Here is a short screencast where I cover some fractions concepts with an Autistic student.
You may want to check out this fractions intro post first if you are unfamiliar with manipulatives or new to this blog.
She was suffering under the influence of TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE so was quite flighty and had a hard time concentrating. It was interesting to watch. But once we got going she settled down and she was fine.
SO we started off playing with the concept of what one is. With my imagination I can name the blocks whatever I want...so if the four block is now a one the unit block is now 1/4.
Same with the five block, if it's now one then the unit block is 1/5. The fraction's denominator tells us what one is.
We worked out our way up to this problem where she had to reduce the answer even more. It took some thinking and work on her part. Here the picture is labeled for the people reading this blog, the math terms come with the territory and she will know what they mean because we've used them many times rather than learn a definition or an axiom.
Then we started doing these kinds of problems. Took about 5 minutes to develop the concept and put the concept into practice...
Anyhow, here is a screencast covering a couple of basic fractions concepts:
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
You are invited to learn how to use this method...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
MAUI MATH SEMINAR
Crewton Ramone is hosting a TEN HOUR LIVE Math seminar on MAUI!
January 21st and 22nd, 2011 Friday 6p-10p & Sat 8a-4p
Maui Beach Hotel. Kahului, Maui.
Cost 100.00 single, 180.00 for couples advance, before Jan 16th,
120.00 single, 200.00 for couples after Jan 16th
Room specials available starting at 99.00 for off island participants...
Works out to around 10 to 12 dollars an hour and you will find it's more than worth it!
Friday will probably wrap up before Ten but depending on the level of enthusiasm and attendance, 4 hours tends to FLY by...
Saturday, we should end well before 4pm but I booked the room late just in case and so that we don't have to rush out.
Take an hour for lunch plus breaks and we will have about 11 hours to get our ten hour training done. Those 10 hours are PACKED believe me. It's faced paced hands on fun.
This will be a standard "10 hour training" where we cover basic operations (addition subtraction, multiplication and division) as applied to whole numbers, integers, fractions, and algebra. In addition there will be a short session on percents and algebraic problem solving. Throw in a few story problems and TEN HOURS whizzes by.
People are always amazed at the time. We used to have a program where we did 10 hours, then 20 hours, then 30 hours, then 40 hours at at the end of each session people were amazed at how fast time seemed to go.
Pre-requisite for the 10 hour training was/is the ability to count to 9, identify shapes particularly squares and rectangles and be able to tell whether objects are same or different. In Utah where the children where especially well behaved we had some very young children come to the trainings...one of them got on the news there doing 4th power algebra. I was the one who taught his parents to teach him...I wish I had that footage: it's great.
Once you took the ten hour you could go to the 20 hour and so on...one parent commented that even though the trainings got longer and longer it seemed like they got shorter and shorter...because learning is fun and times flies when you are having fun.
Who should come?
If you are a novice, have a set of blocks, never had a set of blocks, are homeschooling, are a teacher and are wondering how to use the manipulatives left on a shelf in your room, have read about using manipulatives and would like to know more, or would just like to become more effective at teaching math in a conceptual way this seminar is for you. In short anybody who teaches math to anybody whether it's parents or teachers...as if there is a difference between the two. Tutors are especially welcome. So are well behaved children over the age of 11.
The way we teach math putting a grade level on the information is difficult, but this is an introductory course and will cover math through the high school level, although you will quickly see how and why little kids can do algebra, fractions complex story problems and more.
This is a radical departure from the way you (and I initially) were taught math. You will "see and do" not just watch. Math becomes child's play, even "advanced math."
What to bring:
If you have blocks bring them!!! And paper and pencil too!!! You can bring your own lunch and snacks, or go out for lunch or for 4.99 plus tax a box lunch will be provided by the Hotel. Bring healthy snacks. There will be ice water provided.
I need help putting this on and promoting it. I am willing to pay commissions to those who bring paid sign ups in the form of CASH or a reduction in your attendance fee...$20.00 for each paid sign up, $35.00 for each couple.
