Lesson One - 23 September 2013

We did a couple of problems during lesson time. It's a rather mind-blowing session. I didn't realize that math would seem so much more interesting than i imagined it to be. I was strictly brought up with the: Remember this formula and practice a lot! Do a zillion sums in your TEN-YEAR-SERIES and you'll score "A"s!" After today's lesson, i realize that...maybe, like what Dr Yeap has mentioned: You were taught Math in the wrong method.

Upon reflection, i agree how math should be taught through the wonders of play in free exploration! I also agree on Broner's belief on having concrete materials/tools. The problems such as the Card Trick and Tangram really got me amazed and interested! :)

Card Trick
It was certainly a tricky tricky problem to solve but my team and I managed to solve it on our second attempt! This is our solution: We started by listing the numbers 1-10 on the top of the paper. There after we spelt the number word, "one"

  1          2          3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10
"O"       "N"       "E"        1
                                                 "T"       "W"      "O"        2
                                                                                                 "T"         "H"
"R"        "E"       "E"                     3         "F"       "O"       "U"      "R"          4
.....................................................................................................................

Our final answer for the cards in sequence:

Tangram
The next problem I enjoyed most was the tangram! It's odd how i have seen it so many times but haven't quite have the time and motivation to explore/work on it. Today we had some time to try to use this particular formation - of a square and have it transformed into a rectangle..

This was what we were asked to start with - A square

After which, we came u with our own solutions:

Solution 1:

Solution 2:

As much as i am seriously afraid of Math, i realized..there isn't anything to be afraid of!
Math is fun and there are a lot of exploration needed to find out similarities or patterns of a particular problem. Certainly cannot wait to learn how i can translate or modify all these ideas learnt in class to help my younger ones in school! :)