Monday, December 31, 2007

Pegasus Papercraft - Canon Creative Park Update



A winged horse that was said to be the son of Poseidon and Medusa and an aid to the gods. Pegasus has been used prominently in both movies (Jason and The Argonauts, Hercules, etc.) and video games (God of War II). Canon Creative Park just released this Pegasus papercaft under the Lucky Items section of their site - I guess to coincide with the coming new year celebration. You can also check out an adorable giant panda papercraft on the animals section and a papercraft ship - the Sagres II, a Portuguese Navy training vessel.


Pegasus - [Download Page]
Giant Panda - [Download Page]
Sagres II - [Download Page]

Word problems in Russia and in America

Recently I had the opportunity (HT Let's Play Math) to read an article "Word Problems in Russia and America" by Andrei Toom. It is an extended version of a talk at the Meeting of the Swedish Mathematical Society in June, 2005.

It made for quite interesting reading.

The article was comparing word problems in Russian and U.S. math books. As you can guess, the former were far more advanced than the latter.

I want to highlight a few things from the article. You're very welcome to download and read it too from the above link.

A problem from a Russian fourth grade book:
An ancient artist drew scenes of hunting on the walls of a cave, including 43 figures of animals and people. There were 17 more figures of animals than people. How many figures of people did the artist draw?

A similar problem is included in the 5th grade Singapore textbook:
Raju and Samy shared $410 between them. Raju received $100 more than Samy. How much money did Samy receive?

Now, these are not anything spectacular. You can solve them for example by taking away the difference of 17 or $100 from the total, and then dividing the remaining amount evenly:

$410 − $100 = $310, and then divide $310 evenly to Raju and Samy, which gives $155 to each. Give Raju the $100. So Samy had $155 and Raju had $255.

A far as the figures, 43 − 17 = 26, and then divide that evenly: 13 and 13. So 13 people and 30 animal figures.

BUT in the U.S., these kind of problems are generally introduced in Algebra 1 - ninth grade, AND they are only solved using algebraic means.

I remember being aghast of a word problem in a modern U.S. algebra textbook:

"Find two consecutive numbers whose product is 42."

Third-grade kids should know multiplication well enough to quickly find that 6 and 7 fit the problem! Why use a "backhoe" (algebra) for a problem you can solve using a "small spade" (simple multiplication)!

I know some will argue and say, "Its purpose is to learn to set up an equation." But for that purpose I would use some some more difficult number and not 42. Doesn't using such simple problems in algebra books just encourage students to forget common sense and simple arithmetic?

(BTW, no matter what number you'd use − "Find two consecutive numbers whose product is 13,806" − I'd just take the square root and find the neighboring integers, and check.)

And this is what Toom also wonders greatly: why do U.S. instructors not teach children to solve many-step word problems using arithmetic only? It is as if the more complex word problems are extinct in the standard textbooks until algebra, and word problems in elementary grades are mostly reduced to one or two-step simple problems.

(I've written about that before, how the word problems found in lesson X are always solved using the operation taught in lesson X.)

Another example, a 3rd grade problem from Russia:

A boy and a girl collected 24 nuts. The boy collected two times as many nuts as the girl. How many did each collect?

You could draw a boy and a girl, and draw two pockets for the boy, and one pocket for the girl. This visual representation easily solves the problem.

Here's an example of a Russian problem for grades 6-8:
An ancient problem. A flying goose met a flock of geese in the air and said: "Hello, hundred geese!" The leader of the flock answered to him: "There is not a hundred of us. If there were as many of us as there are and as many more and half many more and quarter as many more and you, goose, also flied with us, then there would be hundred of us." How many geese were there in the flock?

(I personally would tend to set up an equation for this one but it can be done without algebra too.)

Toom talks about how "real life" word problems are emphasized in America, and "fantastic" problems that could not occur in reality are devalued. For example, a problem such as
"Sally is five years older than her brother Bill. Four years from now, she will
be twice as old as Bill will be then. How old is Sally now?
" may be deemed unfit since nobody would want to know such in real life.

However, like Toom argues, such problems do serve a purpose: that of developing children's logical and abstract thinking and mental discipline. One-step word problems won't do that!

In the U.S. word problems are perceived as "scary"; both students AND teachers tend to be afraid of them, and teachers might even omit solving them. This doesn't help, of course.

