Martian Math (a geometry)
Kirby Urner
regarding a geometry, published since 1970s, that's given
rise to several branches already, e.g. Elastic Interval
Geometry (springie.com) in juxtaposition with the art-science
of Kenneth Snelson (tensegrity).
This non-Euclidean "geometry of lumps" (K. Menger) has
been redeveloped for a pre-college market. In teaching
it with computer skills (post calculator ray tracing,
VRML, some languages), we fulfill part of our 3 year
state math requirement in Oregon.
Digital mathematics (formerly "discrete") is an alternative
to statistics and trigonometry in that respect, although
we try to include elements of those as well, in our
full four year object oriented version.
Note that including a modicum of non-Euclidean thinking
in your classroom is like a seasoning or spice. Just a drop
goes a long way. So this is not to suggest shelving any
existing resources, merely to shift gears on some days
when you sense your class is in the mood for something
completely different for a change:
http://www.wikieducator.org/Martian_Math
Kirby Urner
OCN/4D
Portland, Oregon