Instructional Video

The Elliptical Pool Table: A Mathematician's Dream

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This The Elliptical Pool Table: A Mathematician's Dream instructional video also includes:

Never play pool against a mathematician! An entertaining and informative video demonstrate the real-world application of ellipses and the angle of incidence with an elliptical pool table.

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CCSS: Adaptable
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
  • Recreate an elliptical pool table or miniature golf station to reflect the conditions in the video
  • Have learners watch the video before returning to class the next day to discuss what they have learned
  • Use to open a lesson on ellipses
Classroom Considerations
  • Assessment comes up right after the video ends, and it's difficult to return to the original viewing without going into fullscreen mode
Pros
  • Provides discussion questions and a short assessment to check for understanding
  • Fun to watch for both billiard enthusiasts and eager math students alike
  • An amusing moment laments "annoying physics" as possibly impeding the mathematical experiment
Cons
  • None
Common Core