Week of Inspirational Math
The purpose of the week of Inspirational Math was to explore new way of learning and to get us ready for the upcoming year of challenging math.
A Overview of All Four Activities:
1.) The first problem was called building shapes. We were given a length of rope about 8 feet long, and tied at each end. We were told to make shapes with the rope and prove it to the teachers who acted as critics.
2.) The second problem was called Number Visual Pennies. We were given 100 pennies and a sheet of paper. On the sheet of paper were clusters of circles, spread apart. We were told to split the 100 pennies equally between the clusters of circles.
3.) The third and for me, the most challenging problem was called One Cut Geometry. We were given square pieces of thin wax paper, and were told to draw triangles on the paper without touching the edges. We were then required to cut out said triangle with only one cut.
4.) The 4th and final problem was called Square mania. On a sheet of paper we were given were squares. In those squares there were lines that represented folds. We had to prove that there were a certain amount of squares inside the bigger square.
2.) The second problem was called Number Visual Pennies. We were given 100 pennies and a sheet of paper. On the sheet of paper were clusters of circles, spread apart. We were told to split the 100 pennies equally between the clusters of circles.
3.) The third and for me, the most challenging problem was called One Cut Geometry. We were given square pieces of thin wax paper, and were told to draw triangles on the paper without touching the edges. We were then required to cut out said triangle with only one cut.
4.) The 4th and final problem was called Square mania. On a sheet of paper we were given were squares. In those squares there were lines that represented folds. We had to prove that there were a certain amount of squares inside the bigger square.
Videos From Day 1 to 5
1.) The first video was to give us ideas on how to figure out different problems. For instance, asking a friend, collaborating, asking a teacher or drawing it out.
2.) Pretty much what I could decipher from the overload of cringy acting, was that there is no time limit on math learning. You should never be timed on your mathematical learning. Learning takes time, and each person learns at a different pace.
3.) Oh no! The myth of the math person. It's actually painful to watch. But again what I got from that, is that some people might learn faster than you, but there is no such thing as a "math person." Personally I don't agree with that. Ever heard of Einstein?
4.) I swear I get more and more annoyed watching these videos. :) Anyways, the general idea is that no matter how hard it is, the person who thinks, "Hey I can do this" is going to the person has more brain growth, over the person who thinks "wow I suck at this." Remember to have a open mindset.
5.) Annnd it's over. Make mistakes. This last video, that was pretty much the gist of that one. Make mistakes and learn from them, and don't be afraid of making mistakes.
2.) Pretty much what I could decipher from the overload of cringy acting, was that there is no time limit on math learning. You should never be timed on your mathematical learning. Learning takes time, and each person learns at a different pace.
3.) Oh no! The myth of the math person. It's actually painful to watch. But again what I got from that, is that some people might learn faster than you, but there is no such thing as a "math person." Personally I don't agree with that. Ever heard of Einstein?
4.) I swear I get more and more annoyed watching these videos. :) Anyways, the general idea is that no matter how hard it is, the person who thinks, "Hey I can do this" is going to the person has more brain growth, over the person who thinks "wow I suck at this." Remember to have a open mindset.
5.) Annnd it's over. Make mistakes. This last video, that was pretty much the gist of that one. Make mistakes and learn from them, and don't be afraid of making mistakes.
The problem I chose
I chose problem #2, which was One Cut Geometry. As you already know we were given a paper, and had to draw a triangle, and cut it out in one cut. Well there were more restrictions. One, it had to be a scalene triangle, two, you could not draw the triangle connecting to the sides. Along with that the cut had to be a straight cut, it could not curve, or change directions. I chose this problem to describe to you because, unlike the other problems I had a real challenge trying to finish this one. I spent all of the time just getting frustrated, and generally giving up. I had some pretty good learning toward the end of the time we had and I think this problem stuck with me most. First thing I did was try and cheat the system. (I know, I know). Once I realized that there wasn't an easy way around this, I drew a triangle and started folding. About 20 pieces of paper and a lot of cuss words later, I still hadn't got anywhere. I finally tried a square, stepping down from a much harder shape, and trying an easier one. There was one "Habit of a Mathematician" that I used to my advantage. That was "scaling down." When I drew the square, and tried to cut that one out, It was like a 5 minute process and to my surprise I completed that. That opened a myriad of doors, that could lead me to the right answer. That leads me into the challenge that I had, which was giving up. About half way through I just decided to screw it, and just goof around because it obviously wasn't working out and I was just embarrassing myself. That wasn't the right move and if I had pushed through I would'a learned a lot more than I did from that problem.
Reflection
What I learned was to not give up and always ask for help. This has always been a problem for me. My pride gets in the way and I feel that I am too good to ask for help. Also I need to stop caring what I think people think about me. Complicated huh, but I gotta stop comparing other people to myself and learn at my own speed. I hope that this week has put me on the right path for the rest of this year. Well thanks Dr. Drew, and to Mr. Pringle for the help and for getting me ready for this year.
Cheers,
Simon Cross
Cheers,
Simon Cross