DIY Life

Multiplication and division were major parts of my son's 4th grade curriculum this past year. My son struggled with both concepts, which was problematic: the class didn't stop at multiplying and dividing. They brought the concepts right into simple algebra!

Over the summer, I'm doing everything I can to help him strengthen the skills he learned in 4th grade. He's more than happy to read with me, he loved going to a museum that reinforced what he learned in social studies, and he's always thrilled to work on backyard science projects with me.

When it comes to math, however, he really resists practicing his skills. So I was thrilled to find these fun Multiplication Thinkin' Logs. All of the templates for the "logs" are provided. Simply print out the times tables you want to practice, and make a game out of stacking the towers.

(Do you need a little helping hand with math yourself? If so, why not check out Francesca's post on Math made easy?)

Do you ever wish that you could disappear? It could be fading away from an embarrassing moment or causing a little mischief in your transparent state, but the whole idea of being invisible is intriguing to me. I can't point you to instructions on how to actually disappear, but we just might be closer to that than you think. There are some exciting advancements in the areas of optical camouflage, which are forging the way for new technologies.

This video is a compilation of experiment clips shot at The University of Tokyo. If you're curious about how it all works, this page offers descriptive diagrams and comments on the public domain research on optical camouflage.

It sounds like we are not far off from having this technology available to consumers. A DIY invisibility suit may be just around the corner!

I have a secret fear of winning some great lottery and not being able to claim the prize because I can't figure out the skill testing question. Math is a topic of high anxiety for many adults and children. I didn't like math as an elementary, high school, or college student. Last semester I took a statistics class and fought the urge weekly to storm out of the room in tears screaming "math is dumb!". OK, it might not be as extreme for some of you, others may even enjoy math (my husband is sick like you), but the ability to quickly solve math equations is something that a great number of people simply don't have.

I'm all for tricks when it comes to this stuff. Check out the video here, courtesy of glad2teach. It's truly amazing how quickly you can solve these math problems using the method they show. there are secrets to fast math. Check out their site for some other videos. Unless you still in school and you'll loose marks for not showing your work, these little tools are a great way to get you mind moving quickly and efficiently through complex math problems.

I don't know that the math in this video is the sort of math you would use on a daily basis, but it would make a great party trick! Have a friend ask you complicated multiplication questions and show off you mad math skills - after all, chicks dig guys with skills.