Product Description
160 page 3-ring binder with reproducible pages for individual and team work. Designed to develop conceptual framework for mathematical thinking. Emphasis on application of mathematical ideas in the context of realistic situations, NOT computational algorithms. ... Read more

Product Description
When September arrives it can be really discouraging for parents and teachers and students to discover that hard-won academic skills have been forgotten, and weeks or months may be needed to restore those skills. This workbook is designed to balance computation, problem solving, and mathematical challenges that will develop or retain addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts through 10's. If your child is still having difficulty with basic number facts, you may want to think about having her or him work on one number family at a time. ... Read more

Product Description
The idea of this book is to help build confidence with maths via a series of tests and puzzles.  After a gentle 'warm-up' section, the puzzles and tests get progressively more challenging over the course of the book.  There is a hints section for readers who get stuck, as well as a complete set of answers for every test at the back of the book.

After the 'warm-up' section, there are puzzles and tests on 'lateral thinking', 'fun with numbers',  'logic puzzles', 'geometrical puzzles' and 'difficult puzzles'. Readers will soon become familiar and comfortable with a range of tricks and tests, from magic number squares to Fibonacci numbers.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

pillow problems
Definition of a pillow problem: A problem you can do in you head without too much trouble, if you look at it in the right way. An interesting problem to think about while you are going to sleep, whether you solve it or not!

This is one of the best collection of "pillow problems" I've ever found.

Consider "Problem 35."

Find the lowest number that has a remainder of

1 when divided by 2,
2 when divided by 3,
3 when divided by 4,
4 when divided by 5, and
5 when divided by 6.

What a wonderful way to exercise your mind while you are going to sleep!
... Read more

Product Description
Students throughout the world fear and dread solving word problems. As students’ reading skills have declined, so have their abilities to solve word problems. This book offers solutions to the most standard and non-standard word problems available. It follows the suggestions of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and incorporates the types of problems usually found on standardized math tests (PSAT, SAT, and others). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good book from a great series
First off, there's nothing impressive in here for anyone who has a modicum of reading comprehension.Interpreting word problems requires understanding the subject matter and what in the hell you're reading.For example, early in the book they cover phrases such as "At Least" and "At Most" with relation to inequalities.When someone says "More Than" you should immediately recognize this as "Greater than" or '>'; when someone says "At Least" you should understand English well enough to know that this does not mean it has to be bigger, and thus means "Greater Than or Equal To" or ">=" (or the single character sign).

Too bad most adults in the US have a 5th grade reading level.

I would strongly recommend studying reading comprehension instead of buying this book; however, since you don't have that kind of time if you're looking at this book at all, that's not really an option.The material presented in this book covers specific reading comprehension problems with regard to math problems extremely well, however, and is the next best thing.

In short, this book will improve your ability to deal with word problems, and hopefully your grasp on the English Language in general.Use it as a stop gap to get you through your math classes, and then go learn to understand whatever it is you're reading.

Highly recommended for either general or school libraries
Master Math: Solving Word Problems provides a comprehensive reference guide that explains word problems and offers alternatives for understanding them. From the most common types of word problems to more advanced issues, Master Math: Solving Word Problems shows how to focus on the words in a problem, breaking them down into smaller segments and choosing the right math tools to solve them. Highly recommended for either general or school libraries.

Very good book!
I got this book on time and it is very good book for my kids to improve their math abilities. ... Read more

Product Description
Presents to U.S. audiences classic problems in math and physics that have tantalized Russians for generations, problems designed to teach one how to think mathematically and scientifically and range from easy to very difficult.$25,000 ad/promo. Tour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Challenging & Fun
A thoroughly challenging and thought provoking series of 100 maths and physics based problems to solve. If you thought De Bono's parallel thinking was good or fun then try this book to see how good your mathematical and problem solving prowess really is.

The Chicken from Minsk really gives your brain a workout...
As a survivor of the course based on this book and taught by Yuri himself at MIT, I must say that The Chicken from Minsk was a true challenge.The great thing about it is that it builds critical thinking skills whilemaking even the nastiest math and physics (shall I dare say?) fun!

