We are excited to announce our new partnership with computational thinking dynamo PolyUp! PolyUp aims to empower a global community of creative and engaged problem solvers–allowing learners to experiment with numbers and functions to discover their own knowledge in PolyUp’s unique online math playground. Their 10 to 15 minute activities are designed to supplement a variety of math classes and are available on the web and through mobile devices with internet access. Students are challenged to reach target outputs by analyzing expressions, working around fixed operators, and tapping into outside-the-box thinking.
Curriki is helping bring PolyUp’s free activities and lesson plans to its global community. We currently are hosting a collection of PolyUp lessons and activities for grades 3-5 that cover addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, order of operations, balancing expressions and more. Lesson plans for other grade levels including secondary are coming soon to Curriki!
Check out this tutorial on how PolyUp’s “Poly Machines” work:
PolyUp’s math playground has been a success in classrooms. Here is what people are saying about PolyUp:
“I am so excited to implement Polyup into my classroom this year! This is a great program that will benefit all of my students in learning anything from basic facts to more difficult computations!”–Ashbie Day, ISTE’18 mBot Winner
“Polyup is the gateway where math logic meets computer science. It opens students’s minds to reasoning and logic in a fun and interactive way. Students don’t give up trying to solve (and create) Poly Machines that they perceive as puzzles.”–Angela Tseng, Poly Pro Teacher
“Of all of the math apps and programs, this is the first program that truly challenges students to think, connect their learning, and solve problems at the same time. My students are highly engaged and love the activities and challenges. 5 more minutes is ok with this app!”–Jonathan Swann, NCTM’18 Jo Boaler Workshop Winner
We know that our Curriki community will find PolyUp’s math playground an asset to their classroom and a valuable tool in sharpening students’ computational thinking abilities. Even more amazing, PolyUp is committed to keeping their sophisticated Poly Machine activities and lessons free and accessible to all!
About PolyUp
Polyup is a movement built on a vision conceived at Stanford University in 2015 by visiting professor Yahya Tabesh. A lifelong math educator and an Erdos international math education award winner, Yahya teamed up with Shaya Zarkesh, a math-inclined high schooler who wanted to spread his love for math to the world, to build a digital playground for mathematical thinking. After two years, four prototypes, and the combined efforts of almost 40 individuals, Polyup has built that playground.
