Why Math Teachers Love Math

Squirrel Ladder!

It's a children's toy (as far as I can tell from the photo). You drop a marble from the top and watch it roll all the way down without falling off. There's one at the local kids' museum where I live.

Spiral staircase for a birdhouse

It's a bird training pirch

Looks like a stairway to heaven for birds.

A wind-dealie. It spins in the breeze.

it is an optical illusion

the world's first screw!

This is pre-industrial revolution DNA. It used to be made of wood, which is why life expectancy was so short (termites and dry rot). Now we make DNA out of newfangled Deoxyribonucleic acids and whatnots...so fewer termites and longer lives. My grandma (who is really, really, really old--97) had her old wooden DNA replaced in the early 90s, and she keeps it as a lawn ornament; birds poop on it.

(Thesaurus Shirt, Grey, XL)

Slinky tester

A primitive model of a double helix

M. C. Escher 'discipline' stick.

WATER WHEEL.
MYTHBUSTED XXL

Birdfeeder!

Its a cream separator. For elephant milk.

Adjustable grain auger.
Thesaurus grey 2XL

Its an Archimedes screw for pulling molasses out of a barrel. Every farmer used to have one.
Evolution Large please.

Adjustable grain auger/seperator
Thesaurus grey 2XL

It's an auger - dammit, missed while I was logging in.
ARGH.

Rotary Die cutter?

I'm guessing part of a grain feed mechanism, or something along those lines.

The spirals converge towards the center like those on vacuum rollers today.

In a vacuum it would lead towards a sucky place, being wooden and from 1914 I am guessing it lead the stuff to either a drop or a conveyor belt.

Whatever it moved either had to be lots of something loose (like grain) or a few of something big (eggs?).

you put a marble at the top and it rolls down, playing different notes as it hits each plank

It is obviously a medieval colon cleanser. People would swallow this and it would turn as it went through your bowels, pushing everything out. People who didn't know any better would insert it in the wrong end and end up with a really bad case of halitosis.

For my correct answer I would like a This is How I Roll shirt in large. TYVM

cat ladder!

staircase to a bird-Quasimodo's bird-bell tower.

Staircase to bird-Quasimodo's bird-bell tower.

Arch Enemy shirt, Medium.

Oil drill bit!

cat ladder!

It is the spreader part of a manure spreader.

Money is the Root of All Evil Large

Musical noise-maker thing. One or more balls are on the inside and when you turn it over, they roll down the spiral staircase of slats that protrude into the inside of it, making noise.

It is a Center Drop Conveyor Shaft. Whatever it moves is not abbrasive or it is new old stock.

Actually it is a shredder beater I forgot the actual name there for a second. basically it breaks up manure out of the back of a manure spreader.

Money is the Root of All Evil Large

Grape crusher for making wine

Definitely a marble chaser.

I'm going to say it's the Barbie version of Stonehenge.

http://www.neatoshop.com/product/Boobies-Make-Me-Smile
2XL

That's my wife!

It's one of the very early Blendtec blender blades. The original "Will It Blend?" series used this device. Strangely, the answer to the question was always "no" back in the early episodes - except for the episode where they tried water.

It's used to sort various sizes of marbles

Good marx , bad marx, black medium.

It's used to sort various sizes if shot (round ball, lead)
Good marx, bad marx, black, medium

It's used to sort variuos sizes of ball bearings
Good marx, bad marx, medium, black.

It's used for sorting various sizes of eggs.
Good marx, bad marx, black, medium

just an old spiral staircase, for people not birds or cats, but we just are fooled by the scale. it is actually a picture taken from really really really far away...

lemur ladder.

Oh, MAN! I finally knew the answer to one of these infernal "What Is It" posts -- first time in years -- and the second commenter had the correct answer already!

It's an Amish toy that kids roll marbles or small balls down. I gave one to my 15-month-old son for his birthday and he absolutely loves it. It can keep him occupied for MINUTES on end (quite the feat at his age).

Goes to show... sometimes the simplest things are the most interesting and elegant.

its a woodpecker house the love pecking on wood and there might be some bugs or grubs inside

i think it's an instrument which is used to lift water from the bottom to somewhere higher.

I'm fairly sure this is a termite house (also can be used for ants by pulling the string at the top out, coating it in honey, and replacing). If you want to use it for termites, leave as is and place somewhere dark and termite-y, then once a ton of termites go inside (hence the small holes on the side) you can pick it up and carry it somewhere to release them into the wild (or throw it in the neighbor who never tends to their lawn and devalues the entire neighborhood's yard). It is the equivalent of a mouse trap that just cages the mice (doesn't kill them) or putting a spider in a cup and dumping it outside.

It's a status monitor for woodpeckers; high-ranked woodpeckers will take a position near the top, while lowly woodpeckers must sit at the bottom. This device became the origin of the term "pecking order."

It is a screw device used to elevate grain in a mill. I lived in a converted mill with one of these inside it. Kinda looks like the same one. Definitely used to elevate material in a mill.

cat ladder

(and my choice of t-shirt was When I Grow Up (L). Sorry about not including that!)

It a log shaft from a log washer.
Witchy, Medium.

The 12th ugliest statue in the world.
Witchy, Medium (for my wife's twin sister, if you have an irregular one with a B instead of a W, Ill take that one)

Guess: an original prototype piece for the game 'Mouse Trap'

Shirt: The 'Busted' one honoring the Mythbusters.

It is a device for de-pooping large farm animals in the constipation state.
It is inserted in the bum of let's say a cow, and then it cranks the poop out of them leaving them nice and cleaned out. It's for when there is not enough fiber in their diets....... I would like a science t-shirt

It's the only thing that will satisfy women after they have been with me. (That's why it is ribbed). LOL

Velociraptor XL

I reckon it must be the paddle wheel from the Delta Queen.

It's a climbing tree for hamsters.

It's a snow blower auger.Smarter than the average bear, medium

It's a cat ladder, probably used by a second story window or other high place.

All your base (s)

Tool for bending regular pasta into fusilli.

Witchy, medium.

It's one of those toy marble towers. You know, the ones where you put a marble on top and when it goes down, the sound of it hitting the wood slots is a steady plink-plink sound. Tons of "fun".

Wait, the contest is over. Nevermind, I feel stupid now. Dang.