CSS is not available in your browser. Though all content is accessible, the page will not appear as intended.

Tools: About KET | TV Schedules | Programs A-Z | Explore by Topic | Support KET

ITV Videos Catalog Home

Curriculum Areas

Mathica’s Mathshop
Recognizing and solving mathematical problems

Grade Levels:: Primary
Length:: 15 minutes
Taping Rights:: School year
MARC Record:: Downloadable
Teaching Materials:: See Below

Young children learn to recognize, solve, and enjoy mathematical problems in Mathica’s Mathshop. Fairy-tale-style programs put math into a meaningful context and engage viewers in story-related problems involving number, measurement, and geometry. Students discover how to reason and communicate mathematically as the programs combine mathematics with a whole-language approach to curriculum.

In the series, children join Mathica, an unemployed elf, in the Land of Tales. She finds a job in the Mathmagician’s Mathshop, solving the many math-related problems that perplex the inhabitants of this fairy-tale land. Based on familiar tales, as well as traditional stories from many cultures, the programs pose challenges: How many different ways can seven dwarves go to a picnic in two cars? What solid shape is the witch’s hat? And how can Anansi the Spiderman determine which is the biggest and heaviest fruit to feed his hungry family?

A review at the end of each program, topped off by a new, open-ended problem, reinforces the learning throughout.

Your time zone has not been set. We invite you to customize our pages to your own time zone. In the meantime, all times default to Eastern Time.

2007/08 Block Feeds on KET ED

Block Feed: Programs 101-110 Program Details: 2 hours, 30 minutes; Friday, October 12 at 6:00 am on KETED; Tuesday, January 1 at 2:00 am on KETED; Wednesday, January 16 at 2:00 am on KETED; Friday, March 14 at 6:00 am on KETED; Wednesday, May 14 at 2:00 am on KETED
Block Feed: Programs 201-206 Program Details: 1 hours, 30 minutes; Friday, October 12 at 8:30 am on KETED; Tuesday, January 1 at 4:30 am on KETED; Wednesday, January 16 at 4:30 am on KETED; Friday, March 14 at 8:30 am on KETED; Wednesday, May 14 at 4:30 am on KETED
Block Feed: Programs 207-210 Program Details: 59 minutes; Friday, October 12 at 2:00 pm on KETED; Friday, January 4 at 5:00 am on KETED; Friday, January 18 at 5:00 am on KETED; Friday, March 14 at 2:00 pm on KETED; Wednesday, May 14 at 2:00 pm on KETED