Ever so much fun for the curious of all ages...
The former Soviet Union had a much more mathematically rigerous tradition in physics than did the rest of the world.These problems are word problems, and they will make you sweat.Ideal for the curious of all ages, but especially for teens, to keep their curiosity alive.I think highly of this book-gave 7 copies away this holliday season. ... Read more

Product Description
From addition to subtraction to plane and space geometry, graphing, simultaneous linear equations, and probability, this book explains middle-school math with problems that children can understand and "want" to solve. 20 line drawings. 20 tables. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Not A Game In Sight
This book has explanations of how math works but does not contain MATH GAMES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL. It has sections titled "Math Camp" that give example questions for the concepts discussed earlier in the chapter. No middle schooler I have ever taught (in over 25 years of classroom experience) would consider doing word problems a 'game'. Practicing math facts and skills needs to be motivating for all students but for middle school students in particular it is a challenge to find a game that they want to play that also teaches them. The Math Camp format is not that. The title of this book is misleading. If you are looking for practice questions and techniques for teaching specific skills, it would be moderately helpful.

This book should be called Math No-Games
There is not one game in the whole book, just a "how to do math" book.Not at all what the title says!

A disservice to Mario Salvadori
I knew the late Mario Salvadori and have been a fan of his work. This is obviously a hack job with some of his ideas, then his name slapped on the cover to make it saleable. This book is a train wreck: old problems, no math games to speak of, and it reads like an abbreviated middle school textbook. This is a terrible book and an insult to Mr. Salvadori's memory.

If you want a genuine math book for middle schoolers, look to Harold Jacobs' Mathematics: A Human Endeavor, which after 40 years is still the best general interest math book with humor and insight.

Math's Little Book of Why
After reading some of the reviews on this book, I just had to respond with a review of my own.
This book reminds me a bit of "The Big Book of Tell Me Why" that children (and adults)love to read. I am a home schooling mom, not a math teacher. I am home schooling an accelerated second grader.For our "normal" math class work, we are use Singapore Math and the "Key To" series.For math enrichment, we are reading "Math on Call", A Mathematics Handbook and this one, "Math Games for Middle School". I find this book to be just what we need for answering my son's "why questions"."Where do numbers come from?""Why do we use base 10.""Do other people use another base?""Why do computers use base 2?""What is base 2?" As a home schooling mom, I love this book for its deep, yet managemable explanations to these questions.Terms are also defined.For example:base, exponent, decimal, decimal dot...both in terms and in examples.We are only on the first chapter (though I have browsed the first several) and my son only grasps some of the layers of the onion, but we are both enjoying the book.Our country relies too much on formulas and not enough on understanding.This book would bring joy to a class as an opening warm up to get them thinking. I wish we had more educators like the author of this book that excited his students to the joy of mathematics and not just to rote learning of rulesthat seemingly "dropped on us from the sky."The author taught on the faculties of Columbia university for 50 years and Princeton for 5 years.His earliest work was 8 years in his native city on the faculty of the University of Rome.Ph.D. in mathematics and in civil engineering.He has a center (I am not sure if it still exists as he died in 1997 at age 90) called the Salvadori Center that is dedicated to improving teaching in middle schools with emphasis on math and science.His words, "I have dedicated the last years of my life entirely to teaching the young, from kindergartners through high schoolers." Great book.

