Marco's 442 Blog

I believe that our "Napier's Bones" presentation was quite a treat for some students in class. The gasps of finding out how they did multiplication was very rewarding, because the enjoyment and satisfaction of teaching students something they didn't know really made us happy. I believe that this activity is a fun activity for younger grades, most preferably in elementary school, because it serves as a visual aid to multiplying and dividing numbers. The concept itself isn't very different from how most people learned to multiply, but it shows the type of thinking required for though multiplying "ugly" numbers together. For example, if I were to multiply 37 and 35, it would be easier (for me) to calculate (30 x 35) + (7 x 35) instead. This breakdown of the numbers greatly reduces the stress on a student, and helps them piece together the multiplication instead of having them do difficult mental math.

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...