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Title of Lesson: Famous Mathematicians

Grade Level: 7-8 Subject Area: Math and History Instructional Goal: Learning about mathematicians and the implications of their contributions. Submitted By: Mark Heeg and Trudy Driskell

Rationale	Supply List	Learning Strategies	Communicate Results
Performance Objectives	Computer Hardware and Software Required	Prerequisite Student Skills	Evaluation Procedures
Instructional Strategies	Resources	Time Frame	Set New Challenge
Preparation	Related WWW Sites	Career Connections

Rationale:

The history of mathematicians unfolds the story of man's struggle to explain the quantitative aspects of the world in which he lives.

Performance Objectives:

Students in groups of two will research a particular mathematician.

Student groups will write a research paper about the person. The research papers of the entire class will be combined to make one book which will be left in the classroom as a resource for other students and to be viewed by other classes.

Student groups will build a model of the mathematician's concept that was proven or instrument developed by the person. A picture taken with a digital camera or any camera will be added to the student's research paper in the book.

Technology is used for the research, for the explanation of the model and for the report about the mathematician.

Instructional Strategies:

After an introduction about famous mathematicians, the teacher invites her class to study about these men and women remembered for their contribution to the mathematics. A timeline can be started around the classroom depicting the people and the time and country in which they lived and worked. A world map can depict the countries such as Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Greece, Rome, Western Europe and relate the countries to the mathematicians that the students choose to study.

A list of mathematicians can be printed from web sites and each student group choses one of the famous men or women. There are 550 mathematicians alone in one web site suggested below!

The assignment:

• After researching the mathematician the student group will create a one page poster to place on the timeline in the classroom with the name of that person, the invention or theory developed, the country where he/she lived and the time in which he/she lived. The world map is marked with the mathematician's name and invention.
• The student group will write a two page report on the chosen person. Each report should have a cover sheet and include references.
• The student groups will also create a model or demonstration of the theory or instrument developed by that mathematician. This model can be in hardcopy form or an electronic presentation of the mathematician and his/her contribution to mathematics done in HyperStudio, HyperCard, Digital Chisel or some other multimedia authoring software package.

Some suggested mathematicians:

• Pythagoras, who was the earliest known teacher of mathematics developed the Pythagorean Theorem.
• Archimedes, who said, "Give me a place to stand on, and I can more the earth."
• Isaac Newton, who developed the law of gravitation and "weighed" the sun.
• Euclid of Alexandra wrote a series of textbooks about math and geometry (on papyrus).
• Galileo whose discovered a way to produce accurate pendulum-regulated clocks.
• Rene Descartes, who first wrote out a mathematical statement and called it an equation.
• John Napier, who developed "Napier's Bones, used to calculate with.
• Blaise Pascal, who invented the La Pascaline used in calculation.
• Albrecht Durer, an artist who said, "geometry is the right foundation of painting."

Preparation:

The teacher should become familiar with all resources available at the school for student research on mathematicians. Web sites can be bookmarked or lists of mathematicians posted from web sites for students to easily use as resources. World map is in the room with small cards and pins for identifying home countries of the mathematicians.

Supply List:

World Map, stick pins, color paper for creating a timeline

Computer Hardware and Software Required:

Computer, color paper, HyperCard, HyperStudio, Timeliner by Tom Snyder Publications, World Atlas CD-ROM and encyopedia CD-ROM. Digital camera. Internet connection.

Resources:

Books about mathematicians and hardcopy encyclopedias from the school library.

Related WWW Sites

Learning Strategies:

The teacher "proposes" the area of investigation. The teacher can excite the students about this projects by telling the students about some of the famous mathematicians. The students in the class may have some knowledge from past studies that can be shared in class. Facts about mathematician's lives is not the focus of this lesson. The students should come away with an interest in learning more about these mathematicians and an overall appreciation for these mathematicians. The students, when creating their models, should have the opportunity to discuss their model with other students and with the teacher. Applying the the knowledge that was learned from the research of the mathematician to the created model design will be the problem-solving part of this lesson for students. Every student will have a different "construction" of knowledge, so the assignments will vary considerable. The teacher and students should decide what the criteria for evaluation is before the students begin their search for information. Brainstorming with the students about software that can be used and sources of information is important. Flexible time limits may be required and some students may want to use this assignment for a science fair project.

Prerequisite Student Skills:

Research skills and some computer skills required.

Time Frame:

One Week

Career Connections:

Historian and mathematician

Communicate Results:

The research reports are collected and shared with class members and the models are presented to the class.

Evaluation Procedures:

The teacher and students have decided upon evaluation criteria which has been posted in the classroom from the beginning of the assignment.

Set New Challenge:

Tessleations

M.C. Escher ( ) was a famous artist whose works have been used to teach mathematical concepts.

Use this web site, or the sites mentioned below, to create some interest in art/math/geometry. Tessellations (designs in which one or more shapes are placed in a pattern without gaps and without overlapping) are lots of fun for students and a great way to reinforce math skills. There are tessellations in Islamic art as well as the work of M. C. Escher. Students can then can experiment for themselves using a graphics program like ClarisWorks Drawing or Painting to draw and copy shapes, slipping and rotating them to see if they can be placed in patterns that meet the criteria given. By beginning with one geometric shape such as an equilateral triangle, a student can experiment with positioning and color to create a pattern. He or she can then attempt to tessellate more complicated shapes or combinations of shapes.

Gallery of Interactive Geometry

http://www.geom.umn.edu/apps/gallery.html

Suggeseted Resources:

The World of M. C. Escher, Locker, J. L.

M. C. Escher: Visions of Symmetry by Doris Schattschneider, 1990, W. H. Freeman and Company: New York.

M. C. Escher Art	http://surf.tstc.edu/~qsmitr/escher2.html	View Escher images here
Escher's Art Museum	http://www.texas.net/escher/gallery/gallerym.html	A place for browsing, learn and becoming familiar with some of Escher's best works.
Self-Portrait of M. C. Escher	http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/art/escher.html	View his self-portrit
Welcome to the World of Escher	http://www.texas.net/escher/	This site has a biography and some of his pictures to view
David McAllister's Escher Image Collection	http://www.cs.utah.edu/~dmcallis/pic/Escher/	View images of Escher art here.

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