Alison Kiddle

Alison Kiddle

@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Maths communicator and education consultant based in the East of England. Keen crafter. Autistic, Queer, They/Them

742 followers252 following319 posts

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

These problems formed the basis of a really nice conversation between me and @samholloway.bsky.social as we were on our habitual post prandial walk yesterday evening. Trying to identify the same structure led us to talk about other related problems with this structure.

Nathan Day@nathanday.bsky.social

In #MathsToday, I had my first after-school lesson with Year 10 Level 2 Further Maths. We looked at some different problems that just happened have some Pascal's triangle under the surface. Then explored how you can interpret each problem either recursively or combinatorially.

View full thread
Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I have aphantasia and Sam doesn't, so we often have to work hard to bridge the gap between his visual way of thinking about a problem and my way which has very few pictures (but ideas that Sam can translate into pictures).

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Anyway, once we'd solved the original problems and the meta problem of explaining why they were connected, we went on to talk about probability, financial maths, infinity and the dangers of letting AI do your thinking for you - not bad for a half-hour stroll to help our dinner settle!

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

These problems formed the basis of a really nice conversation between me and @samholloway.bsky.social as we were on our habitual post prandial walk yesterday evening. Trying to identify the same structure led us to talk about other related problems with this structure.

Nathan Day@nathanday.bsky.social

In #MathsToday, I had my first after-school lesson with Year 10 Level 2 Further Maths. We looked at some different problems that just happened have some Pascal's triangle under the surface. Then explored how you can interpret each problem either recursively or combinatorially.

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I like to talk maths while walking, because without paper and pens to sketch out ideas you have to explain your thinking in different ways, and listen carefully to make sure you're on the same page.

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

There are some lovely activities in here that could be used for getting to know new classes, or for that maths club your senior leadership has been on at you to start...

Katie Steckles@steckl.es

Looking for high-quality maths activity resources? Don't forget that at 15minutemaths.com, me and @alisonkiddle.bsky.social have some of our favourite activity packs (slides, printables and teacher notes) available for a couple of quid!

15minutemaths.comVisit 15 Minute Maths's Shop!Maths activity resources for KS2/3!

Alison Kiddle reposted

Big MathsJam
@bigmathsjam.bsky.social

For this year's MathsJam UK Gathering, the early-bird cutoff is a number of tickets - the first 101 people to book will get a discount, so don't miss out! The Graph of Doom is already looking quite steep, and more than half the early-bird spaces are gone already...

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

People who teach A Level Mechanics (or equivalent) - what misconceptions do you notice students have about motion/kinematics when they first start learning about it? What things do you do in your classroom to try to overcome those misconceptions?

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Contains me, talking to Madeleine @studioknotunknot.bsky.social about the maths of knitting and the knitting of maths 😊

Talking Maths in Public@tmip.bsky.social

The new series of the TMiP Podcast is out now! Find the latest episode at https://tmip.uk/podcast, and hear about how maths and knitting are connected, as well as what's involved in running Maths Week Wales! You can also find the podcast on your favourite podcasting service.

Alison Kiddle reposted

Madeleine Shepherd
@studioknotunknot.bsky.social

Hey folks! I'm taking part in Common Threads, a textiles exhibition next week. It's in Coburg House, Leith, Edinburgh on 27th, 28th June and 4th, 5th July. Come and see the wonderful stitch, weave, crochet and knit work that is created in Coburg House. www.coburghouse.co.uk/exhibitions/...

coburghouse.co.ukCommon Threads — Coburg House Art StudiosCommon Threads brings together six contemporary textile artists from Coburg House Studios whose work challenges expectations of fibre, cloth and craft. Through exceptional skill, experimentation and ...
Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

The Geogebra was my final attempt to get my head round the sum of squares formula, after playing around with Lego the other day. I feel like I have a sense of WHY now; when we proved it by induction at school years ago there was no insight

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I do enjoy a good proof by induction, but it's not as satisfying as seeing and feeling a result with a nice visual proof. And as someone with aphantasia (no "mind's eye"), I really wish tools like @geogebra.org had been around when I was doing my A Levels, particularly for 3D stuff like this!

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Great post by Tom about a great session that sadly I was only able to enjoy a little bit of at the time. Have a read, and if you're spending half term exploring any museums, be sure to keep your maths hat on, and share the maths that you've spotted with Tom @teakayb.mathsy.space

Talking Maths in Public@tmip.bsky.social

TMiP 2025 speaker @teakayb.mathsy.space has written a blog post about his session at the conference - find out what the intrepid maths-seekers discovered:

aperiodical.comTalking Maths in… Coventry Transport MuseumThis is a guest post from museum educator and mathematician Tom Briggs, about his session at last August’s Talking Maths in Public conference. 2025’s Talking Maths in Public (TMiP) conference…
Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

In #MathsToday, I invited students to add together 5 consecutive positive integers, and then we collected together results and looked at what we noticed. Then I asked them to come up with some "questions a mathematician might ask next", and we explored some of their questions and conjectures

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

There were lots of conjectures about the relationship between the median of their sets of consecutive numbers and the total. Finally, we made a list of the numbers from 1-40 and identified which we could make as sums of 2 or more consecutive positive integers. #MathsToday

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

We didn't have time to prove why the ones that weren't possible weren't possible, but I hope I gave them enough to think about that they can follow up without me if they're interested. This will always be one of my favourite investigations.

