StoryMath! – Generating Mathematical Sparks

On the 4^th of July we premiered our first edition of StoryMath, entitled “The Perfect Arrangement”, to a rapturous response:

“This story really shows how Math can be applied in real life situations and inspires really shows true wit. Keep it going!”

Ritika Ravachandra - Methodist Girls' School - age 13

“It is a awesome story. Even though I love stories, I have never read a wonderful story abt maths like this and of course the last page was very funnnnnyyyyy. It is a lovely story where young kids love.”

Janani Priyadharshni M - PSBB Schools - age 14

“I like this story because we can learnt more about math and i like it, I hope that heymath will put more story like this...wakakakaka”

Nurfazirah Bte Misdi – Xingnan Primary School - age 10

StoryMath! was conceived as a way to put math in a fresh light. We wanted to address the widespread perception of math as a boring “can’t do” subject. Math is a world brimming with inventors, geniuses and unsolvable problems. And at its heart is the evolution of human ideas! Shouldn’t experiencing the “wow” moment be intrinsic to learning math?

Presenting math using the familiar and engaging medium of storytelling seemed to be the obvious approach to achieve our aim. Stories put math in an entirely new context. They help to entrench mathematical ideas in inquisitive minds. And hey, like any good story, our stories encourage and develop imagination, empathy, literacy and understanding of the world.

Our first story “The Perfect Arrangement” is about how one resourceful restaurant owner uses the amazing math of ordering to figure out that there are more than 3.5 million different ways for 10 people to seat themselves at a table. In doing so, she manages to subdue 10 squabbling scholars with a clever trick! The story comes with a fun interactive exploration into the math behind this trick. And as one 22 year old put it:

“Something very unusual just happened, I understood some maths! […] Seriously though, that was so clearly put, I wish I had been taught maths like that, maybe I would have understood it better. It appealed to my sense of logic too. I always felt I should have liked maths. Maybe one day I'll do an evening class in it.”

I think we can proudly say that the first edition of StoryMath! has generated mathematical sparks. We will strive to make its future editions equally inspiring!

Discover StoryMath! for yourself!