Meet Zdenka Guadarrama, Ph.D., an associate professor and chair of the department of mathematics at the Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri! She is passionate about mathematics education and outreach, with her work currently focusing on mathematics curriculum development through inquiry, and the intersections of mathematics with other fields, particularly the arts.
Here’s her review of Geometiles and a few examples on how she uses our education tools during her outreach activities with kids.
I love Geometiles.
I am college mathematics professor who likes to engage students with math “toys”, I like to play, and I like building. Geometiles has definitely become one of my favorite media for these activities.
I have used Geometiles to engage students of all ages in a variety of mathematics topics, ranging from the more obvious explorations of polyhedra, symmetry, and tessellations, to topics, likes four color theorem and Euler’s characteristic. It has been fun coming up with different types of 2D and 3D “puzzles” for students. Using Geometiles guarantees student engagement. In our university outreach events, a Geometiles station has become a staple.
At home, we play with Geometiles often and have used them to create hats, bowls, boxes, doll houses, cars, placemats, an many other, often functional, objects. The more we play, the more ideas we get of how we could use them.
I have tried lots of other building sets, some of them are difficult to put together, flimsy, or have joints that break easily. In contrast, Geometiles feel sturdy, click together well and withstand rough handling. They are labeled for ages 6 and up, and I would say that is definitely appropriate. I have tried them for younger audiences, and younger kids have a hard time snapping them together. I recommend Geometiles as a great building set for anyone 6 and up!
