Geek alert! We celebrated Square Root Day this spring, and now the mathematical hi-jinks continue. Today, 5/7/09, is Odd Day, one of only six times this century that the date is made up of three consecutive odd numbers. Here is The Ode to Odd, from oddday.net:
- As Odd as it is, the day will be fine,
- You see, it’s the numbers 5,7, and 9.
- Three odds in a row to tell you the date,
- We’ve only three more, then a 90-year wait.
Ron Gordon, a math teacher from Redwood City, California, knows how to make numbers more fun for kids and adults. Here is some more fodder from his website (sorry, I couldn’t resist):
“Things to do on Odd Day: It’s a great day to do your odds ‘n ends, give a friend a high-five, root for the odds-on-favorite, read the Wizard of Odds, watch the Odd Couple, say aaaahd in the doctor’s office, look for sea odders, find that missing odd sock, and beat the odds.”
“These days are like calendar comets—you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day—and poof—they’re gone!”
I celebrate people who celebrate things like Odd Day. It is astounding and discouraging how early in life kids become convinced that math is boring and hard. Can you imagine a more important time in history for kids to believe that math is cool? This teacher enthusiastically promotes these numerical holidays, and is even offering a contest (it pays $579). Indirectly, along the way, he also teaches one of my favorite mottoes:
Geek is the New Cool !
jane, candid 