If you bring four you come for 20.00, bring three couples and you come FREE plus you get lunch. If you can video it you can come FREE. You need your own camera...
I need a videographer to document the whole thing and hopefully I can make a sale-able product out of it.
Those in attendance will get a copy FREE. I also plan on doing a much bigger seminar later in the year which will cost more than 10 times as much but will only be 2.5 times as long which will be marketed world wide via the internet...most will come from the USA, but you never know who will show up to these things. Those who attend this event will be able to come to that event for a substantial discount.
Those attending will also get FREE passwords and other "Bonus" materials as they become available over the coming year.
Friday evening:
6p Greeting. "Getting to know you." Find out about who is there and who I am. 30 min.
Detailed introduction to the 5 basic concepts, hero zero and NFGBT1 90 min.
Short break
Introduction to base ten manipulatives. Some fast games for getting started and getting to know the pieces. Covers counting and combine-ing (+, -) plus some multiplication and division) 60 min
Introduction to algebra. 60 min
Saturday.
8am Algebra. 60 min
Problem solving algebraic : 60 min
BREAK
Fractions: about 2 hours
12p-1p LUNCH
Signed numbers. 30 min
Percentages 1 hour.
Playing with basic operations. Addends for making change. Games and activities. 90 min
Q&A / wrap up. Till 4.
Email to reserve your space and get my phone number:

If you would like a quick demo for yourself or your group just email me and we'll arrange it. Also if you would like a seminar like this in your area email me and we can arrange it...
Still working on Webinars and Web conferencing...
CANCELED DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST!!!
Will try again next month or the month after.January 21st and 22nd, 2011 Friday 6p-10p & Sat 8a-4p
Maui Beach Hotel. Kahului, Maui.
Cost 100.00 single, 180.00 for couples advance, before Jan 16th,
120.00 single, 200.00 for couples after Jan 16th
Room specials available starting at 99.00 for off island participants...
Works out to around 10 to 12 dollars an hour and you will find it's more than worth it!
Friday will probably wrap up before Ten but depending on the level of enthusiasm and attendance, 4 hours tends to FLY by...
Saturday, we should end well before 4pm but I booked the room late just in case and so that we don't have to rush out.
Take an hour for lunch plus breaks and we will have about 11 hours to get our ten hour training done. Those 10 hours are PACKED believe me. It's faced paced hands on fun.
This will be a standard "10 hour training" where we cover basic operations (addition subtraction, multiplication and division) as applied to whole numbers, integers, fractions, and algebra. In addition there will be a short session on percents and algebraic problem solving. Throw in a few story problems and TEN HOURS whizzes by.
People are always amazed at the time. We used to have a program where we did 10 hours, then 20 hours, then 30 hours, then 40 hours at at the end of each session people were amazed at how fast time seemed to go.
Pre-requisite for the 10 hour training was/is the ability to count to 9, identify shapes particularly squares and rectangles and be able to tell whether objects are same or different. In Utah where the children where especially well behaved we had some very young children come to the trainings...one of them got on the news there doing 4th power algebra. I was the one who taught his parents to teach him...I wish I had that footage: it's great.
Once you took the ten hour you could go to the 20 hour and so on...one parent commented that even though the trainings got longer and longer it seemed like they got shorter and shorter...because learning is fun and times flies when you are having fun.
Who should come?
If you are a novice, have a set of blocks, never had a set of blocks, are homeschooling, are a teacher and are wondering how to use the manipulatives left on a shelf in your room, have read about using manipulatives and would like to know more, or would just like to become more effective at teaching math in a conceptual way this seminar is for you. In short anybody who teaches math to anybody whether it's parents or teachers...as if there is a difference between the two. Tutors are especially welcome. So are well behaved children over the age of 11.
The way we teach math putting a grade level on the information is difficult, but this is an introductory course and will cover math through the high school level, although you will quickly see how and why little kids can do algebra, fractions complex story problems and more.
This is a radical departure from the way you (and I initially) were taught math. You will "see and do" not just watch. Math becomes child's play, even "advanced math."
