Monday, April 14, 2008

Math for Kids!

There is actually some cool children’s math literature that I have read/seen.
Firstly, if you haven’t read anything by author Jon Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith, I highly recommend The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man, and Math Curse. Math Curse is a brilliant little story of a kid who is cursed by his math teacher Mrs. Fibonacci, and he starts thinking about math throughout his daily activities. I won’t give away the ending, but it is really well done, and has some cool math and logic problems.
Also, has anyone seen Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land? The protagonist, Donald Duck, is forced to discover the math in nature (Fibonacci Number, The Golden Ratio, etc.), meets Pythagoras, and learns the geometry behind music and billiards. Initially, poor Donald is frightened, but at the end he appreciates math and even wants to learn more about it.
While I wish that were everyone’s experience (wouldn’t it be cool to meet Pythagoras?), it is a good attempt at trying to get kids not to hate math. Both the book and movie involve characters that initially go crazy because they have to think too much about math. The visuals are intense and sometime frightening, reminiscent of Pi. Luckily, neither the student nor Donald end up with a hole in their heads.

1 comment:

Ian B said...

isn't there some credible doubt that Pythagoras ever existed? did I make that up?