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My boy got all excited as he noted a mathematical pattern. If you square a number (say 4), then you square the next (5), the difference is two less than the square of the next after (6). So, 25-16 = 9. 36-25=11.
Here’s some explanations.
I remember discovering something similar in third grade. Only 8 years later did I realize that it could’ve been simply explained by derivatives!
(n+1)^2 - n^2 - 2 = 2n + 1 - 2 = 2n - 1 = n^2 + 2n - 1 - n^2 = n^2 - (n^2 - 2n + 1) = n^2 - (n-1)^2
Very cool that your son noticed this. When he gets a little older you can work him through the above proof.
We get it, we get it. You’re kid is smarter than us too! You don’t have to rub it in with fancy, fan-dangled picturegraphs! :(
When you tell him it’s bedtime, does he say anything about unsupported opinions and BS? Now that would be impressive!
A friend of mine has been putting out daily 5-10 minute videos of math for kids. It’s “Mike’s Math Page” on Facebook.
On youtube, the author is trossandallie, and videos are titled MathForKids and MathIdeas (both with a trailing number to indicate which opus).
He also makes videos that analyze team performance in high-level ultimate games, if you’re interested.
At what age will he be mining his first Pitch F/X database?
I’m just wondering if when he plays in his first Fantasy baseball draft, if “Tangotiger” is going to be brought up, is he going to turn me in?
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Tom: That’s wonderful. I hope Tango Jr.’s fascination with math, numbers and discovery lasts a lifetime.