• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

PlanetNancy • Ideas in Orbit

  • Home
  • Services
  • About Me
  • Inquiry Packs
  • Books
    • Books I’ve Edited
    • Books I’ve Written
  • Series
    • Critical At Any Age
    • Recommended Reading
    • The View From Planet Nancy
    • Writing Prompts
    • Write For You
  • Contact

Put 100 Marbles in a Bucket

April 30, 2019 By Nancy Casey

We use ideas about probability to predict what might happen. The coin flip, for instance, is a basic example of probability that most people are familiar with. Heads or tails. Fifty-fifty. Even-Steven. If you flip a fair coin many-many times, half the flips will come up heads and the other half will be tails. It’s not hard to think this through. You see the coin. You see … [Read more...] about Put 100 Marbles in a Bucket

What Teachers Study

April 23, 2019 By Nancy Casey

Years ago when I was teaching reading and writing to elementary school children, I often incorporated songs into our lessons. It was fun and helped many of the children a lot. Most small children haven’t internalized ideas like “can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” so singing comes easily to them. Some children learn melodies more readily than sentences. I found that children … [Read more...] about What Teachers Study

The First Inquiry Pack is IN!

April 16, 2019 By Nancy Casey

An Inquiry Pack is a collection of activities and ideas that invite you to think as a mathematician, an engineer and an artist. It’s not a pack of stuff. It’s a pack of ideas, suggestions and challenges. The inquiries in each pack invite you to make something or fiddle with simple objects and think about what you are doing. They encourage you to observe what’s in front of you, … [Read more...] about The First Inquiry Pack is IN!

Make It, Dress It

April 9, 2019 By Nancy Casey

Many people think that the people who play with dolls and the people who use mathematics are two different kinds of people. If you think that way, think some more. While you are thinking, make some doll clothes. First, you need a doll. If you don’t have one, it’s easy to make one out of wire and rags. Twist and bend the wire into a “skeleton” that will be inside the doll. … [Read more...] about Make It, Dress It

Connecting the Dots

March 29, 2019 By Nancy Casey

If I tell someone that my favorite branch of math is graph theory, communication seldom occurs. People think I take delight in jagged lines and pie charts.  They are all too happy to change the subject. It’s an understandable misunderstanding. The meaning of the word graph in graph theory is related to the word graphic. The graphs of graph theory are little pictures, real … [Read more...] about Connecting the Dots

Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

News and Events

Nancy blogs weekly for the Latah Recovery Community Center, sharing writing ideas that support self-awareness and self-esteem.


Looking for an art project that is secretly full of math? Or a math project that results in interesting art? Equilateral Triangle is an Inquiry Pack full of project ideas that will keep you thinking for a long time.


Writing classes and workshops

In-person Write-For-You workshops at the Latah Recovery Center have been suspended for a bit, but you can still do the writing prompts on your own. For more information, about the Write for You program, or if you are in recovery and interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy.


 

Let’s Talk About It

This is a program that supports reading and discussion in libraries throughout the state of Idaho.

Working with the Program Committee, I updated the theme The Humanity of Science and Technology.


 

2021-22 Let’s Talk About It Discussions

November 10 – Tuesdays with Morrie – Clearwater Memorial Library – Orofino

 

November 18 – A Home Below Hells Canyon – Boise Basin District Library – Idaho City

 

February 8 – The Girl Who Fell From the Sky – Grangeville Centennial Library – Grangeville

 

February 15 – Sweet Promised Land – Garden Valley District Library – Garden Valley

 

March 23 – Less – Coeur d’Alene Public Library – Coeur d’Alene


Nancy Casey's Books

All the Way to Second Street

All the Way to Second Street front cover
Buy Now




Follow For Updates


COPYRIGHT 2016 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NANCY CASEY | MOSCOW, ID.