BRINGING THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS INTO THE MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM
by CAROL A. WALDRON 5 MAY 92
Our society is entering the Information Age, a time in which information is the raw material and communication its means of production. The transition from an industrial to an information society is being attributed to the increased availability of affordable technology such as computers, VCRs, and Video Cameras. The effects of technological innovation on business, government, and industry are paralleled by dramatic changes in the physical, social, and life sciences. More than many other areas of study and application, mathematics is being taken in new directions. Modern technology has caused a shift in what mathematics a person needs to know. Yet, in the midst of this change, the teaching of mathematics has remained relatively unchanged. We can not continue relying on rote memorization of rules as enough to prepare students for productive, fulfilling lives in the Information Age. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics have noticed the need for change and have developed the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. The following lesson plan, is an idea I had that is aimed at accomplishing at least two of the five goals. The first goal states that students should learn to value mathematics through numerous, varied learning experiences that illuminate the cultural, historical, and scientific evolution of mathematics. The second goal states that students should become confident in their mathematical abilities. The following lesson plan involves the study the evolution of mathematics with emphasis on the various people and cultures that shaped it. Students need to be aware of the variety of contributions each culture has made to mathematics, especially the non-European cultures such as Africa or Asia. Our history texts frequently leave out the contributions of non-European cultures and women. Racial barriers are hard to break down; blacks, Hispanics, and women are often led to believe they can't succeed in mathematics, so why even try. By giving all students a chance to study the contributions of past cultures, I believe students will not only learn to value mathematics and its relationships to other disciplines, but become confident in their own mathematical abilities. By understanding how mathematics evolved through the different disciplines, students will develop an appreciation for mathematical skills in today's world. CONTENT AREA/TOPIC Mathematics History: The study of mathematicians and their cultures with the use of telecommunications GRADE LEVEL 7-10 OBJECTIVES Students will... 1. Learn how to research facts related to a historical period, culture, or topic. 2. Learn how to collect, organize, store, and retrieve information using telecommunications. 3. Discuss the information obtained on past mathematicians and their contributions. 4. Learn how to communicate with a distant audience via telecommunications. 5. Learn how to engage in electronic transfer of information. 6. Develop descriptive writing skills. 7. Broaden cultural experiences by learning about people and cultures from other geographic locations. 8. Learn how to upload and download text files. 9. Learn how to create and enter information into a data base. 10. Practice their word processing skills. PREREQUISITES Prefer some previous experience with using database and word processing software. Otherwise, the teacher should allow another week for developing basic skills. MATERIALS Software: Word processing software such as FrEdWriter or WordStar that can be used for uploading and sending to other computers. It is easier though to use integrated softare that includes word processing, data base, and telecommunications capability all in one such as Apple Works or Microsoft Works. This would be better since you will be using all three applications. Hardware: Internal or External modem, a telephone line, access to Internet (contact your local college or university for access), an IBM PC, Apple II, or Macintosh microcomputers. COMPUTER ACCESS During the research and data collection phases of the lesson, students will need intermittent access to the computers to perform online searches of libraries. These libraries should be in the local area, if your school does not have access to online libraries or services such as BRS or Dialog Information Services, Inc. which provide downloading of full text. 2. Students will need access to computers for development and transmission of electronic messages to the Cleveland Free-Net (telnet to 129.22.8.75, 129.22.8.76, 129.22.8.82, or 129.22.8.44). PREPARATION 1. Gather software and resource materials. 2. Make group assignments. Suggest groups of four. 3. At least 4 weeks before starting the project, you will need to contact the Cleveland Free-Net and register as a new user. Once you have received approval, your ID and password, you will need to go to the Academy One directory and enter your class as an Academy One school. Next, print a list of the non- US partners identified in the Academy One Directory. DISCUSSION 1. Motivating Activity: As a whole class, have students pretend they live in an Indian village like the one in the movie "Dances With Wolves". Have the students discuss how or why they would use math. For example, how would they barter with other people or villages. How would they calculate time. Who are these people who devise theories or methods about numbers. Ask the students to think about how people became involved in mathematics hundreds of years ago. Were there any mathematicians who were women? Did other cultures such as Africa or Latin America have mathematicians like Einstein? 2. Introduce the lesson by stating that the object of the project is to collect information on mathematicians from around the world throughout history. To prevent duplication, you may want to provide a list of possible mathematicians and let them choose those individuals they want to research. The students will first start by researching information about mathematicians that we have in our Libraries. The children will collect preliminary information by accessing Online Library Catalogs to develop a list of books or other references that have information on mathematicians. Remind the students that many mathematicians don't have books written about them, so they will have to research books on mathematics history or mathematicians in general. Encyclopedias and magazines may even have some information. The teacher can either obtain the books for the students or let the students get the necessary books/information on their own. This depends on the age of the students. 3. After the students have collected preliminary information on the mathematicians, have them discuss what information they want to include in the data base. Here is a selection of data base fields you might list on the chalkboard for your students to consider: Last Name, First Name, Date of Birth, Date of Death, Place of Birth, Nickname, Nationality, Occupation(s), Known for, and Interesting Facts. When your students have decided what fields the data base should include, have each group design and sketch out possible data record layouts on the chalkboard. Once the design of the data base is chosen, set it up on the computer for them using your data base software. Print out a blank data record, and make photocopies for the students to use for information gathering. 4. After the groups have filled in their data records, print out the records and have each group quality check the other groups' records. Once the data base is complete, have each team brief what interesting information they found and what, if any, difficulty they had finding information about certain individuals. Pinpoint on a map where each mathematician was from and discuss any cultures such as Blacks or Asians that they did not have any information about? If so, discuss why there is no information on these cultures? 5. The next step is to separate the list of Academy One schools among the groups. Their task is to send an email message that explains their project and outlines what they discovered during their research and the class discussion. They are to ask the school for information on mathematicians from their country to be added to the data base. A copy of the data base information will be sent to them once all the information has been compiled from around the world. Each student in the group should write at least one of the email messages. 6. Once all the international information is added to the data base, have each group discuss what additional information they found. What conclusions can they draw? 7. Have each of the groups compose email messages expressing their appreciation for the additional information and the findings/reactions of the class about the project. Each group should send a copy of the data base to each school they corresponded with during the project. EXTENSIONS/ADAPTATIONS 1. A follow on project could be to publish the information for other mathematics classes. 2. You might want the students to interview professionals in other disciplines such as business, medicine, arts, agriculture, crime control and prevention, and science use mathematics. The students can interview professionals found in the professional Online Discussion Groups (often found in services such as USENET and LISTSERV) that are available on the Internet or Bitnet. This will impress on the students the importance of math in the future as well as the past.
