Eratosthenes and His Sieve Prime Numbers and “The Sieve of Eratosthenes” Over two thousand years ago a Greek mathematician named Eratosthenes invented an ingenious technique that helps to find all the prime numbers between one and two hundred. It is a very interesting procedure called “The Sieve of Eratosthenes”. Of …
The connection of binary number system to computers makes it a very interesting concept for students. The binary number system helps to store information of all kinds on computers. Computers use binary digits (or bits) because they can only read and store an on or off charge. So, using 0 …
In today’s post, we will talk about factorization. What it is. How it is done. How it helps us and how to help students understand it. We will dive deep into these with an example for factors of 24. Factoring is a math operation. It is the process of breaking …
The Hindu Multiplication or Lattice multiplication is an algorithm that was first founded in the 10th century in India. This method was later adopted and introduced in Europe by Leonardo Fibonacci in his Liber Abaci. The method is also called Lattice Multiplication because it requires a rectangular lattice with diagonals drawn through the cells. Each cell …
The Russian multiplication method is an interesting way of multiplying numbers by doubling and halving. Also called the Russian peasant multiplication, this algorithm allows students to multiply any two whole numbers. As I mentioned in the post about Ancient Egyptian Multiplication, teaching students alternative methods of solving problems helps them …
Teaching students about ancient methods of solving mathematical problems will ignite their interest in math and show them the path that different cultures took to reach to the mathematics we know today. Imagine the students ‘ reaction when you tell them that clever Ancient Egyptians only had to learn the …
Pythagoras of Samos Pythagoras of Samos was a Greek mathematician and philosopher (c. 570 – c. 495 BC). He is known best for the proof of the important Pythagorean theorem, which is about right triangles. He taught a group of mathematicians, called the Pythagoreans, who worshiped numbers and lived like monks. Pythagoras was a great influence on Plato. Pythagoras was born in Samos, a …
When students struggle with multiplication facts, solving complicated problems (like for example finding common denominators to add fractions) becomes hard. When they use most of their working memory on simple calculations they have little mental space left for understanding new concepts. Students start learning the multiplication facts in grade 3 …
MathCurious recommends! Check out our favorite Math Games and spread the love of Math this Christmas. Christmas fever is back and everyone is looking for the perfect gifts for their family and friends. At MathCurious we believe in toys/games that help develop skills and encourage learning. We put together a …
What makes fractions challenging for students? I recently came across a few articles about teaching fractions and realized that educators and parents share the opinion that fractions and their operations are one of the most difficult concepts for students to grasp. Learning the various fraction operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, comparing, simplifying) …
