Welcome to Mathigon: Grades 9-12

Welcome to Mathigon!

Mathigon is a mathematical playground offering best-in-class virtual manipulatives, interactive courses, a variety of engaging activities, and an extensive puzzle calendar.

Polypad

Polypad is an open canvas for exploring, creating, and discovering mathematics with the world’s best virtual manipulatives.

As you can see, there are many virtual manipulatives to explore on Polypad. Some of the most common ones to use in high school include:

Visit Polypad to get started exploring and creating. Create a free teacher account to save canvasses and use them with your students. Students can create free accounts, too! Learn about all the teacher tools at the tutorial page.

Learn about Polypad

Visit the Tutorials and Webinars page to view Polypad User Guides, webinar recordings, and tutorial videos. You’ll find detailed explanations about using all the tiles and tools on Polypad, tutorial videos about using the built in teacher tools (creating classes, adding students, sharing Polypads, and more), webinar recordings about using Polypad to explore a variety of mathematical topics, and links to sign up for future events.

Only have time for one quick video? Start here.

Lesson Plans, Teaching Ideas, Games and Puzzles

Visit the Lesson Plans page to explore hundreds of tasks to use with students. Scroll down the page to browse topics alphabetically, filter by task type on the left, or search by topic or keyword. Below are some tasks to consider using with 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students:

Geometry

• Five Platonic Solids
• Sphinx Tilings
• Geometric Constructions
• Magic Egg Tangram
• Visual Patterns

Numbers and Arithmetic

• Egyptian Fractions
• Diagonals of Rectangles
• Infinite Sums of Fractions
• Overlapping Hands of a Clock

Probability

• Galton Board
• Multiplying Probabilities
• Ace in the Hole

Algebraic Thinking

• Balance Scale Puzzles (Systems of Equations)
• Completing the Square
• Exponential Decay
• Open Box Problem
• Overlapping Hands of a Clock

Data and Statistics

• Fix this Chart
• Land Area and Water Area in US States
• Perceptions of Likeliness with Box and Whisker Charts
• Vaccine Efficacy

Puzzles, Games and Mathematical Art

• Genius Square and Genius Star
• Puzzle of the Day
• String Art
• Tessellations and Fractals

Interactive Courses

The video below provides an overview of the interactive nature of the Mathigon Courses. The courses are separated into three categories - Geometry, Numbers and Algebra, and Probability and Applications. Within each category, the courses are sorted by Middle School and High School. Student work is saved as they progress through each chapter and teachers can view their progress on the teacher dashboard. Learn more about teacher tools on the tutorial page. The Mathigon FAQ page is another good resource if you have more questions about the courses including questions about releasing new courses.

Activities

Mathigon has a variety of other activities for exploring mathematics.

Puzzle Calendar

Since 2017, Mathigon has published a puzzle calendar during the month December.

Timeline of Mathematics

Students can learn about mathematicians and mathematical artifacts on the Timeline of Mathematics.

Factris

When playing Factris, students use their knowledge of factors of whole numbers to earn high scores and eliminate as many whole rows as possible.

Tangrams

While Tangrams are one of the many virtual manipulatives on Polypad, Students can also visit the custom Tangram Activity to use tangrams to create a wide variety of pictures.

Social Distancing Puzzle

In the Social Distancing puzzle, students must move the other shoppers around the store to make it to the exit.

Sharing and Support

As you use Mathigon in your work, please share your ideas and your students’ work across our social media channels: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We love seeing what users around the world come up with!

Post questions or suggestions on our social media channels, our Community Form, or email support@mathigon.org.