Here's a joke that Toom had included in his article, by Lynn Nordstrom:

"Student's Misguide to Problem Solving":

  • Rule 1: If at all possible, avoid reading the problem.Reading the problem only consumes time and causes confusion.
  • Rule 2: Extract the numbers from the problem in the order they appear. Be on the watch for numbers written in words.
  • Rule 3: If rule 2 yields three or more numbers, the best bet is adding them together.
  • Rule 4: If there are only 2 numbers which are approximately the same size, then subtraction should give the best results.
  • Rule 5: If there are only two numbers and one is much smaller than the other, then divide if it goes evenly -- otherwise multiply.
  • Rule 6: If the problem seems like it calls for a formula, pick a formula that has enough letters to use all the numbers given in the problem.
  • Rule 7: If the rules 1-6 don't seem to work, make one last desperate attempt. Take the set of numbers found by rule 2 and perform about two pages of random operations using these numbers. You should circle about five or six answers on each page just in case one of them happens to be the answer. You might get some partial credit for trying hard.


I hope your students do not fit the above joke.

In my books, I've tried to avoid problems that would lead children to the above scenario. I do not claim to be perfect in this; I feel I have lots to learn. But I will keep striving to make problems that do require many steps and that do not "dumb down" our children, but that progressively get more difficult as school years go by.

See also what I've written in the past concerning word problems.

Word problems in Russia and in America

Recently I had the opportunity (HT Let's Play Math) to read an article "Word Problems in Russia and America" by Andrei Toom. It is an extended version of a talk at the Meeting of the Swedish Mathematical Society in June, 2005.

It made for quite interesting reading.

The article was comparing word problems in Russian and U.S. math books. As you can guess, the former were far more advanced than the latter.

I want to highlight a few things from the article. You're very welcome to download and read it too from the above link.

A problem from a Russian fourth grade book:
An ancient artist drew scenes of hunting on the walls of a cave, including 43 figures of animals and people. There were 17 more figures of animals than people. How many figures of people did the artist draw?

A similar problem is included in the 5th grade Singapore textbook:
Raju and Samy shared $410 between them. Raju received $100 more than Samy. How much money did Samy receive?

Now, these are not anything spectacular. You can solve them for example by taking away the difference of 17 or $100 from the total, and then dividing the remaining amount evenly:

$410 − $100 = $310, and then divide $310 evenly to Raju and Samy, which gives $155 to each. Give Raju the $100. So Samy had $155 and Raju had $255.

A far as the figures, 43 − 17 = 26, and then divide that evenly: 13 and 13. So 13 people and 30 animal figures.

BUT in the U.S., these kind of problems are generally introduced in Algebra 1 - ninth grade, AND they are only solved using algebraic means.

I remember being aghast of a word problem in a modern U.S. algebra textbook:

"Find two consecutive numbers whose product is 42."

Third-grade kids should know multiplication well enough to quickly find that 6 and 7 fit the problem! Why use a "backhoe" (algebra) for a problem you can solve using a "small spade" (simple multiplication)!

I know some will argue and say, "Its purpose is to learn to set up an equation." But for that purpose I would use some some more difficult number and not 42. Doesn't using such simple problems in algebra books just encourage students to forget common sense and simple arithmetic?

(BTW, no matter what number you'd use − "Find two consecutive numbers whose product is 13,806" − I'd just take the square root and find the neighboring integers, and check.)

And this is what Toom also wonders greatly: why do U.S. instructors not teach children to solve many-step word problems using arithmetic only? It is as if the more complex word problems are extinct in the standard textbooks until algebra, and word problems in elementary grades are mostly reduced to one or two-step simple problems.

(I've written about that before, how the word problems found in lesson X are always solved using the operation taught in lesson X.)

Another example, a 3rd grade problem from Russia:

A boy and a girl collected 24 nuts. The boy collected two times as many nuts as the girl. How many did each collect?

You could draw a boy and a girl, and draw two pockets for the boy, and one pocket for the girl. This visual representation easily solves the problem.

Here's an example of a Russian problem for grades 6-8:
An ancient problem. A flying goose met a flock of geese in the air and said: "Hello, hundred geese!" The leader of the flock answered to him: "There is not a hundred of us. If there were as many of us as there are and as many more and half many more and quarter as many more and you, goose, also flied with us, then there would be hundred of us." How many geese were there in the flock?

(I personally would tend to set up an equation for this one but it can be done without algebra too.)

Toom talks about how "real life" word problems are emphasized in America, and "fantastic" problems that could not occur in reality are devalued. For example, a problem such as
"Sally is five years older than her brother Bill. Four years from now, she will
be twice as old as Bill will be then. How old is Sally now?
" may be deemed unfit since nobody would want to know such in real life.

However, like Toom argues, such problems do serve a purpose: that of developing children's logical and abstract thinking and mental discipline. One-step word problems won't do that!

In the U.S. word problems are perceived as "scary"; both students AND teachers tend to be afraid of them, and teachers might even omit solving them. This doesn't help, of course.