What to bring:
If you have blocks bring them!!! And paper and pencil too!!! You can bring your own lunch and snacks, or go out for lunch or for 4.99 plus tax a box lunch will be provided by the Hotel. Bring healthy snacks. There will be ice water provided.
I need help putting this on and promoting it. I am willing to pay commissions to those who bring paid sign ups in the form of CASH or a reduction in your attendance fee...$20.00 for each paid sign up, $35.00 for each couple.
If you bring four you come for 20.00, bring three couples and you come FREE plus you get lunch. If you can video it you can come FREE. You need your own camera...
I need a videographer to document the whole thing and hopefully I can make a sale-able product out of it.
Those in attendance will get a copy FREE. I also plan on doing a much bigger seminar later in the year which will cost more than 10 times as much but will only be 2.5 times as long which will be marketed world wide via the internet...most will come from the USA, but you never know who will show up to these things. Those who attend this event will be able to come to that event for a substantial discount.
Those attending will also get FREE passwords and other "Bonus" materials as they become available over the coming year.
What will be covered:
Friday evening:
6p Greeting. "Getting to know you." Find out about who is there and who I am. 30 min.
Detailed introduction to the 5 basic concepts, hero zero and NFGBT1 90 min.
Short break
Introduction to base ten manipulatives. Some fast games for getting started and getting to know the pieces. Covers counting and combine-ing (+, -) plus some multiplication and division) 60 min
Introduction to algebra. 60 min
Saturday.
8am Algebra. 60 min
Problem solving algebraic : 60 min
BREAK
Fractions: about 2 hours
12p-1p LUNCH
Signed numbers. 30 min
Percentages 1 hour.
Playing with basic operations. Addends for making change. Games and activities. 90 min
Q&A / wrap up. Till 4.
Email to reserve your space and get my phone number:
If you would like a quick demo for yourself or your group just email me and we'll arrange it. Also if you would like a seminar like this in your area email me and we can arrange it...
Still working on Webinars and Web conferencing...
4 Year Old Math Enrichment
If I can explain it to a four year old I can explain it to YOU and then you can explain it to your students...Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Fractions Intro
Fractions are the bane of many a student. In fact some companies spend a lot of money every year training their employees on the topic...rules and process are easily forgotten.
Here is a conceptual introduction on video with very few symbols but with manipulatives and a few pictures...
Start students off with a Three Period Lesson, and then have them show which one is a 1/4 and which is a 1/2...how many quarters in a half? Let THEM match the symbols to the pieces and let them tell you why the 1/5 goes with the light blue one for example...
As it turns out, fractions are just math and all math is is counting. So let's learn how to count fractions the easy way: when you can see it.
Now that we know the names of the pieces we can start counting them:
We can just count pieces and see what we get. A lesson on Improper Fractions.
We can add them together.
We can make problem solving with fractions simple...and a whole lot more. Go here to see some story problems with a 6th grader and keep in mind I have several students MUCH younger than 12 that can do the kinds of story problems he is doing here.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
If you have specific questions that go something like this
"How do I show...."
"How do I do this..." Put them in the comments box...
and I will make a video and post eventually...working on a fractions page at the house of math; ran into a couple of snags but it's coming.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Improper Fractions
Fractions lessons teach much more than fractions...
This post will have more soon. The screencast is just the fractions portion of the lesson I did on division. All we do is count.
Knowing what one is is VERY important.
We also learn multiplication concepts...but mostly we are just learning how to COUNT.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
This post will have more soon. The screencast is just the fractions portion of the lesson I did on division. All we do is count.
Knowing what one is is VERY important.
We also learn multiplication concepts...but mostly we are just learning how to COUNT.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
Math Session With 7 And 8 Year Olds
Here is a screencast of a session I did with a couple of students where I finally remembered to bring out my Camera...and snap a few pictures. Even then I should have taken more...We used the same board as we did last week which had what looks like a big scary algebra problem on it...but they know it's easy: all you do is count.
BTW the little girl came to math rather than stay home even though she was sick and throwing up...because it's more fun than staying home and being sick. By the end of class she was feeling much better.
