velvetpage | Caching a discussion post (Reply)

Finding connections from math to the real world seems backwards to me, somehow. It also negates the value of the other connections students could be getting out of the same material. If you use arrays to model multiplication, you've modeled multiplication and nothing else; but if you use something built as an array (like a quilt block) and look for the math in it, you can get multiplication, but also geometry, symmetry, co-ordinate grids, fractions, growing and shrinking patterns, division, principles of design, and measurement. You might easily miss them if you start with the math. From our perspective, that makes sense; we see the job as making math real. But kids are seeing it from the other side; they need to describe reality using math. Disparate topics taught with a variety of representations don't do that as well as a single representation that is deeply explored.