Natalie M's work with Don, June 14, 2001

A little background, first. Don had Natalie's Mom, Jan,  when Jan was in 7th grade in St. Louis. Jan went on to get a Ph. D. at MIT and is now working on a study to try to use genes inserted into cells, to get rid of Huntington's disease. When the family was in Texas, Don worked in his Math By Mail program with Jan's older daughter Wendy, when Wendy was 5 years old. Jan brought Wendy to Champaign when she was 12 years old. Wendy just finished her junior year in HS, doing very well on the International Baccalaureate Test. On the way to St. Louis, where Jan's Mom lives, Jan brought Natalie to work with Don.

In about 2 1/2 hours:

1.) Natalie worked on the shuttle puzzle and found the number of moves it takes to interchange the red and white tees, starting with 1 pair to 6 pair of tees (see chapter 6). She saw the differences in the moves went up by the odd numbers. She did not get a rule yet.

2.) Natalie worked on quadratic equations and found the secrets to find the roots by using their sum and product. See Ch. 8.

3.) Don showed Natalie how to use 10x10 squares and 1x10 strips to multiply 12x13 in her head. She was also able to extend this to 22x23. Jan was very excited about this. And Natalie was able to do 22x23 in her head in no time at all!

4.) Don showed Natalie the Guess My Number game. Natalie copied the cards and was able to guess Don's number on the way to dinner, only using the letter of the card, because she knew the magic number to add on each card! See the cards on Sheri's page of the  Guess My Number game .

5.) Natalie timed Jan doing the Chinese Ring Puzzle, which she did in 30 sec.!

They had to leave for St. Louis right after dinner, but both Don and his wife got a great big hug and kiss from Natalie, and of course from Jan. Jan and Natalie decided that Natalie would do the Math By Mail/Email with Don when they got back to MN. There was also talk that Natalie might stay with the Cohens for a few days, the next time Jan was  going to St. Louis!! ;-) WOW!!!

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