Here's a joke that Toom had included in his article, by Lynn Nordstrom:

"Student's Misguide to Problem Solving":

  • Rule 1: If at all possible, avoid reading the problem.Reading the problem only consumes time and causes confusion.
  • Rule 2: Extract the numbers from the problem in the order they appear. Be on the watch for numbers written in words.
  • Rule 3: If rule 2 yields three or more numbers, the best bet is adding them together.
  • Rule 4: If there are only 2 numbers which are approximately the same size, then subtraction should give the best results.
  • Rule 5: If there are only two numbers and one is much smaller than the other, then divide if it goes evenly -- otherwise multiply.
  • Rule 6: If the problem seems like it calls for a formula, pick a formula that has enough letters to use all the numbers given in the problem.
  • Rule 7: If the rules 1-6 don't seem to work, make one last desperate attempt. Take the set of numbers found by rule 2 and perform about two pages of random operations using these numbers. You should circle about five or six answers on each page just in case one of them happens to be the answer. You might get some partial credit for trying hard.


I hope your students do not fit the above joke.

In my books, I've tried to avoid problems that would lead children to the above scenario. I do not claim to be perfect in this; I feel I have lots to learn. But I will keep striving to make problems that do require many steps and that do not "dumb down" our children, but that progressively get more difficult as school years go by.

See also what I've written in the past concerning word problems.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

NiceBunny HedKase Papercraft



The head honcho and main man at NiceBunny, Mr. Brian Castleforte, just dropped us some email about new papercrafts available on their site. If you don't recognize him or haven't seen his work, he's the one that brought life to the popular HedKase paper toys. They have a HedKase Artist Series that features 13 new custom papercrafts and bunch of new NiceBunny paper toys. So go check it out and remember to "Be Nice".

HedKase Paper Toys Artist Series [NiceBunny]

Friday, December 28, 2007

Grim Reaper Papercraft - Gregg



From the creator of the Master Chief papercraft here is a character featured in both Conker: Live and Reloaded" and Conker's Bad Fur Day - Gregg the Grim Reaper. This will go along well with the Conker papercraft model that also came out from here just a few months back. You might also want to check out the other new model, not really related to Conker, it's an Invader ZIM papercraft featuring the main character GIR.

Gregg the Grim Reaper - [Download Page]
GIR /Invader ZIM - [Download Page]

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Some good math blogs

I was surprised to find that Denise had included me in her Math Bloggers Hall of Fame. Thanks! I feel honored to be a part...

On her list, I found some new reading material from the other blogs listed. Found some interesting posts right off the bat:

Snowflake math - this is a neat lesson plan. Makes kids thing spatially.

Teaching: The Really Big Number (applied). This is a lesson plan about the problem where you need to find the remainder of 100100.

Both of these are obviously from good teachers. Enjoy.

Some good math blogs

I was surprised to find that Denise had included me in her Math Bloggers Hall of Fame. Thanks! I feel honored to be a part...

On her list, I found some new reading material from the other blogs listed. Found some interesting posts right off the bat:

Snowflake math - this is a neat lesson plan. Makes kids thing spatially.

Teaching: The Really Big Number (applied). This is a lesson plan about the problem where you need to find the remainder of 100100.

Both of these are obviously from good teachers. Enjoy.

Rocky and Bullwinkle Papercraft



The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show was an alternative name for two separate American cartoon shows: Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show. The lead characters for this 1960's cartoon classic is comprised of Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel and his best bud Bullwinkle J. Moose. The setting of the show is on a fictional town called Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. The villains of the show included Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale hailing from the fictional country of Pottsylvania, under the command of the Fearless leader and Mr. Big. The Webdude has created another great set of cartoon papercraft models - of the four main characters. This set is available exclusively for free download at the PaperModelers web site.

Rocky and Bullwinkle - [Download Page] [Webdude Page]

Monday, December 24, 2007

Chokipeta Tank Contest



Here's a little something to do during your Christmas/winter holiday break, I'm giving away an original Chokipeta papercraft kit, it's from an old Playstation 2 tank simulation strategy game from Sega/Sammy Entertainment called Standard Daisenryaku: Dengekisen released in Japan 2004.

It goes with the series of free Chokipeta-designed papercrafts from this site. The kit is unopened so I don't know how many pages are in it, I'm also not a tank expert so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong with my guess - that this is a Tiger 1 (Panzerkampfawagen VI Ausf. E) tank. The rules are pretty simple, just take a picture of you with your favorite papercraft/s - the theme is "Happy Holidays". Feel free to use any of your relatives or pets as props. You have to include a sign that says Paperkraft.net in the photo for authentication purposes. Send your entries to paperkraftsATgmailDOTcom with the title "Chokipeta Tank". One entry per email, entries close on December 31. Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Trinity Blood: Cain Nightroad

trinity-blood-cain-nightroad.jpg

The elder twin brother of Abel Nightroad and the main Antagonist of the story, Cain is the oldest of the Test Tube Babies who was once the beloved leader of the Mars Colonization project.

