What's My Mathematical Name?

What s My Mathematical Name is a mathematics vocabulary game. Th e object of the game is to guess the mathematical word association with each picture. Th e purposes of this game are: 1. To build students mathematics vocabulary. 2. To help foster positive attitudes toward learning mathematics. 3. To provide a pleasant change of pace activity for use before or on a holiday (or special event), or as a reward for good behavior. Th ere are many ways to use this game. One way is to make a transparency of selected pages and then ask students to take a creative quiz. Following such a quiz, students can be provided with scissors and a magazine and asked to create one mathematical picture of their own. Students should provide their picture and the jumbled spelling of the math term their picture represents on one side of their page and the correct answer on the other. Another way to use the material in this book is as a part of a bulletin board display. Th e pictures may be removed from the book, laminated, and then presented together for the class. Still another possible way to organize a game using these cartoons and pictures is to display them around the room (on a chalkboard for example). Th en have players move from picture to picture to identify the terms. Th e person who unscrambles the most terms within a specifi ed time limit is the winner. How good is the mathematics vocabulary of the students in your class(es)? How many creative pictures can they produce to exemplify mathematical terms. Answers will vary, but I think you ll be pleasantly surprised by the results created as they discover that math can be corny and fun.