Monday, September 7, 2009
Using Number Theory To Promote Logic and Writing in Middle Schoool and Beyond
The following examples also provide practice for open-ended questions and a view of the Explain or Show type questions on our next Online Math Contest to be held in 5 weeks (see info below). Since formal proof is not the goal here, students are encouraged to write a logical chain of reasoning in which they can use/assume basic knowledge about odd and even integers. Further, these questions strongly suggest the strategies consider a simpler case first and patterning.
Another benefit of these types of questions is to review important terminology and to help students improve reading comprehension, a major obstacle for many youngsters in math class (and everywhere else!). Some middle schoolers and high schoolers will have difficulty making sense out of what the question is asking because of both the wording and the information load in the problem. We need to help them group key phrases together and, yes, I guess that means we are also reading teachers!
Example 1
Is the sum of the squares of the first 2009 positive integer multiples of three odd or even? Explain your reasoning.
Example 2
Is the sum of the squares of the first 2010 positive integer multiples of three odd or even? Explain your reasoning.
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REMINDER!
MathNotations' Third Online Math Contest is tentatively scheduled for the week of Oct 12-16, a 5-day window to administer the 45-min contest and email the results. As with the previous contest, it will be FREE, up to two teams from a school may register and the focus will be on Geometry, Algebra II and Precalculus. If any public, charter, prep, parochial or homeschool (including international school) is interested, send me an email ASAP to receive registration materials: "dmarain 'at' gmail dot com."
Read Update (4) below!
Updates (Pls Read!!)
(1) The first draft of the contest is now complete.
(2) As with the precious two contests there will be one or two questions which require demonstration, that is, the students will have to derive, explain or prove a statement. This is best done freehand and then scanned as a jpeg image which can be emailed as an attachment along with the official answer sheet. In fact, the entire answer sheet can be scanned but there is information on it that I need to have.
(3) Some of the questions are multipart with the last part requiring more generalization.
(4) Even if you have previously indicated that you wish to participate, please send me another email using the title: THIRD MATHNOTATIONS CONTEST. Please copy and paste that into the title. Also, when sending the email pls include your full name and title (advisor, teacher, supervisor, etc.), the name of your school (indicate if HS or Middle School) and the complete school address. I have accumulated a database of most of the schools which have expressed interest or previously participated but searching through thousands of emails is much easier when the title is the same! If you have already sent me an email this summer or previously participated, pls send me one more if interested in participating again.
(5) Finally, pls let your colleagues from other schools in your area know about this. Spread the word! If you have a blog, pls mention the contest. If you're connected to your local or state math teachers association, pls let them know about this and ask them to post this info on their website if possible.
Note: Sending me the email is not a commitment! It simply means you are interested and will receive a registration form.
Posted by Dave Marain at 7:23 AM 6 comments
Labels: deductive reasoning, explain, logic, middle school, number theory, odd/even problems, open-ended