Because of an accident, his younger brother Seth injected him with Crusnik nanomachines, a sort of vaccine that turns normal humans into vampires that feed on the blood of other vampires. This saved Cain’s life, but it also drew him into insanity. His decision to support the Vampire Returners and to murder prototype Lilith Sahl angered Abel and Seth, killing Cain in the process. But it seems even turning Cain’s Crusnik body into ashes is still not enough to stop him, as he is able to regenerate later on in the series.

This is a most impressive cosplay of Cain! It’s rather controversial that Cain looks angelic and Abel looks demonic, when the two of them play opposite roles! But you really have to love the details of his armor!

Halo Papercraft - D77 Pelican Dropship



We've posted a Halo papercraft before featuring Master Chief, today we're adding a new one featuring Halo's D-77 Pelican Dropship Troop Carrier - it's a versatile craft used by the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) mainly for extraction and transportation of personnel and equipment but can also serve as a gunship. It has a large overhang on its rear that serves as an attachment point for large cargo and ordnance which range from Warthogs, to Scorpion Tanks, or troop-bay extensions. Here's a great free papercraft model from Planet Starfreak (Home of the legendary Grunkohl-Mod), you can also check their other papercrafts such as the Shadowcat V2 from MechWarrior and the Serenity (Firefly vessel). - thanks to Alain for the link.

Halo Papercraft - D77 Pelican Dropship
[planetstarfreak]

Jack Frost Papercraft



During my lunch break I was trying to catch up with my daily gaming news when I noticed this blog post. It's a Christmas card from video game developer/publisher Atlus U.S.A (株式会社アトラス) sent to Kotaku editor Mike Fahey, it shows Jack Frost right smack in the middle surrounded by Atlus employees sporting Jack's familiar blue headgear/joker hat. This reminded me that there's a Jack Frost papercraft model from way back (5 yrs ago) that's still available for free download at the Atlus Japan web site. Some facts about Jack - he's considered a snowman, so for those of you that have been requesting for a snowman papercraft, this is probably the closest I could find for this year. Jack's favorite catchphrase is "Hee-Ho", he became quite popular when he appeared on the RPG video game series Shin Megami Tensei (真・女神転生|). Happy "Hee-Ho" Holidays indeed.

To get to the goods click on the link below, click on Special, then click on the 3rd selection down on the first column. If you don't feel like browsing through the Japanese site, just click the other link for a direct download (mediafire).

Jack Frost - [Download Page] [Alt Download]

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Christmas Papercraft - Boots



Tokyu Hands Inc. (東急ハンズ) is well known Japanese department store that focuses on hobbies, lifestyle products, and home improvement. Store items range from toys, games, luggage, hobby materials, do-it-yourself kits, all the way to furniture, lighting, home appliances and many more. Looking at their logo, you'll notice that there are two hands on both sides of their brand name, that's because they first started out as a DIY craft store. The flagship store is located in Shibuya. For this Christmas holiday, they're providing a free download for a papercraft Christmas boots, you can use it for decorations or as a gift box for putting small items. To download the pattern, click on their "red" Christmas banner, it will open up a new page running Flash content and you'll be able to download it for free on pages 18-19 (check photo above for reference). Or you could just hit the other free download link below (mediafire).

Christmas Boots - [Download Page] [Direct Download]

D.N.Angel: Dark Mousy

d.n.angel cosplay - dark mousyJesuke really know how to do her cosplays…

This character is Dark Mousy from D.N.Angel. He is the alter ego of Niwa Daisuke, a shy and reserved 14-year-old typical school boy.

Dark is a phantom thief who steals the harmful Hikari Family art pieces. Although he always gives warnings as to when and where a particular robbery will occur, he has never been caught.

There are several different pictures of Jesuke as Dark Mousy in her Deviant Art account. Please have a visit there as well. I had to choose this picture because of the wing details… It’s quite impressive, don’t you think?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

New Math Mammoth books

As the year is approaching its end, and a new one is around the corner, so are some new Math Mammoth books and other news.

Some new ones are already here, from the Green Series. These are collections of worksheets especially good for teachers who need worksheets on a certain topic or topics but with somewhat varying difficulty. They work good for a review, too:
Also, Math Mammoth Money book has gotten a "sister" version with Canadian coins: Canadian Money.

The news some of you might be interested in is that my Lightblue Series complete curriculum books for grades 1, 2, and 3 will be available as downloads from the beginning of 2008, at Kagi store. The price will be $27 per grade level.

And, the fourth grade material for the Lightblue is coming along, as well. I hope to have it ready in February-March. Also in January I will publish two new books titled Math Mammoth Multiplication 2 and Math Mammoth Division 2. These two will replace the current Multiplication & Division 2 book, and will have better (and very fresh!) material.

New Math Mammoth books

As the year is approaching its end, and a new one is around the corner, so are some new Math Mammoth books and other news.

