Mathematical Fun Games and Puzzles Author:Jack Frohlichstein School mathematics can be quite different from the dull and laborious subject that many people imagine it to be. This novel and entertaining collection demonstrates that junior high school mathematics can be so interesting and entertaining that both teachers and students will look forward to classes. Prepared by Jack Frohlichstein of Hancock J... more »unior High School Mathematics Department, Lemay, Missouri, this book is based upon the standard curriculum, and will go a long way toward providing solutions to the ever-present problems of student participation and interest.
Covering a wide range of topics, this book uses puzzles and games to introduce the really basic ideas and operations of arithmetic: reading and writing numbers, averages, fractions, decimals, percent, measurements, graphs and maps, insurance, powers and roots, checks on arithmetical operations. It includes three kinds of material: puzzles, games, and fun. The puzzles, divided into easy, difficult, and average, are novel and original, and often invoke material that can be useful yet is not generally taught: curious effects based on properties of numbers, unusual methods of performing operations (like lattice and Russian Peasant multiplication), checking devices (like casting out nines), and similar materials. The mathematical games and fun, most of which will be new to the reader, are very ingenious ways of awakening number sense.
Teachers will find this an inexhaustible source of enrichment material, with examples for class work, suggestions for lively presentation, and clear and interest-arousing ways of presenting new topics. Everything in the book has been designed to arouse the student's interest, and make him think and work with mathematical topics. Readers without a flair for mathematics, or those afraid of the subject--whether in school or not--will find this book develops their basic skills in a fascinating way. Enthusiasts of mathematical puzzles and laymen who wish to increase their skills will find this book intellectually stimulating, and will enjoy participating in it.« less