When and where is algebra?

Everyone is immersed in algebra because algebra is the expression and manipulation of generality. Whenever a generality is present, algebra is present too; wherever a generality is manipulated or varied, algebra is taking place. Whenever you purchase something, you are immersed in algebra. As a customer, you are interested in the final price, whereas the […]

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Equation building

When I meet people for the first time and they discover that I am a maths teacher/author I usually receive one of two reactions: ‘I hated maths at school and was never any good at it!’ or ‘I loved maths’. It is rare to find anyone in between these two extremes. Of those that hated […]

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Mental Mathematics – Part 2

Last time we were talking about subtraction, among other things.  Let’s continue with this, and then discuss addition and multiplication.  We’ll save division for another day – young people, unless they’re very well trained, find sharing difficult! I’ve suggested that subtraction may well involve partitioning the number which is being subtracted.  That’s OK, but I’m not sure […]

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