## Overview

Here is a story that isn’t true:

When I was a young child I invented a machine (not true) that was nothing more than a series of boxes that could hold dots. And these dots would, upon certain actions, explode. And with this machine, in this non-true story, I realized I could explain true things! In one fell swoop I explained all the mathematics of arithmetic I learnt in grade school (true), all of the polynomial algebra I was to learn in high-school (true), elements of calculus and number theory I was to learn in university (true), and begin to explore unanswered research questions intriguing mathematicians to this day (also true)!

Let me share this story with you. See how simple and elegant ideas connect to elegant and profound ideas in mathematics as a whole. See how these ideas will COMPLETELY REVOLUTIONIZE your thinking of school arithmetic and algebra and beyond! This mathematical story will knock your socks off!

FLASH NEWS! This story is the featured topic for Global Math Week 2017 of the The Global Math Project. All teacher guides to delivering this material with, and without, technology in the classroom appear in the opening Welcome section of each experience. Also, sprinkled throughout the appropriate lessons are additional videos and features created by our world-wide community of users. We give particular thanks to Goldfish and Robin and their friends for their spectacular “kids explain math for kids” videos, doing a better job than me in explaining the mathematics!  (It is worth fishing through all the content here just to find their videos!)

Wanna see most all of Exploding Dots in one hit? Here is a filmed one-hour lecture of me delivering the story.

Wanna try a wordless puzzle for fun? See if you can figure out what this is all about? Have a look at this animation:

## Lessons

 1.0 EXPERIENCE ONE: The Machines 1.1 Welcome 1.2 The $$1 \leftarrow 2$$ Machine 1.3 Other Machines 1.4 The $$1 \leftarrow 10$$ Machine 1.5 Wild Explorations 1.6 Solutions
 2.0 EXPERIENCE TWO: Insight 2.1 Welcome 2.2 Explaining the $$1 \leftarrow 2$$ Machine 2.3 Explaining More Machines 2.4 We Speak $$1 \leftarrow 10$$ Machine 2.5 Wild Explorations 2.6 Solutions
 3.0 EXPERIENCE THREE: Addition and Multiplication 3.1 Welcome 3.2 Addition 3.3 (Optional) The Traditional Algorithm 3.4 Multiplication 3.5 (Optional) Multiplication by 10 3.6 (Optional) Long Multiplication 3.7 Wild Explorations 3.8 Solutions
 4.0 EXPERIENCE FOUR: Subtraction 4.1 Welcome 4.2 Piles and Holes; Dots and Antidots 4.3 Subtraction 4.4 (Optional) The Traditional Algorithm 4.5 Wild Explorations 4.6 Solutions
 5.0 EXPERIENCE FIVE: Division 5.1 Welcome 5.2 Division 5.3 (Optional) Division by 10 5.4 Remainders 5.5 (Optional) Deep Explanation 5.6 (Optional) The Traditional Algorithm 5.7 Wild Explorations 5.8 Solutions
 6.0 EXPERIENCE SIX: All Bases, All at Once: Polynomials 6.1 Welcome 6.2 Division in Any Base 6.3 A Problem! 6.4 Resolution 6.5 (Optional) Remainders 6.6 (Optional) The Remainder Theorem 6.7 (Optional) Multiplying, Adding, and Subtracting Polynomials 6.8 Wild Explorations 6.9 Solutions
 7.0 EXPERIENCE SEVEN: Infinite Sums 7.1 Welcome 7.2 Infinite Sums 7.3 (Optional) Should we believe infinite sums?
 8.0 EXPERIENCE EIGHT: Decimals 8.1 Welcome 8.2 Decimals 8.3 Adding and Subtracting Decimals 8.4 Multiplying and Dividing Decimals 8.5 Converting Fractions into Decimals 8.6 Irrational Numbers 8.7 Decimals in Other Bases 8.8 Wild Explorations 8.9 Solutions
 9.0 EXPERIENCE NINE: Weird and Wild Machines 9.1 Welcome 9.2 Base One-and-a-half? 9.3 Does Order Matter? 9.4 Base Two? Base Three? 9.5 Going Really Wild
 100.0 Where did these ideas come from? 100.1 To answer …

## Books

Take your understanding to the next level with easy to understand books by James Tanton.

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## Guides & Solutions

Dive deeper into key topics through detailed, easy to follow guides and solution sets.

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