Description

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Push Scratch programming to the limits as you explore primes, Fibonacci numbers, Pascal’s triangle, and other mathematical curiosities through hands-on coding projects.

If you’re a student looking for project ideas to practice your math and coding skills, or a Scratch enthusiast just looking for something different, this is the book for you!

Scratch is mainly used to learn programming and design computer games, but it has plenty of other useful applications—like solving math problems. This book reveals the block-based coding system’s mathematical superpowers, guiding you through over 20 hands-on projects that investigate a variety of interesting numerical puzzles. You’ll quickly find that core math concepts, like number representations, divisibility, and cryptography, are fun to code using Scratch. 

In addition to learning how to hack Scratch to get it to work with numbers in unusual ways, you’ll discover efficient algorithms for making time-consuming computations a snap. Along the way, you'll see how the right mathematical or programming trick can simplify a seemingly complex task, as you think through bonus coding challenges that further promote independent experimentation while improving both your math and programming skills.

About the Author

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Michael Mays has a PhD in mathematics from Penn State University. His teaching career at West Virginia University spanned 40 years, including administrative posts as Director of the Institute for Math Learning and Chair of the Department of Statistics, and an appointment as Eberly Teaching Professor. He has had research appointments at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the author of 59 research papers and technical reports on number theory, combinatorics, and mathematics education.