A Place to Go for Math Fun – Review of MathAlive! at the Smithsonian

We just returned from our vacation, which included a trip to the MathAlive! exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.  The exhibit is in the Smithsonian International Gallery in the S. Dillon Ripley Center (a little difficult to find, but it is near the Castle). 

Our daughter (eight years old) had a good time, as there were many interactive displays.  Most of the math was slightly more advanced than what she can do, and was probably appropriate for sixth to eighth graders.  There wasn’t a lot of explanation of the details of the math, which would have made it interesting for high school grades. 

My favorite was the snow board, which had three individuals racing down a slope.  Two controlled snow boards and one had a joy stick to control the angle of the board versus the snow (hence the connection with math).  You really don’t think too much about math as (at least in my case) you try to survive the course, but you do live to snow board another day. 

There was also a music related exhibit which showed how fractional notes/beats from a variety of instruments make up a tune.  Many of the interactive games will be easy for any student with video game experience (hence my need to do the cat rescue game about 20 times before I got to level two). 

The exhibit was not crowded when we went, and we spent about two hours.  I would not rate it as a must see, but an interesting use of time for the right age group.  The exhibit did do a good job of showing the variety of applications of math to our world.  And you can pick up a brochure about where math appears in other Smithsonian museums and research centers.  Look for the Pocket Guide to Math at the Smithsonian. 

The exhibit runs through 3 June 2012, and you can get more information at:
http://www.mathalive.com/about-the-exhibit.html