MATHEMATICAL WIZARD CHALLENGES KIDS; ENGINEER MAKES BRAIN-TEASERS.Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer Working through problem after problem of arithmetic may not be most kids' idea of fun - and it doesn't always stick with youths racing to finish their homework, said math wizard Ralph Colao. But Colao hopes to bring the numbers to life for area youths. The 61-year-old engineer and Westlake Village resident spends much of his time developing his trademark Math Maze, which challenges all levels to the rigors of mathematics, from simple arithmetic to advanced algebra algebra, branch of mathematics concerned with operations on sets of numbers or other elements that are often represented by symbols. Algebra is a generalization of arithmetic and gains much of its power from dealing symbolically with elements and operations (such as . ``Everyone wants to make math more fun. It's also important, however, to work the numbers in a constant drill. This is an important concept in math - the repetition,'' said Colao, whose Math Maze appears today on Page 2, and will be featured in the Daily News over the next two weeks. ``This kind of a maze accomplishes for math and arithmetic what a crossword puzzle crossword puzzle, word game in which words corresponding to numbered clues are put into a grid of horizontal and vertical squares to form intersecting words. The puzzle is solved when a player supplies all of the words correctly. does for the English language English language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. ,'' he said. ``The goal is to make working with numbers an intuitive process.'' The puzzle consists of a grid of numbers, two of which are shaded to indicate the starting and ending spots. The goal is to work from one end to the other by performing a string of calculations on numbers in adjacent squares. ``When you're going through the numbers, it's trial and error. You try different pairs of numbers until you can proceed to the next square,'' Colao said. For years, Colao's hobby has been developing math puzzles - from board games This is a list of board games. This page classifies board games according to the concerns which might be uppermost for someone organizing a gaming event or party. See the article on game classification for other alternatives, or see for a list of board game articles. to number quizzes. Over the past two years, he has developed dozens of math mazes at varying levels of difficulty. The quizzes that will appear in the Daily News will be geared for youths and teens, from fifth grade through high school, who want to reaffirm re·af·firm tr.v. re·af·firmed, re·af·firm·ing, re·af·firms To affirm or assert again. re basic arithmetic skills. ``Before you can pick up a calculator calculator or calculating machine, device for performing numerical computations; it may be mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic. The electronic computer is also a calculator but performs other functions as well. or do advanced math, the basic math is essential,'' he said. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Ralph Colao of Westlake Village designs mathematical puzzles
Bob Halvorsen/Daily News |
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