Math Games for Middle School
I teach middle school mathematics and I think the book is great to aid in cooperative learning groups.Using the information and developing work stations will enhance the students' knowledge of the material.As a lesson, the book would require the creativity of the teacher to add other material and/or adjustments to make it interesting. This book is best for reteaching or review of the topics being taught. ... Read more

Product Description
Mathematicians call it the Monty Hall Problem, and it is one of the most interesting mathematical brain teasers of recent times. Imagine that you face three doors, behind one of which is a prize. You choose one but do not open it.The host--call him Monty Hall--opens a different door, always choosing one he knows to be empty. Left with two doors, will you do better by sticking with your first choice, or by switching to the other remaining door? In this light-hearted yet ultimately serious book, Jason Rosenhouse explores the history of this fascinating puzzle. Using a minimum of mathematics (and none at all for much of the book), he shows how the problem has fascinated philosophers, psychologists, and many others, and examines the many variations that have appeared over the years. As Rosenhouse demonstrates, the Monty Hall Problem illuminates fundamental mathematical issues and has abiding philosophical implications. Perhaps most important, he writes, the problem opens a window on our cognitive difficulties in reasoning about uncertainty. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The Monty Hall Problem
"Let's Make a Deal," with its popular host Monty Hall, was a staple of 1970s game shows, with squirming contestants trying to guess which of three doors concealed the grand prize. The contestant chooses a door, but does not open it. Monty opens a different door, always empty. The contestant faces a choice: stick with his original door or switch to the remaining door?

This mindbender is known as "the Monty Hall Problem," the subject of Jason Rosenhouse's witty new book. Rosenhouse, associate professor of mathematics at James Madison University, examines the problem from multiple angles, lucidly explaining why, though counterintuitive, the best choice is to switch doors.

//The Monty Hall Problem// is sure to elicit emotional responses--as the conundrum itself has for years among mathematicians, philosophers, physicists, and others. Rosenhouse acknowledges the provocative nature of the problem and faces it head on, thoroughly and convincingly explaining the math and logic of the problem and addressing several variations.

Although Rosenhouse's enthusiasm for the subject is infectious, readers whose education ended with Math 101 may find much of this book beyond reach, as it is thick with equations. But for those who aren't arithmophobes, //The Monty Hall Problem// is delightfully challenging.

Reviewed by Kelli Christiansen

monty-hall: a review
monty-hall is a great probability problem, this book does a good job at reviewing it, describing it and relating its history and other details

Brain Tease or Brain Torture
Full disclosure up front: I have not read the book, but have a point to make about the way it is being presented here.

Amazon is in business to sell books (and other things) and I have been a satisfied customer for almost the entire life of the company, but there is a truth in advertising issue here:

You do not need to buy this book in order to understand
(a) whether you would be better off, in the three doors game it discusses, by "sticking with your first choice, or switching to the other remaining door" and
(b) why.

You can go, as I just did, to Wikipedia and get a plethora of short or shortish explanations. The approach I found easiest to grasp was in a footnoted article there.

Suppose there were 100 doors instead of 3. You'd then have a 1% chance of picking the right one initially. The host "Monty" (the real Monty is still alive, by the way, and I wonder what he thinks of all this!) then shows you 98 doors with no prize. Clearly, you have a very good chance of getting the prize if you then switch and pick the one other remaining door rather than sticking with your first choice. But, it is actually a 99 out of a 100 chance, not a 98 out of 99 chance. This is because originally there was a 99 out of a 100 chance of the prize being behind a door you didn't pick, and that chance wasn't altered by your pick or the host then opening and showing you all but one of the remaining doors (and having doors HE opens always have no prize, at least that is they way this "paradox" is usually presented).

The same logic applies when there are only three doors instead of a hundred. You have a 1 in 3 chance of picking the right one originally, which means there is a 2 in 3 chance of the prize being behind one of the two doors you didn't pick. After "Monty" then opens one of those two and shows you that there is no prize there, the chances of the remaining door having the prize are also 2 in 3. You are better off switching.

The odds of getting the prize by switching are not as good when there are a total of 3 doors rather than 100, but you still have a 2/3 chance of getting the prize by switching and only a 1/3 chance by sticking with your original choice.

It is a tease to imagine playing the game, and pondering why there is any paradox at all.
You might wonder, as I did: Isn't there a 50-50 chance on the last go-round, no matter what, so how can it matter whether you switch or stick? Then you can figure out why this is actually not correct; actually, given that you were more likely to be wrong on first round, you are better off on the second round betting that you WERE wrong originally by switching to the last of the remaining doors you did not pick initially.
Or you can get stumped, as I did, and look up the answer.
This is a tease.

