I found a stone but did not weigh it. After I added one-seventh of its weight, And one-eleventh of this new weight, The total was one ma-na. What was the original weight?
Babylonian problem tablet (c. 1985 BC)
Elliot and Penelope Wargo invite you to join our first Sum-mer Math Club, this year with a focus on learning the beauty of algebra. Do you know that algebra is beautiful, interesting, and fun? If you do, that's great! If you don't, you will (hopefully) come to see that it is. Our goal will be to understand why we spend time manipulating all these numbers and letters when doing algebra problems at school and also to give you some interesting algebraic puzzles to work on this summer.
We will meet twice a week for 45 minutes at the Wargos' house and work through some of Paul Lockhart's book The Mending of Broken Bones, a book that presents algebra "not as...mundane exercises..., but instead as an art form whose beauty lies in its elegant simplicity." No need to purchase the book, we will cover what we need to during club time and give you puzzles as homework. The club's content will be targeted towards incoming 8th graders. Please RSVP to Elliot.