joyful play.
Plus, watch full episodes on the official Numberblocks YouTube channel!
In The Magic of Math on the Soccer Field, host Marcus du Sautoy tries to convince one math reject that math is present everywhere in the soccer game he loves — from quadratic equations on the pitch to the probability of a team winning. Du Sautoy makes the case that the soccer players are intuitive mathematical geniuses. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Horizon: Why Maths Doesn’t Add Up, where Marcus du Sautoy introduces the elegance and wonder of math to a “math reject,” traveling from the classroom to a four-dimensional world.
Being an astronaut is no joke — for your brain and your body to be prepared, you need to train, not unlike sports or school. Want to train for a soccer match? You may need to go for runs or lift weights. Need to prepare for a math test? You may need to repeat your times tables. Going into space soon? You may need to put on a space suit and get strapped into a full-sized replica of the International Space Station, then submerged in a 12-meter (40-foot!) deep pool for six hours. At least, that’s what astronaut Rosemary Coogan did to make sure she was ready for her spacewalk.
Coogan was chosen from 22,000 applicants to become a European Space Agency astronaut and may be the first Englishwoman to set foot on the moon.
Space preparation is daunting, but she had teams of supporters like divers and control room workers to make sure she was safe. The spacewalk test is meant to make sure that Rosemary could survive the conditions off of earth, even when things don’t go according to plan.
Bring the delightful Numberblocks characters into your math classroom with this engaging number sense printable bundle, perfect for PreK–Grade 2 learners! Packed with colorful worksheets, this bundle includes important number sense concepts like the number line, place value in tens, comparing numbers, simple addition and more! Here's some of what's included:
- Blockzee Puzzles: Trace to finish the greater than and less than sums.
- Friendly Fluffies: Add to make 7 and help the Numberblocks escape the tickles
- Hello, Twenty: Count to 20 in lots of different ways!
Want more? We have tons on the site. Just search "Numberblocks"!
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
Snip, stick, and design your very own Numberblock Fair! Cut out and arrange fairground rides and stalls to create a play space for Twelve and the Numberblobs to explore. Perfect for math centers, small group work, or a fun Friday activity.
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
What if homework meant baking a cake, designing a board game, or building something creative instead of filling out worksheets? One elementary school has replaced traditional homework in subjects like math and reading with hands-on projects that students can choose themselves.
Supporters say the new approach makes learning feel more real and less stressful. Students report having more choice, more family time, and more fun. A cooking project, for example, can still involve math, reading, measuring, and following directions — all while making something you can actually eat.
But not everyone agrees. Some people wonder whether creative homework truly prepares students for the more demanding assignments they may face later in middle school, high school, and beyond. Others worry that without regular practice, students may miss chances to build discipline, organization, and study habits.
So what counts as real learning: finishing worksheets — or using skills in everyday life? This school’s homework experiment is raising big questions about how kids learn best.