Having to decide if NOT figuring out the paradox has become so frustrating that you would pay $17.96 plus postage to end the frustration, and whether you want to blow that much of your Christmas budget and get the frustration-releasing answer only after waiting another week or two later for the book to come, is more like torture than tease.

For all I know this may be a wonderful book. Some other reviewers seem quite happy with it. But if so, it is not wonderful because you spend the whole book having fun, ala Agatha Christie, trying to find the solution yourself to one of the all-time "most interesting mathematical brain teasers before it is revealed to you."

What
I cannot believe there is a book on this
"People feel strongly that the answer the mathematicians have worked out is wrong" (because it is)
On your first choice your probability of winning is Zero, because regardless of your choice Monty does not open your door.Monty by eliminating a wrong door has invalidated your first choice entirely for purely theatrical extension of the suspense.
Probability works when things are statistically random, when someone has special knowledge (knowing the empty door) it does not. You have a 50-50 chance, because that is the only random choice you are allowed to make.
If the question is wrong the answer wrong, it is not always about just checking the math.

A Detailed Analysis of an Intriguing Brain Teaser
Believe it or not, this entire book is on the Monty Hall problem! The author, a mathematics professor, has analyzed this fascinating brain teaser from a variety of angles. After discussing the problem's history, he presents various attempts that have been made to understand it. The earlier attempts, including those by Marilyn vos Savant, tend to focus on logical arguments in order to arrive at the correct solution. But in order to solve the problem with mathematical rigour, the author uses some of the tools of his trade such as conditional probability and Bayes' Theorem. But that's not all. He also discusses a series of variants to the problem and proceeds to solve those as well. Finally, psychological and philosophical issues are also presented, partly in an attempt to understand why the human mind has been shown to have so much difficulty in solving this problem. The writing style is clear, friendly and authoritative, although some of the unfortunate editorial errors that the book contains may contribute towards slowing down a reader's attempts at following some of the author's arguments. Regarding accessibility, general readers can learn much from a good part of the main text because of the many clear explanations; however, several sections are fairly heavy with mathematics, a few of which can be rather challenging. Consequently, although anyone with an interest in this problem can benefit greatly from reading this book, math and science buffs are likely to glean the most out of it. ... Read more

Product Description
Welcome to Ian Stewart's strange and magical world of mathematics! Math Hysteria contains twenty quirky tales of mathematical exploration by one of the world's most popular writers on mathematics. Ian Stewart presents us with a wealth of magical puzzles, each one spun around an amazing tale, including 'Counting the Cattle of the Sun,' 'The Great Drain Robbery,' and 'Preposterous Piratical Predicaments.' Fully illustrated with explanatory diagrams, each tale is told with engaging wit, sure to amuse everyone with an interest in puzzles and mathematics. Along the way, we also meet many curious characters. Containing twenty specially-commissioned cartoons, this book will delight all who are familiar with Stewart's many other books, such as What Shape is a Snowflake? and Flatterland and anyone interested in mathematical problems. In short, these stories are engaging, challenging, and lots of fun! ... Read more

Product Description
Understanding analogies and the ability to reason analogically (reasoning used to identify, evaluate, and solve an analogy) are important problem-solving skills. Problem-solving is an essential part of mathematical development. Analogies teach children to break problems down into their component parts, making it easier to recognize familiar formats that enable students to produce solutions.The math analogies in this book ask your child to draw and verbalize their answers. The drawings develop fine motor skills and the verbalization develops communication skills. The analogies in this book are designed around the grade-appropriate standards identified by the National Council of Teaching Mathematics. ... Read more

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Daily Problems & Puzzles to Strengthen Critical-Thinking Skills: Numeration, Geometry, Patterns and Relationships, Measurement, Problem Solving, Graphing, Probability, and Statistics ... Read more