Basically we played with division concepts and notation.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
Learn more Algebra for a buck.
BTW the little girl came to math rather than stay home even though she was sick and throwing up...because it's more fun than staying home and being sick. By the end of class she was feeling much better.
Basically we played with division concepts and notation.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
Learn more Algebra for a buck.
Labels:
Division,
Improper Fractions
Monday, December 27, 2010
Economics is Math
"Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem
People in education are starting to get it. 20 years ago I wanted to make math music videos to teach math...blocks dancing around; math concepts visually obvious and set to music...one day this will happen.
Here at the university level is a video explaining simple economics...which I have argued would be easily understood by a populace with critical thinking skills that had a excellent handle on math. Instead the average American has a difficult time with FRACTIONS...much less ALGEBRA, and even less than that simple economics and money.
"If the people understood the rank injustice of our money and banking system, there would be a revolution before morning." ~Andrew Jackson
Happily for the bankers and politicians the teaching system hasn't even been able to make division concepts clear. The average person can't explain why we invert and multiply if they can even remember to do it when trying a fraction problem involving division.
Just for fun: Three times what is two and five eighths?
3(x)= 2 5/8
Easy or hard? Three times what is two and five eighths?
I rest my case. Soon I'll have a webpage on fractions with video and some blog posts too...and that problem will be duck soup.
Economics is just math and math is just counting...
Apologies for using Youtube, I've been trying to stay away from Youtube because it has been brought to my attention many teachers in Hawaii can't watch Youtube on school connections because it is blocked...this vid is worth your time. I am BTW an Austrian, when it comes to Economics...
Macro concepts like Economics, Climate Science, Physics, Sociology and ANY Philosophy are FAR better understood by people who can do math...
"Woe unto us: we live in a time when neither philosopher, poet, priest or politician can do math." ~Crewton Ramone
If we used music and language that the kids understood, more kids would understand math, not to mention we could make it FUN...I will one day have math music video's. The difference between me and what you see now will be night and day. I once talked to Bill Nye the Science guy and he saw immediately how powerful this could be for math because it's a visual way of presenting math concepts; we can show in a minute what takes 15 minutes to develop with symbols...
The point of this post is we need to move to presenting the mathematics like this, edutainment I believe it's called...I'm getting there.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
Learn more Algebra for a buck.
Coming SOON: Fractions.
BTW the answer to the question is 21/24...I could see it could you and if you did get it did you remember a rule or a concept like no fun get back to one?
Of course we are easily fooled by men in suits who tell us the answer to debt is more debt and the answer to too much money in the system us more money in the system...the populace can't do MATH.
People in education are starting to get it. 20 years ago I wanted to make math music videos to teach math...blocks dancing around; math concepts visually obvious and set to music...one day this will happen.
Here at the university level is a video explaining simple economics...which I have argued would be easily understood by a populace with critical thinking skills that had a excellent handle on math. Instead the average American has a difficult time with FRACTIONS...much less ALGEBRA, and even less than that simple economics and money.
"If the people understood the rank injustice of our money and banking system, there would be a revolution before morning." ~Andrew Jackson
Happily for the bankers and politicians the teaching system hasn't even been able to make division concepts clear. The average person can't explain why we invert and multiply if they can even remember to do it when trying a fraction problem involving division.
Just for fun: Three times what is two and five eighths?
3(x)= 2 5/8
Easy or hard? Three times what is two and five eighths?
I rest my case. Soon I'll have a webpage on fractions with video and some blog posts too...and that problem will be duck soup.
Economics is just math and math is just counting...
Apologies for using Youtube, I've been trying to stay away from Youtube because it has been brought to my attention many teachers in Hawaii can't watch Youtube on school connections because it is blocked...this vid is worth your time. I am BTW an Austrian, when it comes to Economics...
Macro concepts like Economics, Climate Science, Physics, Sociology and ANY Philosophy are FAR better understood by people who can do math...