Some new ones are already here, from the Green Series. These are collections of worksheets especially good for teachers who need worksheets on a certain topic or topics but with somewhat varying difficulty. They work good for a review, too:
Also, Math Mammoth Money book has gotten a "sister" version with Canadian coins: Canadian Money.

The news some of you might be interested in is that my Lightblue Series complete curriculum books for grades 1, 2, and 3 will be available as downloads from the beginning of 2008, at Kagi store. The price will be $27 per grade level.

And, the fourth grade material for the Lightblue is coming along, as well. I hope to have it ready in February-March. Also in January I will publish two new books titled Math Mammoth Multiplication 2 and Math Mammoth Division 2. These two will replace the current Multiplication & Division 2 book, and will have better (and very fresh!) material.

Christmas Papercraft 3



Here's another Christmas papercraft set, this time it's from Yamaha. They're well known throughout the world for their motorcycles but in the papercraft community they're very much known for providing a ton of free realistic paper models and one of the best ultra-realistic models around (MT-01), they're Christmas section includes a reindeer and sleigh papercraft and a Christmas card. I know it's not much and a bit lacking, hopefully they'll add some more Christmas stuff next year. Check it out.

Yamaha Christmas - [Download Page]

Monday, December 17, 2007

Gundam Seed: Natarle Badriguel

gundam seed cosplay - natarle badriguelNatarle Badeiguel, one of the few survivors of ZAFT’s Le Creuset’s raid to seize the new weapons of the colony, is one of Earth Alliance’s most loyal and promising young officers. She is the executive officer of the Archangel, a ship headed by Captain Murrue Ramius. She is a superb tactical analyst, a fine trait that made her a captain of her own ship, Dominion, after her former captain began to question the Earth Alliance’s actions.

Natarle is one of my favorite character in the series. Most people don’t really like her because of her cold nature, but I believe that’s what makes her such a fine officer in the first place. Besides, I respect characters like her better than the Damsel in Distress types.

Sadly, she perished in Archangel’s hands because of her blind loyalty to the Earth Alliance.

Pretty accurate cosplayer though, isn’t she?

Friday, December 14, 2007

Yu Yu Hakusho: Youko Kurama and Hiei

yu yu hakusho cosplay - youko kurama and hiei Oh my… I didn’t think there’ll be more Yu Yu Hakusho cosplays that are being done recently… But according to this picture, it was uploaded December 10, 2007 on High King’s Flickr account.

The demon Youko is good, though I think wearing the wings made of petals and vines he used to fly around the Demon World may be a bit much… What I’m really impressed with is Hiei! The cosplayer’s got the look and attitude just right!

Of course, I was hunting for a Hiei cosplayer especially for Shadow Cat. I didn’t get the particular Hiei look that she requested, but I think she’ll be happy with this anyway…

Hope you like it, Shadow Cat!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Christmas Papercrafts 2



This time it's Epson Singapore's turn to showcase their Christmas papercrafts. It's not as much as Canon's Creative Park but they've got enough stuff here to bring on the holiday cheer. They have a pretty and easy-to-assemble Christmas Tree to decorate your office/cubicle, together with a beautiful Christmas Flower (Poinsettia) - complete with paper pot and dirt. And finally they've got six wonderfully designed Christmas Cards for you to choose from. Have fun!

Epson Christmas Papercraft - [Download Page]

Epson Christmas Cards - [Download Page]

Trinity Blood: Dietrich von Lohengrin

trinty bloog cosplay - dietich von lohengrin The sadistic Puppet Master who thinks of people as merely his toys, Dietrich von Lohengrin is described to be a genius with an angelic face and a demonic heart. He is also the only known Terran in the Rosen Kreuz Orden.

As a young child, his father had realized Dietrich’s evil nature and tried to kill him. Dietrich ended up killing his father as well as his entire family at a young age. He joined Rosen Kreuz Orden later at the age of 7 and became a high ranking official in the age of 10.

Such an impressive cosplay! I found this in a website that features a ton of Trinity Blood cosplays! Make sure you guys visit! I’ll post a few more from them soon.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Get Backers: Mido Ban

get backers cosplay - mido ban Speaking of people with dangerous pointy hair, here’s a character who has such messy (and pointy!) hair that he is often nicknamed “urchin head”!

The rude, and often arrogant Mido Ban, if the descendent of the Last Witch of the 20th Century. He is a genius in battle, and a natural born leader. And, though he’ll never admit it, he is very sentimental towards his friends and even those he is rude with.

That is the most awesome looking Mida Ban hair! Another case of abusing hair cement like Kakashi? I heard using raw egg whites will also get you that result.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Music Video

Ivy’s Sonata of Temptation shows an excellent reenactment of a scene from Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children. But from what I hear, Square is suing them for not asking permission to use Final Fantasy Advent Children references.

