Poetic Mathematics

Is it where we begin

Is it where we end

Or maybe it's where we collide

Thought of as nothing and emptiness

Yet its existence is crucial and necessary

Once considered to be a devilish sin

Now considered to be at par

Alive as a numerator

Dead as a denominator

Falling in the dimension of purgatory

Waiting to embark on a journey to either side of good and evil

Positive and negative

0 or Zero

Teacher Bird Comments:

I think this is a great tool/way we can incorporate poetry and writing into mathematics.  Both the free writing and Poetry spark creativity that mathematics can often lack.  Also, it is a good way of challenging those who aren't comfortable with writing.  On the other hand, for the math phobes it can be more comfortable and provide an alternative outlet.  Having multi-modal and interdisciplinary approaches is good way to display the "funner" side of mathematics!

Free write

zero, "nothing," location on a number line between -1 and 1, origin

 Divide, separating a group of people, numbers being divided by something, when there is a crack in something, division of sports teams like west versus east or north conference south conference west conference and then I don't know what to write about divide, two divided by one is two and eight divided by two is 4, it is the opposite of multiplication sort of, separating, parting, when you divide a group you are separating it into smaller groups.

zero, nothing, the origin, wasn't used/known in certain historical times, having no value, rating scale of 0 - 10 with 10 being the best and 0 being the worst.  We often associate zero with being a bad thing but in sports like golf it is a good thing :) lots of things have countdowns to zero, time in sports, liftoff, race's 3,2,1,GO! zero is a number inbetween -1 and 1.

Sponsor Teacher Response To Challenging Topics

In pre-calc 12, I think that permutations, combinations, and binomial theorem will be the most challenging and difficult for students to understand.  After emailing my sponsor teacher, she agrees completely.  Last year was her first year teaching this topic and she found that she had to go at a much slower pace than anticipated.  In addition, she had to explain the concepts with more detail and precision in comparison to other topics.  So some basic tips from her were to adjust the pace accordingly and to make sure students understand what information is key when reading word problems.

I think probability(perms, combs, binomial theorm) is a difficult topic in general because types of problems and the concepts are extremely different from what students are used to.  There are formulaic, logical, and common sense aspects to probability which make it difficult.  I think understanding what information to look for in word problems is a skill that needs to be developed so before introducing probability we should make sure to incorporate word problems throughout the year.  Also, the Khan academy had a couple of great videos on permutations and combinations that explain the concepts in a clear way.