"Woe unto us: we live in a time when neither philosopher, poet, priest or politician can do math." ~Crewton Ramone
If we used music and language that the kids understood, more kids would understand math, not to mention we could make it FUN...I will one day have math music video's. The difference between me and what you see now will be night and day. I once talked to Bill Nye the Science guy and he saw immediately how powerful this could be for math because it's a visual way of presenting math concepts; we can show in a minute what takes 15 minutes to develop with symbols...
The point of this post is we need to move to presenting the mathematics like this, edutainment I believe it's called...I'm getting there.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
Learn more Algebra for a buck.
Coming SOON: Fractions.
BTW the answer to the question is 21/24...I could see it could you and if you did get it did you remember a rule or a concept like no fun get back to one?
Of course we are easily fooled by men in suits who tell us the answer to debt is more debt and the answer to too much money in the system us more money in the system...the populace can't do MATH.
ADD Support Coach
ADD Support Coach
An old schoolmate of mine turns out to be a great resource for people with ADD.
She does
Life Coaching for Children and Adults with ADD.
Problem solving, forward motion, completion...
Check out her blog/website:
http://addsupportcoach.com/
We went to high school together for a couple years, although she is substantially older than I am.
Here are a few testimonials regarding her work:
* Elizabeth has been an incredible life coach. I have been “stuck” in a certain area in my life for so long and she gets right to the solution. Her intuitiveness is amazing and gentle. I will be forever grateful for all she has done for me. What a gift. Thank you Elizabeth!!!! You are amazing. – Ruberta, Burbank, CA.
Elizabeth, you are absolutely amazing. I have had the greatest of pleasures watching my nephew take wing and fly under your guidance. You have helped him connect to the deepest yearnings of his heart while also helping him find the discipline and the courage to “make it happen.” He has become focused. He’s grounded. He’s organized. He’s no longer on the sidelines talking about what he “might” do or what he “wants” to do or what he “can” do or “cannot” do. Now he’s in the game, manifesting his dream. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.- Stan, Los Angeles, CA
* Elizabeth is not only a dynamic and professional coach, but I found that she was able to work with me at such a personally inspirational level that I achieved more in 2 weeks than I had in 2 years. I look forward to our continuing relationship because I now know that I will be living a life beyond my wildest dreams! Thank you Elizabeth for being in my life. – Kerry Halliday PhD, Brighton, UK
* My daughter, Natalie, has benefited from your knowledge and creativity so much this year. - Erin, Santa Clarita, CA
* Elizabeth is a great listener. She is very enthusiastic and eager to help. Elizabeth has a wealth of experience and will work toward creating a very personalized solution to fit your needs. I highly recommend her. – Carol, Valencia, CA
She offers all manner of support and coaching, if you or some one you know has ADD, (the real kind, not the kid bored to death in class doesn't pay attention so we'll label them and try to get you to buy drugs as opposed to the wants to pay attention but can't...) check her out at this link poke around, Bethy has led a fun and interesting life and came upon this out of necessity for one of her own kids...
Check out her blog/website:
http://addsupportcoach.com/
An old schoolmate of mine turns out to be a great resource for people with ADD.
She does
Life Coaching for Children and Adults with ADD.
Problem solving, forward motion, completion...
Check out her blog/website:
http://addsupportcoach.com/
We went to high school together for a couple years, although she is substantially older than I am.
Here are a few testimonials regarding her work:
* Elizabeth has been an incredible life coach. I have been “stuck” in a certain area in my life for so long and she gets right to the solution. Her intuitiveness is amazing and gentle. I will be forever grateful for all she has done for me. What a gift. Thank you Elizabeth!!!! You are amazing. – Ruberta, Burbank, CA.
