One of my favourite lessons on graphs is when I use the floor of my classroom as the x–y plane. I fix an origin in the middle of the floor (in order to make sure negative coordinates are included). I use masking tape to represent the axes along the floor, with masking tape dashes marked […]
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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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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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Sometimes we use simplistic recall and knowledge questions, for example: Is 29 a multiple of 3? What is ¾ of 48? What is the probability of rolling a 6 on a fair dice? What shape is this ? We tend to use them because we want to move the lesson on at a pace that […]
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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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