Howard, C. A. (2009). Mathematics problems from ancient egyptian papyri . Mathematics Teacher, 103(5), 332-339.
People have been studying math for as long as anyone can trace back. Howard's article describes how sometimes we forget that the history of math is important. Teaching this history to our students can help them get excited about the math that they are doing. One area of math history that is applicable to high school students is the Egyptians and their study of pi, arithmetic sequences and volumes of truncated square pyramids found on different Papyrus'. The article goes on to explain all of these problems in depth, and how they can be explained to students. In the pi problem, he shows the circle enclosed by the square, and simply explains how the problem written on the Papyrus comes up with the equations that are used to produce the close estimate of 3.15 for pi. In a further history lesson, and explains how Archimedes uses a bigger polygon than a square to come up with a closer prediction. The other two lessons are explained in a similar fashion. In his conclusion, Howard "effective teachers realize that connections inspire students." By helping students understand connections to history, their curiosity and interested in the subject can be amplified.
I very much agree with the idea that Howard presents in his article. History of math is something that is easily forgotten, yet exciting enough to get get students actively involved in the things they are studying. First of all, it doesn't have to be a confusing advanced concept to be history. Every piece of math was discovered, and there are many high school subjects that can easily be connected to very interesting and exciting historical events. Howard's pi problem is a prime example of this. Second, The evolution of history can help students to see how more complex things are formed. Again, Howard shows this by showing how people were able to form more accurate estimations of pi over time. Lastly, I completely agree with Howard's conclusion. On the surface math can be frustrating and uninviting. However, connections really can help students get involved and excited about math. This article proved a great point and leaves a very good idea for teachers to think about.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Blog Entry Six - First Journal Reading
Daire, S. A. (2010). Celebrating mathematics all year 'round. Mathematics Teacher, 103(7), 509-513.
Having passed the date 3.14.10 many of us realize that this is Pi Day, and weather we celebrated or not, some emotion was felt about this day. Daire writes about how this day is a day for celebrating and getting excited about Mathematics. Her article was more than this though, she goes on to explain how she made math a reason to celebrate all year round. She clearly emphasized and explained how she successfully got her entire school involved and excited about math year round. Each month that has a holiday - there is a math activity centered around that holiday. Examples, February had the title "Love of Mathematics" and they solved equations using hearts and did activities centered around hearts. In the months where there were no major holidays, the school still celebrated math, learning how to do things like Rubik's Cubes and there was even a Monopoly tournament. Daire had the entire school involved, not just those in her math class. Her descriptions of each month portrayed her hard work she put into each celebration, and the success that followed each activity.
Daire's year round celebrations seemed to me like a great idea in theory, they would just take a lot of work. Clearly she was able to accomplish these in her own school, but with a lot of continued and persistent effort. There are a few reasons why I think this task is doable, but would be difficult. From my own junior high and high school experience, and simply being part of student organizations, I realize how extremely difficult it is to get people excited about activities, especially school related ones. Daire's activities varied, some of them allowing many students to get involved, such as posting a problem outside the door, and some were more time consuming, like the Monopoly competition. Doing this she was able to get a wide variety of students. From this I feel like teachers would have to adapt to their own individual schools, to know how to get the most people involved. The next thing that I think would be difficult is getting the administration and faculty on board. Daire had the support of her colleagues. This is key in accomplishing a year round task like this. I know I would have a hard time using my class time for another subject. She was able to convince those around her, so it is possible, again, just difficult. Lastly, I think it would be very time consuming, but rewarding. Daire was able to get the community involved by getting them to give donations as prizes. This extra time allowed the community to see the importance of the celebrations, and the prizes helped the kids be more excited in participating. Overall, I think her ideas were marvelous. It is such a creative way to help math seem less intimidating and more exciting. I commend her on her effort as I notice the extreme amounts it took and I think this is the only way a task like this could be accomplished.
Having passed the date 3.14.10 many of us realize that this is Pi Day, and weather we celebrated or not, some emotion was felt about this day. Daire writes about how this day is a day for celebrating and getting excited about Mathematics. Her article was more than this though, she goes on to explain how she made math a reason to celebrate all year round. She clearly emphasized and explained how she successfully got her entire school involved and excited about math year round. Each month that has a holiday - there is a math activity centered around that holiday. Examples, February had the title "Love of Mathematics" and they solved equations using hearts and did activities centered around hearts. In the months where there were no major holidays, the school still celebrated math, learning how to do things like Rubik's Cubes and there was even a Monopoly tournament. Daire had the entire school involved, not just those in her math class. Her descriptions of each month portrayed her hard work she put into each celebration, and the success that followed each activity.
Daire's year round celebrations seemed to me like a great idea in theory, they would just take a lot of work. Clearly she was able to accomplish these in her own school, but with a lot of continued and persistent effort. There are a few reasons why I think this task is doable, but would be difficult. From my own junior high and high school experience, and simply being part of student organizations, I realize how extremely difficult it is to get people excited about activities, especially school related ones. Daire's activities varied, some of them allowing many students to get involved, such as posting a problem outside the door, and some were more time consuming, like the Monopoly competition. Doing this she was able to get a wide variety of students. From this I feel like teachers would have to adapt to their own individual schools, to know how to get the most people involved. The next thing that I think would be difficult is getting the administration and faculty on board. Daire had the support of her colleagues. This is key in accomplishing a year round task like this. I know I would have a hard time using my class time for another subject. She was able to convince those around her, so it is possible, again, just difficult. Lastly, I think it would be very time consuming, but rewarding. Daire was able to get the community involved by getting them to give donations as prizes. This extra time allowed the community to see the importance of the celebrations, and the prizes helped the kids be more excited in participating. Overall, I think her ideas were marvelous. It is such a creative way to help math seem less intimidating and more exciting. I commend her on her effort as I notice the extreme amounts it took and I think this is the only way a task like this could be accomplished.
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