Marco's 442 Blog

John Napier invented his "Bones" structure, which is a set of numerical rods placed side by side to allow for quick calculations of multiplication and division. They can also be used for finding square roots as well. Our group will teach these three methods to the class. The following link contains a printable copy of "Napier's Bones". http://www.s-v-w.com/napiermaths/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s_iT3DqSXeK3Cv9_7rMJz8JSvINES1kNt_Ca6gFWwK0/edit?usp=sharing

I do not believe that bringing up the idea of Head Variants and number relations is a good idea in a secondary school setting, mainly because students will not have an interest in this topic. It's not to say the the subject of numbers and their relations to various topics is not interesting, it's just that students may not find any pleasure or excitement in learning about these things. Especially when it comes to the higher level grades in mathematics, students will be so preoccupied with practicing for exams to get into university that I believe they will thoroughly despise any extra curriculum or content based on math history. I personally find it interesting, but even I have to admit that I may be biased towards the wonders of numbers and their relationship to the world. I really started becoming interested in numbers after University started, and I believe that with age comes a more deeper appreciation and understanding for mathematics. Just like how some foods taste bitt...

My project will be a series of journal articles told through the perspective of a British soldier during the second world war. It will discuss the great works of Alan Turing and how he cut the war short by several years, allowing the soldier to avoid the high potential of death. Strawn G. Alan turing.  IT Professional . 2014;16(1):5-7. Anguera de Sojo A, Ares J, Lara JA, Lizcano D, Martínez MA, Pazos J. Turing and the serendipitous               discovery of the modern computer.  Foundations of Science . 2013;18(3):545-557. Dyson G. The dawn of computing: Alan turing's bridging of logic and machines laid the foundation for               digital computers.  Nature . 2012;482(7386):459. How Alan Turing Cracked The Enigma Code. (n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2018, from                           https://www.iwm.org.uk/h...

It was really interesting to see that Church denounce the 7 arts due to it being the basis for the pagan education system. As a Christian, and someone who has studied the Bible in depth, it really shocked me to find out that the Christian Church wanted to segregate themselves from those who didn't follow the ways of the Bible. What's more shocking is the fact that they later became prerequisites to the study of Theology, because to me, it doesn't make sense as to why they would ban it and then promote it. Computation used exclusively for the technical study of Easter reckoning was very interesting to me too. From the reading, it shows just how much power the Church had on society. I've read about the Catholic Church and its influence during the Medieval times, so this wasn't a new concept for me, but I never knew that their material and applications also directly translated to Christianity as well. Lastly, I found it interesting when they mentioned the late Robe...

When it comes to bringing mathematics from different countries and cultures into the classroom, I believe that it is extremely important because it shows how different countries approach problems. I do not believe the different historical backgrounds should be taught along with the math, because most students will not care. As evident by the high school visit from NDSS, the students expressed interests in learning to tackle problems in different methods, because have options opens up different avenues and strategies that they could use. They like learning multiple strategies because every student is different, and only learning what the teacher prefers, while useful, might not be what every student can benefit from. For example, I learned how to calculate and solve systems of linear equations in grade 10 in a western approach. It was hard to understand, even to this day, and I still have trouble trying to explain it to my students using that very same approach. A few years ago, I took ...