Exploring Palindromes in ELA and Math

Palindromes are one of those fun ideas that some kids just latch onto. A word that’s the same forwards and backwards? Weird! Here are some classic palindrome words:

• Eve
• deed
• madam
• redder
• racecar

Phrases

But, of course, we can expand palindromes to include phrases and sentences as well:

• Evil olive
• Madam, I’m Adam.
• A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.

This article, about the Enigma codebreakers from World War II, includes some incredible palindromes that they created in their spare time:

Doc, note, I Dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.

Wow.

Numbers

Of course, you can also have palindromic numbers, such as: 99, 202, and 3003. There are lots of interesting ways to explore palindromes in math. Find:

• perfect squares that are also palindromes (such as 121)
• prime palindromes (like 101)

And finally, there’s a mathematical curiosity that students might enjoy. If you add a number plus its reverse, you will eventually find a palindromic number. Here’s an example:

1. Let’s start with 56.
2. Add the reverse: 56 + 65
3. We get 121. It’s a palindrome!

Here’s one that’s a little more complicated:

1. Start with 58
2. Add the reverse: 58 + 85
3. We get 143, not yet a palindrome
4. Add the reverse: 143 + 341
5. We get 484, a palindrome!

If you’re a Byrdseed.TV subscriber, there’s an app and a video about palindromic numbers.

Further Resources

• Palindromic Words
• Palindromic Phrases
• And, thanks to reader Shirlena for pointing me to Weird Al’s song Bob, written entirely in palindromic phrases.
• And another reader pointed me towards Jon Agee’s books, such as Palindromania! and Sit on a Potato Pan, Otis!