Well… regardless of the politics, it’s an awesome cosplay! I don’t really care much for the music though… I just like the cosplay…

Technorati tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Christmas Papercrafts



The merriest time of the year is just a few days away so we'll be posting Christmas papercrafts all throughout the week. We'll start with Canon 3D's Creative Park, they've got a whole bunch of Christmas crafts that include dioramas, pop-up cards, banners, mask, and paper ornaments. I prefer the "Santa Claus in his Sleigh" diorama for that 3D papercraft feel. Head on to the link below for free downloads.

Canon 3D Christmas Papercrafts - [Download Page]

Tenjou Tenge: Natsume Maya 03

tenjou tenge cosplay - natsume maya

The third challenger of the Natsume Maya cosplay! I believe she wins hands down… But I’m not really one to judge, since I have no idea whether or not Maya actually appeared in an outfit such as this…

Makes me think of Kill Bill or Charlie’s Angels for some reason…

Anyway, you guys be the judge who looks most like Maya. This is where you’ll find the first cosplayer and here is where you’ll find the second.

The 12 contests / the 12 blogs of Christmas

I admit; I think the folks at HomeschoolEstore have come up with a really creative promotion!

They've invited 12 bloggers to host 12 different contests on their blogs, and each winner will get a $50 gift to spend at HomeschoolEstore.

Now, I'm not one of those blogs... In fact I can't even participate in any of the contests since I'm a publisher (my products are sold there). But I do want to let you know... it sounds like loads of fun as well!

You don't have to buy anything to participate. Just go visit the 12 blogs and see the various contests. I visited some and saw a photo contest, one where you need to guess what the children in an old photograph are thinking, one writing contest, one was something about finding a quote and writing about that. And there are more (I didn't visit them all).

They've also paired each blogger with a publisher, and Amy Beth from My Smoky Mtn. Homeschool will be writing something concerning my Math Mammoth books during the contest.

Here's a complete list of the 12 participating blogs:

www.Homeschoolblogger.com/01charger

www.Homeschoolblogger.com/ReviewsbyHeidi

www.homeschoolblogger.com/eclecticeducation

lifeonwindyridge.blogspot.com

www.homesteadblogger.com/TexasRose

triviumacademy.blogspot.com

tnmomwith3kids.wordpress.com

www.homesteadblogger.com/simplefolk

homeschoolblogger.com/mysmokymtnhomeschool

www.homeschoolblogger.com/ClassicalEducation4Me

janne.cc/blog

www.homeschoolblogger.com/Ruth

Oh, almost forgot: you can only enter 2 of the 12 contests.

The 12 contests / the 12 blogs of Christmas

I admit; I think the folks at HomeschoolEstore have come up with a really creative promotion!

They've invited 12 bloggers to host 12 different contests on their blogs, and each winner will get a $50 gift to spend at HomeschoolEstore.

Now, I'm not one of those blogs... In fact I can't even participate in any of the contests since I'm a publisher (my products are sold there). But I do want to let you know... it sounds like loads of fun as well!

You don't have to buy anything to participate. Just go visit the 12 blogs and see the various contests. I visited some and saw a photo contest, one where you need to guess what the children in an old photograph are thinking, one writing contest, one was something about finding a quote and writing about that. And there are more (I didn't visit them all).

They've also paired each blogger with a publisher, and Amy Beth from My Smoky Mtn. Homeschool will be writing something concerning my Math Mammoth books during the contest.

Here's a complete list of the 12 participating blogs:

www.Homeschoolblogger.com/01charger

www.Homeschoolblogger.com/ReviewsbyHeidi

www.homeschoolblogger.com/eclecticeducation

lifeonwindyridge.blogspot.com

www.homesteadblogger.com/TexasRose

triviumacademy.blogspot.com

tnmomwith3kids.wordpress.com

www.homesteadblogger.com/simplefolk

homeschoolblogger.com/mysmokymtnhomeschool

www.homeschoolblogger.com/ClassicalEducation4Me

janne.cc/blog

www.homeschoolblogger.com/Ruth

Oh, almost forgot: you can only enter 2 of the 12 contests.

Naruto: Hatake Kakashi

naruto cosplay - hatake kakashi Naruto’s sensei or “teacher” Kakashi is a genius shinobi who has never revealed his face, nor his true personality. He no longer has any close family or relatives and is often times thought to be arrogant and emotionless… Which is quite the opposite, really.

He acquired his Sharigan eye from his dying friend, Uchiha Obito. The two had an arguement with regards as to whether they should prioritze their mission or rescuing Rin. Unfortunately, after the two had made up, Kakashi lost his left eye to protect Obita, and Obita perished saving Kakashi’s life when rocks nearly crushed him. It was during this time that Rin performed her duties as a medical ninja, and transferred Obita’s eye to replace Kakashi’s damaged one as a final gift.

