Connecting 135 Math Concepts Into One Map
The story of the Math Concept Map — built on the idea that the real reason you're stuck on a problem is a missing concept somewhere before it.
When a kid is stuck on a math problem, if you look closely, the problem itself is rarely the hard part. Usually some concept the problem stands on is missing. Shaky fractions make ratios shaky; shaky ratios make functions shaky. Workbooks don't show this chain. So I decided to build a map that shows, on one screen, where you're stuck and what to step on next.
Turning a curriculum into branches
I picked 135 math concepts from Korea's 2022 revised curriculum and connected them by prerequisite order — which concept stands on which. That linking work took longer than anything else in the project. I spent more time reading curriculum documents than writing code. Get the links wrong and you have a maze, not a map, so I cross-checked each concept's place against the curriculum, one by one.
Tap a concept on the map and an explanation opens, with related past exam questions you can solve right there. Wrong answers are tracked and revisited through review quizzes, and your solving history and progress are saved. It had to be a map you solve on, not just a map you read — or nobody would actually use it.
From the web into your hand
I built and published the web version first, then ported it to an iOS app. The goal was viewing the map offline, but it turned out to fit surprisingly well as a way to skim one concept at a time on the go.
Where it stands
This is the first app from this lab to go fully public — anyone can use it right now at math.spacecheesecake.com. Next, I'm shaping the science version: a Science Concept Map. Science splits into physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science, but the concepts connect across those borders — which makes it even more worth mapping.