February 3, 2012
Maria Droujkova
(10 min - 1 hour) Wikipedians: help with good sources we can cite in the modern elementary math article http://p2pu.org/en/groups/ed218-developing-mathematics-the-early-years/content/week-3-wikipedians-january-30-february-5/
Do we base our understanding of art and nature off of math? Or do we frame our understanding of math on the laws of nature and observable physical properties?
I thought of this question from my prior research and interest in the Fibonnacci sequence and it's applications in nature. In learning the sequence, I realized how deeply math and nature fit together, and how the world supports both. My math question is rather philosophical, yet I have a few different ways that I could adjust this for children. I could ask them to take pictures or simply brainstorm ways that math is in nature (ex: number of petals on flowers, perfect rectangles/circles, etc.). Then we could talk about where this comes from, perhaps even bringing in hands-on material for the kids (ex: pinecones, leaves, flowers, etc.) This would be a way to introduce the philosophy of the subject without overwhelming the students. I believe that it's important for children to be constantly questioning the world around them, and I want to make curiosity valued in my classroom.
And several videos where kids ask questions with many answers, from Julia Brodsky:
Here you can see our math circle kids asking their questions:
And here are our high school students teaching a math circle for younger kids:
Cheers,Maria Droujkova
919-388-1721
Make math your own, to make your own math