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.
Great job sticking to one main idea the author presented in the first paragraph. There were a few grammatical errors in it as well as the 2nd paragraph. The support in the second paragraph was a little bit redundant. I might have used less words like "Lastly" and "Again" and "First" and "Second" and been more assertive to keep a professional tone. Good job though.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this entry. I thought both paragraphs were strong. Each had a topic sentence that you developed in the body of the paragraph. I liked the detail in the first paragraph about some of the historical problems that the author had addressed. This really helped me get a sense of the purpose and content of the paper. I also liked the way that you supported your topic sentence in your second paragraph. I thought the reasons were persuasive and reasonable. I personally liked the words that Heather objected to, because they made the organization of the paragraph very clear.
ReplyDeleteGood job! I thought you did a really good job keeping a professional tone and not biasing the article to your opinion. This article seemed really interesting and I felt like you presented the author's idea clearly.
ReplyDeleteYour main idea seemed very clear to me. You wrote in a way that made me want to read this article.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to proofread next time just because I sometimes got a little confused because of grammatical errors.