Elizabeth, you are absolutely amazing. I have had the greatest of pleasures watching my nephew take wing and fly under your guidance. You have helped him connect to the deepest yearnings of his heart while also helping him find the discipline and the courage to “make it happen.” He has become focused. He’s grounded. He’s organized. He’s no longer on the sidelines talking about what he “might” do or what he “wants” to do or what he “can” do or “cannot” do. Now he’s in the game, manifesting his dream. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.- Stan, Los Angeles, CA
* Elizabeth is not only a dynamic and professional coach, but I found that she was able to work with me at such a personally inspirational level that I achieved more in 2 weeks than I had in 2 years. I look forward to our continuing relationship because I now know that I will be living a life beyond my wildest dreams! Thank you Elizabeth for being in my life. – Kerry Halliday PhD, Brighton, UK
* My daughter, Natalie, has benefited from your knowledge and creativity so much this year. - Erin, Santa Clarita, CA
* Elizabeth is a great listener. She is very enthusiastic and eager to help. Elizabeth has a wealth of experience and will work toward creating a very personalized solution to fit your needs. I highly recommend her. – Carol, Valencia, CA
She offers all manner of support and coaching, if you or some one you know has ADD, (the real kind, not the kid bored to death in class doesn't pay attention so we'll label them and try to get you to buy drugs as opposed to the wants to pay attention but can't...) check her out at this link poke around, Bethy has led a fun and interesting life and came upon this out of necessity for one of her own kids...
Check out her blog/website:
http://addsupportcoach.com/
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
I was Big In Idaho
Here is a very poor quality screencast containing some vintage footage of a math center I helped open in Idaho along with some commercials for it...I taped it off the TV later I will do a better job and also do some editing as it is dubbed directly from vhs to dvd...it's 8:33 long.
I put a few minutes of some footage of Jerry Mortensen himself explaining some of the manipulatives he created and I am assured I will be able to sell more manipulatives in the coming year...the multi tens kit, fractions kit and basic operations kit...btw I have two basic operations kits that have the smaller manipulatives thru 1000 or x3 (but no big blue square) if you would like to get one of them let me know just contact me at Gmail.
As I type this I am watching video tape from 1990 when I brought Jerry out to Hawaii to do a seminar, that seminar would change my life. Chalk board... I may put up a few excepts on my website or here on this blog in the coming months as I get the vhs tapes dudbed to DVD...
BTW I spent more time in Utah than Idaho, and helped open centers in SLC, Omaha Nebraska, South Carolina and more. I can't find or don't have video from all those places...this is just some video I happened to find.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
I put a few minutes of some footage of Jerry Mortensen himself explaining some of the manipulatives he created and I am assured I will be able to sell more manipulatives in the coming year...the multi tens kit, fractions kit and basic operations kit...btw I have two basic operations kits that have the smaller manipulatives thru 1000 or x3 (but no big blue square) if you would like to get one of them let me know just contact me at Gmail.
As I type this I am watching video tape from 1990 when I brought Jerry out to Hawaii to do a seminar, that seminar would change my life. Chalk board... I may put up a few excepts on my website or here on this blog in the coming months as I get the vhs tapes dudbed to DVD...
BTW I spent more time in Utah than Idaho, and helped open centers in SLC, Omaha Nebraska, South Carolina and more. I can't find or don't have video from all those places...this is just some video I happened to find.
Find us on FaceBook
Go to the House of Math.
Directed Discovery With Higher Powers
How would you solve this equation: 4x4 - 2x2 - 4 = 2
I saw this on a math Q and A site.
Hero zero and no fun get back to one.
4x4 - 2x2 - 4 - 2 = 0
4x4 - 2x2 - 6 = 0
You have to know how to factor polynomials.
2(2x4 - x2 - 3) = 0
2(2x2 - 3)(x2 + 1) = 0
or just
(2x4 - x2 - 3) = 0
(2x2 - 3)(x2 + 1) = 0
because hero zero is impervious to division by zero; then just set each factor to zero and solve for x:
2x2 - 3 = 0 and x2 + 1 = 0
2x2 = 3 and x2 = -1
because if one factor is zero the whole thing is zero
x2 = 3/2 and x = ±√-1 [√-1 gives nonreal solution, an imaginary solution, which is ±i ]
x = ±√(3/2)
the real values of x are √(3/2) and -√(3/2)
the imaginary or non real values are +i and -i
I put this here without the blocks or pictures of them because it shows where you can go once you get a feel for the higher powers. Also as a clue or some directed discovery to those who have done some study on this blog and website or have started using base ten blocks but don't have hours and hours of training under their belt yet. Note that
2x4 - x2 - 3
is comprised of a square some rectangles and some smaller squares...and that we could use a big red square the blue x's and the green units to model
2x4 - x2 - 3 instead of basic operations pieces which would be the big blue squares the red strips and the units
really it's the same problem as
2x2 - x - 3 isn't it? The x's are just raised by a factor of 2...and with our imaginations we can name the pieces anything we want...and you can see if a 12 year old can play with problems like 2x2 - x - 3 and look at them as puzzles not things to be feared and in fact as confidence grows this stuff is fun and challenging...and easily solved given time.
