Home / AllIdeas A SMALL SPACE FOR BIG CURIOSITY AllIdeas. Play with numbers, shapes, chance and perception. Simple experiments for anyone who enjoys asking “why?”
36 original activities 6 interactive models No sign-in needed
Decorative AI-generated illustration created with Runway. The working models below use exact code-drawn graphics. 01 / Predict Make a small guess. Being wrong is useful here.
02 / Try Change a value, compare an outcome, notice a pattern.
03 / Explain Open the reasoning and carry the lesson into everyday decisions.
FOLLOW YOUR CURIOSITY Six ways to see something differently. Find a topic Clear search
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01 NUMBERS Numbers that reveal a pattern Turn arithmetic into a small investigation. Look for what changes, what stays fixed, and why a shortcut works.
One digit, a different job A useful check that can still miss mistakes Make an awkward addition friendly Multiply by breaking a number apart Five yes-or-no answers, 32 possibilities A change that preserves something Explore numbers → 02 PROBABILITY Chance without the guesswork Count possible outcomes, update what you know, and separate an average from a promise.
Count the paths, not just the labels A smaller question changes the denominator An average can be a number you never see Two suppliers can share one risk A short streak is weak evidence Rare per trial is not rare forever Explore probability → 03 GEOMETRY See the shape of a problem Use distances, angles and constraints to see why a route or a drawing behaves the way it does.
The shortest line may not be a usable route Three corners share one total Find a centre using equal distances Two distances, one fixed total A close-looking path can still be longer Stretching a network does not add a road Explore geometry → 04 PERCEPTION Look twice, think once more Explore how context and attention can influence what you notice. These are learning activities, not medical or ability tests.
The background changes the impression Read the actual instruction Pictures can suggest movement Two viewpoints tell a richer story A feeling is not a calibrated instrument Notice, decide, respond Explore perception → 05 EVERYDAY SCIENCE Small changes, different behaviour Explore matter through safe numerical models and thought experiments. No flames, solvents or chemical mixing are required.
A dissolved substance can change the threshold Change the route, not the destination Mixed is not the same as chemically changed Energy can change state without raising temperature A faster process needs a fair comparison Missing from the container is not necessarily destroyed Explore everyday science → 06 SKY & MEASUREMENT Change your frame of reference Use simple models to explore turning, viewpoints, scale and the limits of measurements.
A turn relative to what? A day can have more than one definition Distance is not the whole explanation A pattern in the sky is a view More decimal places do not create better evidence A useful model leaves things out Explore sky & measurement → Curiosity, with clear credit. AllIdeas is an original collection of short learning activities about established scientific and mathematical principles. Recreational science reading, including Martin Gardner’s work, inspired the idea of learning through a surprise. This section is not a reproduction, rewrite or edition of his book, and no affiliation or endorsement is claimed.
Its explanations, fictional examples, questions and code-drawn diagrams were created for this website. No scanned book pages, copied illustrations or book passages are included. Source links accompany each collection for further study.
Activities use browser models, thought experiments or optional pencil-and-paper work. There are no flame, solvent or sharp-tool instructions. Numerical models state their assumptions and are for education, not professional advice. Answers and inputs stay in this browser tab and are not saved.
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