Thursday, May 30, 2013
Great Moments in Mathematics Invention
I just read an article by Dan Meyer titled "Great Moments in Mathematics Invention." The article discussed cylinder volume problem and a solution that one person stumbled upon. For the problem that was given this solution worked, however it was not correct for every problem. There are many common misconceptions like this in mathematics and I'm sure almost every day in my classroom or classroom across the world students are trying to come up with shortcuts to mathematics problems that are incorrect. Just because it works for one problem doesn't mean it will always work. This is one reason why I make students explain the steps they take or give an explanation as to why they did what they did. This helps get rid of some problems, but definitely not all of them.
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This is a perfect example of why students need to be able to write in their math class. All too often kids find these "shortcuts" you speak of, that are just misconceptions for that particular problem. I always tell my kids "it's not the answer I care about, it's how you got there." We need to be teaching our kids how to explain, and demonstrate their understanding of the material, and not just come up with answers. Math is about so much more than answers. I love Dan's blog, he's got great stuff on there. Thanks for sharing
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