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

It was an absolute delight being part of Maths Fest yesterday - such a privilege to spend time nerding out with brilliant young mathematicians. Really looking forward to being part of Maths Inspiration shows in Bath and Reading next month!

Maths Inspiration@mathsinspiration.bsky.social

As well as our theatre-based Maths Inspiration shows, we run all day MathsFests for sixth formers. Here's Sophie McLean at Kensington Town Hall yesterday talking about prime numbers to a highly engaged audience of 700. (Host MattParker +JamesGrime, AlisonKiddle, SteveMould, AylieanMcD, Nicole Cozens

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I still think this is one of the most beautiful pins Robin has ever designed (and given their huge array of gorgeous designs that's saying something!) Go and buy one, now!

Robin Hayward 🌳 🏳️‍⚧️@canopyrobin.com

In an attempt to finally break even on these trans ferns and clear some space in my flat, I'm running a January sale for the pin versions. For the rest of the month, you can get them for £10 instead of the higher price I usually charge for this full 3d moulding canopyrobin.etsy.com/listing/4312...

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Who else is at #mathsjam this weekend?

Big MathsJam@bigmathsjam.bsky.social

This weekend is Big MathsJam, aka the MathsJam UK Gathering. We'll be posting from here about the interesting maths talks people are sharing, and if you'd like to share anything from the event (with permission of anyone featured!) you can use #mathsjam.

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I had a lot of fun writing this one! Although I think some cellular automata rules fall into the category 'maddening' rather than 'mindful'... Watch out for more 15 minute maths activities in the next couple of months - the lovely @steckl.es and I have some exciting plans in the works!

Katie Steckles@steckl.es

New maths resources alert! We now have a cellular automata activity on 15minutemaths.com, made by the lovely @alisonkiddle.bsky.social - grab yourself some printables, slides and session leader notes to run an interesting and mindful maths activity!

15minutemaths.comVisit 15 Minute Maths's Shop!I've opened a shop. Come take a look!
Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I've not been on here as much as I'd have liked lately - it turns out that being part of the @tmip.bsky.social committee becomes very full on and intense in the run up to and during the biennial conference. But #tmip25 is now done and dusted, so allow me to share a couple of highlights...

View full thread
Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I've not been on here as much as I'd have liked lately - it turns out that being part of the @tmip.bsky.social committee becomes very full on and intense in the run up to and during the biennial conference. But #tmip25 is now done and dusted, so allow me to share a couple of highlights...

View full thread
Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

4) The community, and the culture. TMiP people are my friends, and mean the world to me. I was not well this week, and Friday in particular was a challenging day for me from a mental health perspective. People made space for me to decompress, and I'm so very grateful for that.

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I've not been on here as much as I'd have liked lately - it turns out that being part of the @tmip.bsky.social committee becomes very full on and intense in the run up to and during the biennial conference. But #tmip25 is now done and dusted, so allow me to share a couple of highlights...

View full thread
Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

2) the excellent thought provoking discussions, both within sessions and in between. The TMiP community are thoughtful and intelligent, and provide a great place for me to think hard about how I communicate mathematics and how I can grow as a maths communicators.

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

3) the hybrid nature of the conference! As an organiser, there were times when I was staffing the registration desk and couldn't be in the room; having a fully hybrid conference means I could still listen in!

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

I've not been on here as much as I'd have liked lately - it turns out that being part of the @tmip.bsky.social committee becomes very full on and intense in the run up to and during the biennial conference. But #tmip25 is now done and dusted, so allow me to share a couple of highlights...

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

1) the art. We had an Art Exhibition and a Tiny Art Exhibition, and both were stunning. The older I get, the more I want to explore maths through art, and vice versa. It was inspirational seeing what other people are doing in this area.

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Hope everyone else is having a great time at #tmip25. One thing I love is how much of the discussion on the hashtag is about the mathematical music last night, and the mathematical art on display - proof if it were needed that creativity and mathematics go hand in hand

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Hope everyone's coping with the heatwave better than my fridge is! Here's a Real World Maths Question: if a fridge thermostat has no numbers and just has a sliding scale marked Max at one end end Min at the other, which way do I turn it to make the fridge get colder?

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Last day of #BigEvent25 today 😢 It's been lovely hanging out with my friends and the Royal Institution is such a great place to reflect on being a STEM communicator. Best bit? Seeing the amazing @steckl.es receive the Beetlestone Award - so good to see my fave mathematician be publicly recognised!

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

This week, I'm at #BIGEvent25, sharing and learning all things STEM communication. Today is a long day so I'm sitting in the corner braiding for a bit - so nice to be at an event with a crafty corner. Really looking forward to watching some demos in the best demo competition later!

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

In Exeter today, talking about number theory with some year 9 students. We'll be making some conjectures and trying to prove them... And learning about the Twin Primes conjecture too... Will one of these students go on to work on it someday?

Alison Kiddle
@alisonkiddle.bsky.social

Very excited about the BIG Event next month - I learned so much from my first BIG two years ago, and I am really looking forward to meeting friends and making new connections! If you're involved in STEM communication, you should seriously consider coming along either in person or online.

BIG - STEM Communicators Network, UK @big-stem-network.bsky.social

There's still time to book your tickets for this year's BIG Event at the RI in London, 16th - 18th July. Come for one, two or all three days, or join sessions online if you can't get there in person. Browse the programme and book your tickets at www.big.uk.com/BIG2025 #BIGEvent25