Episodes Included in These Block Feeds

Mathica's Mathshop 101. Help Wanted: Mathica answers a Help Wanted ad for "someone to solve problems" and finds herself in the Mathmagician's Mathshop. A witch applies, too, but Mathica emerges the better problem solver and gets the job. Number: counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s to 25; number facts of 7. Geometry: solids and their properties—cube, cone. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 102. The King Comes Calling: King Scowl of Scorn comes to visit and disdainfully allows Mathica to help him with some problems. The Mathmagician imprisons him in the Mathshop, allowing him to leave only when he shows more consideration for others. Number: counting by 10s; sorting. Geometry: plane figures—rectangle and triangle. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 103. Food for Thought: Anansi the Spiderman visits Mathica, tries to trick her, and is trapped in a spider web himself by the Mathmagician. After persuading the Mathmagician to release him, Mathica challenges the Spiderman to a trick riddle, then beats him at his own game. Measurement: mass. Geometry: solids and their properties—sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism, cube. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 104. All-Star Elf: Mathica develops her measurement skills as an All-Star Games judge. Her tasks include putting the candlesticks jumped by Jack Be Nimble in order of height, measuring the tallest, and recording the results on a graph. A surprise competitor, the Hare, challenges her further. Number: ordinals. Measurement: linear and volume. Data management: interpretation of graphs. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 105. Sweet Dreams: Mathica falls into a deep sleep after biting into an apple the witch has put a spell on. Upon the witch's gleeful exit, the Mathmagician appears and challenges her to a card game involving sequential, vertical, and surrounding patterns. Number: patterns, subtraction. Fractions: wholes, halves, and quarters. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 106. Winter Wonders: The Snow Queen departs for warmer climes, leaving Mathica her wand for safekeeping. As Mathica waves goodbye, she is whisked back into the real world, to Kyle's bedroom, where he is making symmetrical snowflake patterns to cover the area of his window. Mathica and Kyle search for the Snow Queen, eventually finding her at a hockey arena. Number: doubling numbers, patterns. Geometry: plane figures. Measurement: area. Math in the environment. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 107. Best Wishes: Trying to raise money for the Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe, Mathica absentmindedly rubs one of the articles left to sell—an old lamp. Lo and behold, Jamil the genie appears. While using two wishes the genie grants her, Mathica must measure his head and show him how various plane shapes can fit into a hexagon. A third wish fulfills Mathica's fund-raising goal. Number: subtraction of numbers to 50, place value, counting by 3s and 4s. Measurement: linear. Geometry: plane figures—triangle, square, trapezoid, rhombus, hexagon. Data management: interpreting graphs. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 108. Mary, Mary Extraordinary: Mathica is preparing the sandwiches for a picnic being planned by the Lords and Ladies in the Land of Tales. The Mathmagician has done a survey of their preferences, and Mathica uses a Venn diagram to ensure the right number of peanut butter, jam, and peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Mary, Mary Quite Contrary appears on the scene, bringing more problems and solutions. Number: sorting; division; equal shares; probability. Data management: interpreting graphs. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 109. A Sure Cure: Mathica has the hiccups; she ate too much pizza for lunch. She tries the various cures suggested by the Mathmagician and the Big Bad Wolf, disguised as Granny—all involving mathematical skills, including skip counting and estimating. Number: patterns, sequence, more than, less than. Measurement: estimating capacity. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop 110. A Rich Reward: The King asks Mathica to be his personal problem solver, offering her many incentives. But the Mathmagician has a counteroffer, which Mathica accepts. He leaves her his appointment book and already there are problems coming her way. Number: addition of equal groups, counting by 2s. Measurement: time, days of the week, hours. Geometry: plane figures. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 201. Captain Blunder's Treasure: When Captain Blunder interrupts the Mathmagician's vacation with a search for gold, the Mathmagician sends him back to the Mathshop for a different treasure: baseball tickets. Number: seriation, patterns, attributes of the number 9. Measurement: volume. Problem solving: permutations and combinations. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 202. A Merry Band: Robin Hood and his Merry Band play King Scowl of Scorn's ball, but then Robin learns he is supposed to pay to replace the slippers the Twelve Dancing Princesses wore out dancing to his music. Number: two- and three-digit numbers, adding two-digit numbers, sorting, mental math. Data management: interpreting information from a chart or graph. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 203. Wicked Weather: On a rainy day, Mathica, the Mathmagician, and the Wicked Witch play games involving shapes and strategic thinking. Geometry: 3-D solids and their properties. Problem solving: number strategy game involving unequal groups. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 204. Big Business: Mathica buys some magic beans from a peddler in the hope that they will make her grow as tall as a giant. Number: counting by 50s, the 99 game. Measurement: mass—gram, kilogram; volume/capacity—liter; linear measures—centimeter, meter. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 205. Courting Trouble: While competing in the Royals and Rest of Us Tennis Tournament, Mathica helps a Frog Prince court a princess. Number: multiplication—arrays, equal groups, mental math. Problem solving: making a diagram or chart. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 206. Away with Wishes: The Mathmagician pretends to help a greedy wife. Number: subtracting two-digit numbers, sorting and classifying, number patterns. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 207. Tea Times Trouble: The Hare eats all the tarts Mathica has made for a tea party, then causes more trouble when he tries to make up for it. Number: multiplication, division—fair shares. Measurement: area—comparison. Geometry: 2-D shapes—square and triangle. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 208. Super Gnome: Gnilly the Gnome stops by to ask Mathica for help with a problem he is having looking after Mother Hubbard's dog. Number: multiplication. Measurement: mass—comparison of kilogram measures; linear measures—centimeter, meter. Data management: interpreting a bar graph. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 209. Winter Warm-Up: To warm Mathica's spirits on a cold winter day, the Mathmagician tells her a story about a request from the Emperor. Number: fractions of a whole, division. Geometry: 2-D shapes—tangrams. 15 minutes.
Mathica's Mathshop II 210. A Bundle of Joy: Mathica is babysitting Briar Rose, who refuses to stop crying. Then the witch arrives looking for a favor, and Mathica thinks of a way to solve both problems at once. Number: probability. Measurement: time—minutes, hours. Geometry: 2-D shapes—pentominoes. 15 minutes.