I would just like to say… I wonder how much hair cement this cosplayer used to get the hair that way?

Friday, December 7, 2007

Final Fantasy X-2: Rikku 03

I found a blog post from Ying Dong about an amazing Rikku cosplay. Ying Dong seems to like this cosplayer because of the “natural fit”, meaning she’s a natural blonde so it fits her to be Rikku perfectly.

final fantasy x-2 cosplay - rikku 03I’d have to agree with Ying Dong. I like cosplayers who have that natural look/fit as well. If it just so happens that their natural hair color is the same as the character’s, then it’s plus points!

That said, I decided to post a Rikku who is not your typical Asian cosplayer, but still looks great as well! I found this photo from Movie Tome. There are other cosplays from there I want to feature, but I think this will do for now.

Does this cosplayer rival the Rikku from Ying Dong’s blog? Or maybe the first X-2 Rikku I posted? The 2nd one? I don’t know, I can’t decide. I think they’re all great!

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Gundam Seed Destiny: Cagalli Yula Athha

gundam seed destiny cosplay - cagalli yula athhaIt was in Gundam Seed Destiny that I began to hate Cagalli. I suppose suddenly becoming the “sort of” president of a country is extremely stressful, as well as having to marry someone for diplomatic means…

But I don’t like it that she has to cry so much and ask for so much pity and support from everyone.

Even though I don’t like the character, this cosplayer is so pretty! Though I think I actually like the first cosplayer that I posted then this one (which is a first!). Still… I love the cosplayer, the pose, and the photo! Great Job!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Algebraic thinking

I downloaded the "balance" worksheet freebie, and daughter liked it. We homeschool and she would be in fifth grade this year if she were in public school. ... My question is about the balance worksheets - where would there be more of that? Stuff that does groundwork for algebraic thinking?

It's not just balance problems that prepare a child for algebra. These are important factors also:
  • a good number sense (e.g. mental math)

  • understanding of the four basic operations, for example how the opposite operations work. Another example: understanding that a division with remainder such as 50 ÷ 6 = 8 R2 is "turned around" with multiplication and addition: 8 × 6 + 2 = 50.

  • a good command of fraction and decimal operations. Understanding the close connection between fractions and division.

  • understanding the concepts of ratio and percent.


You can also simply write her more problems with an unknown. For example:

Write 7 + x = 28 and similar ones, like 12 + x = 99 and harder numbers.

x − 9 = 9 and notice how this is "solved" by adding.

6 − x = 4 and then harder numbers.

The same with multiplication and division.

I would also add one more thing that prepares children for algebra: good word problems -- not such that only require one operation to solve.

Singapore math's word problem booklets are told to be good, and here are some other (free) word problem websites.

In fact, soon I want to talk a little more about good word problems based on a paper I'm currently reading.

Algebraic thinking

I downloaded the "balance" worksheet freebie, and daughter liked it. We homeschool and she would be in fifth grade this year if she were in public school. ... My question is about the balance worksheets - where would there be more of that? Stuff that does groundwork for algebraic thinking?

It's not just balance problems that prepare a child for algebra. These are important factors also:
  • a good number sense (e.g. mental math)

  • understanding of the four basic operations, for example how the opposite operations work. Another example: understanding that a division with remainder such as 50 ÷ 6 = 8 R2 is "turned around" with multiplication and addition: 8 × 6 + 2 = 50.

  • a good command of fraction and decimal operations. Understanding the close connection between fractions and division.

  • understanding the concepts of ratio and percent.


You can also simply write her more problems with an unknown. For example:

Write 7 + x = 28 and similar ones, like 12 + x = 99 and harder numbers.

x − 9 = 9 and notice how this is "solved" by adding.

6 − x = 4 and then harder numbers.

The same with multiplication and division.

I would also add one more thing that prepares children for algebra: good word problems -- not such that only require one operation to solve.

Singapore math's word problem booklets are told to be good, and here are some other (free) word problem websites.

In fact, soon I want to talk a little more about good word problems based on a paper I'm currently reading.

Trinity Blood: Father Tres Iqus

trinity blood cosplay - father tres iqusThe mechanical soldier created by Vatican Scientist, Professor Gepetto Garibaldi, Father Tres Iqus is one of ten “Killing Dolls” to be used for an attempted rebellion. He was spared from destruction and recruited by Cardinal Caterina Sfroza for AX, the Minister of Holy Affairs’ Special Operations Group.

Father Tres is part mechanical and part organic, and he maintains his body by taking vitamins. You can tell straight off that he’s a cyborg, because he always answers questions with either “negative” or “positive”, though there are times when he shows some emotions and even a sense of humor.