You can see how to do the negatives for a buck on my website. And shortly you will find a video showing this very problem on the advanced algebra page. To get to the advanced algebra page you need a password and currently passwords are a buck. I am told I need to raise the price to 20 bucks because nobody thinks there's any value there for just a dollar. Get it? Any value!!! I assure you there are lots of values there...
BTW this is post 100!!!
250 to go and search engines will start taking this blog seriously...
I saw this on a math Q and A site.
Hero zero and no fun get back to one.
4x4 - 2x2 - 4 - 2 = 0
4x4 - 2x2 - 6 = 0
You have to know how to factor polynomials.
2(2x4 - x2 - 3) = 0
2(2x2 - 3)(x2 + 1) = 0
or just
(2x4 - x2 - 3) = 0
(2x2 - 3)(x2 + 1) = 0
because hero zero is impervious to division by zero; then just set each factor to zero and solve for x:
2x2 - 3 = 0 and x2 + 1 = 0
2x2 = 3 and x2 = -1
because if one factor is zero the whole thing is zero
x2 = 3/2 and x = ±√-1 [√-1 gives nonreal solution, an imaginary solution, which is ±i ]
x = ±√(3/2)
the real values of x are √(3/2) and -√(3/2)
the imaginary or non real values are +i and -i
I put this here without the blocks or pictures of them because it shows where you can go once you get a feel for the higher powers. Also as a clue or some directed discovery to those who have done some study on this blog and website or have started using base ten blocks but don't have hours and hours of training under their belt yet. Note that
2x4 - x2 - 3
is comprised of a square some rectangles and some smaller squares...and that we could use a big red square the blue x's and the green units to model
2x4 - x2 - 3 instead of basic operations pieces which would be the big blue squares the red strips and the units
really it's the same problem as
2x2 - x - 3 isn't it? The x's are just raised by a factor of 2...and with our imaginations we can name the pieces anything we want...and you can see if a 12 year old can play with problems like 2x2 - x - 3 and look at them as puzzles not things to be feared and in fact as confidence grows this stuff is fun and challenging...and easily solved given time.
You can see how to do the negatives for a buck on my website. And shortly you will find a video showing this very problem on the advanced algebra page. To get to the advanced algebra page you need a password and currently passwords are a buck. I am told I need to raise the price to 20 bucks because nobody thinks there's any value there for just a dollar. Get it? Any value!!! I assure you there are lots of values there...
BTW this is post 100!!!
250 to go and search engines will start taking this blog seriously...
Monday, December 20, 2010
Algebra For Basic Opps Redux
After a while it gets old, well for the blog and people watching Youtube videos...all we do is form rectangles and count the sides learn about multiplication, addition and division as well as factoring concepts...as time goes by they get better and better.
Simple drawing powerful math concepts:
Here they are counting up the parts...
Here we see that they had forgotten their addends for 7 and 9...no big deal just go back and build a bunch of 7's and 9's and all the other ones too...here they are building 7's and they knocked it over and built it again about five or six times...
The House of Math on FaceBook.
The House of Math
Learn a lot of algebra for a buck.
Simple drawing powerful math concepts:
Here they are counting up the parts...
Here we see that they had forgotten their addends for 7 and 9...no big deal just go back and build a bunch of 7's and 9's and all the other ones too...here they are building 7's and they knocked it over and built it again about five or six times...
The House of Math on FaceBook.
The House of Math
Learn a lot of algebra for a buck.
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