Lovely cosplay! Especially the guns..! I’m not sure if Father Tres wears sunglasses though… Hm…

Disney's Kim Possible Papercraft



Here's something for the Disney fans out there, it's a Kim Possible papercraft from Ninjatoes. She'sthe heroine of the Disney Channel cartoon series of the same name and your typical teenager, fashionista, cheerleader, straight-A student, and Super Agent! She saves the world from supervillains together with her goofball sidekick Ron, tech guy Wade, and of course, everyone's favorite naked mole rat, Rufus. Have fun building this one.

Kim Possible Papercraft
[ninjatoes]

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Gundam Seed Destiny: Stella Loussier

gundam seed destiny cosplay - stella stellar loussierStella Loussier is one of the 3 experiments of the Naturals, labeled as an “Extended Human”, someone who is born naturally, but could fight in the same efficiency as a Coordinator. Extended Humans do not have their DNA altered like Coordinators; rather, they use other means such as drugs to enhance their fighting ability.

Stella, or “Stellar” in some markets, is a gifted Gundam Pilot who suffers from a personality disorder. She is generally sweet and child-like when she is surrounded by people who are most important to her. But when she is in danger, or hears the word “death”, she becomes a totally different person, a ruthless killer who kills and destroys everything in her way.

Such a cute Stella! Oh, I cropped the original image from Photobucket. You can view the original by clicking the image.

The snowy edition of Carnival of Homeschooling

.... is posted at Dewey's Treehouse. Mama Squirrel has done a fine job, go check it out!

Carnival of Homeschooling 101: Snowed in edition

The snowy edition of Carnival of Homeschooling

.... is posted at Dewey's Treehouse. Mama Squirrel has done a fine job, go check it out!

Carnival of Homeschooling 101: Snowed in edition

Monday, December 3, 2007

Full Metal Alchemist: Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes

full metal alchemist cosplay - lieutenant colonel maes hughesImportant notes:

  • Cosplayer is cosplaying the character accurately.
  • Cosplayer is male.
  • Cosplayer does not appear to be Asian.
  • Cosplayer knows exactly what he’s doing

And therefore:

  • He looks awesome.

A little bit about the character, Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes is a member of the Investigations Division. He is not only good at what he does, but he is also a good father, and a loving husband. He is also a good friend of Colonel Roy Musatang and the Elric Brothers.

This is definitely one of the rare photos of lovely male cosplayers.

Gundam Seed: Lacus Clyne 02

gundam seed cosplay - lacus clyne 2

I have a secret and I’m not telling…

At least… That’s what the photo looks like it’s saying…

I think I like this Lacus Clyne a lot more than the previous one. Her blue eye shadow really does the trick! She really looks like a singer/idol.

Great job on this! I wonder what her name is…

Sunday, December 2, 2007

X-Men Papercraft - Blackbird / X-Jet



For X-Men fans, here's a new paper model from paperinside - the Blackbird papercraft (aka. X-Jet). The plane was based on the Lockheed SR-71 long-range reconnaissance aircraft. Free download is available at the link below.

X-Jet - [Download Page]

Friday, November 30, 2007

Bulldozer Box Papercraft


They were first used to plough fields and then used as armoured tanks in WWI, today, they are used to dig canals, raise tons of earth, move large boulders, carry chunks of coal and everything else related to earthmoving. The lowly bulldozer is can be found on very major construction site throughout the world, and one of the most popular and recognizable brand is the Caterpillar (mustard color). Here's a bulldozer papercraft model from paperboxworld, free download is available at the link below.

Bulldozer - [Download Page]

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Silent Hill Papercraft



The Silent Hill video game series is one of Konami's great hits to date, stretching back all the way to 1999 when the first one came out and another sequel on the way next year. One of the most notable part of the game is the fog-shrouded environments, you know what I'm talking about, the claustrophobic interiors in pitch black setting that limits your visibility to about an 8 foot radius around the character. So here's a new tribute from tubbypaws (remember her?), a Silent Hill papercraft that depicts the foggy layer scene. Don't forget the other famous Silent Hill paper model that we've posted in the past, Chamoo's Pyramid Head papercraft.

Silent Hill 2 - [Download Page]

Metroid Prime: Samus Aran

metroid prime cosplay - samus aran

First, a confession…

I seemed to have clicked “save” instead of “publish” in my blog editor… So technically, this should have been posted yesterday… Deepest apologies.

It seems ever since a couple of friends of mine have seen this cosplayer in Kotaku, they’ve been bugging me to post her in this blog too!

Indeed, I have the strangest people for friends, and yet, I am not complaining one bit.

Honestly speaking, I have no idea how accurate this girl’s cosplay is. I do know that this girl is Jenni Källberg. You can find more of her cosplays in Pixel Ninja.

Really love the effect she did with her armor… And that blood gash on her abdomen looks very realistic… Anyone care to chare their thoughts on this?

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