Forums > Social Chat > Concept Changes?

Posted: 7th Feb 2002
this is correct i would say.a shape is a two dimensional representation, ie, circle, square, rectangle, octahedron, whatever. a solid being (a noun not an adjective) for a category of idealize shapes existing in physical world like a sphere, cube, what-have-you, which have 3 dimensions like length height and depth (which can be drawn in 2d but really exists in the real world with certain definite characteristics). you can figure out that they have an interior area contained within their certain boundaries but you probably dont do this in first grade (like the cubic area of a box or house)a prism is an extruded polygon with rectangular sides... so you can have rectangular prisms, triangular ones, pentagonal prism, etc. so something shaped like a toblerone box, ie triangular, is a prism, in mathematical terms a rectangular box is also a prism. if in the real world you make them out of glass, then yes,they do defract light, but thats not the only definition of a prism. then in 9th grade you get to sin and cosin and tan of angles in triangles Pere

Posted: 7th Feb 2002
So things have changed since I took it?And to the next question...is this appropriate for 1st graders then? Or is it going to add to the confusion of terms later?------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...https://www.pyromorph.com

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 7th Feb 2002
Yeah, Pere said what I would have said. Only without the capitol letters. I think it's cool to be dealing with this terminology at an early age. I actually think it will PREVENT confusion later. As long as the wee lad (realized you didn't say his name) isn't getting overwhelmed by it all I say GO FOR IT!It sounds like everything the teacher says is technically true and accurate.Sounds like you'd better start budgeting for an Ivy League.I'd say more but, what the heck, I'm off to twirl some fire... Oh yeah... My car kinda blew the radiator completely, sorry I didn't call you back... Tow truck, $$, etc...

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]

Posted: 7th Feb 2002
mmmm, toblerone I remember that we called them prisms and solids in primary school when I went through (mid-80s). I liked the word sphere rather than circle or ball too.Also simple algebra starts when kids first start to count and add. eg 5 apples + 3 apples = 8 apples is like 5a+3a=8a and 5 apples + 4 oranges does not equal 9 apples or oranges (5x + 4y != 9x != 9y)

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut

Posted: 8th Feb 2002
I've had first graders be able to name 30+ species of dinosaurs to genus and species and why they aren't now called Brontosaurus and Diplodocus anymore, and what they ate and all the latest ecological theory on whether Tyrannosaurus was really a giant predator or really just a big vulture, so I think he can handle it. terminology is good. this is the same stuff which I learned in school though I don't remember when it was I learned it exactly. it's important to develop an ability to visualize abstract forms for other kinds of math like figuring volumes and stuff like that, eventually leading up to the Hell Which Is Calculus, where you figure out the area in revolved shapes. at the most basic level it is easier to visualize when you can name whatever it is your are talking about and being able to assign particular characteristics to each type of shape/solid... capitalization...who needs it...you can understand what I'm saying, right? do you think kids these days put smilies in their term papers?Pere

Posted: 8th Feb 2002
the "Hell Which is Calculus"??I rather enjoyed calculus. Sadistic eh? Ohhh especially integral calculus!! *Grrrrrrowllll*

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut

Posted: 8th Feb 2002
perhaps i should have rephrased that to Hell Which Is Advanced Integral Calculuswhich i took at uni and where i walked out of the final exam 2 hours early because i couldnt do it still passed tho. dont know how. probaly everyone else couldnt do it either and actually sat there for the whole 3 hours...Pere

Posted: 8th Feb 2002
I know exactly how frustrating that is Pele, about 2 years ago, I finished my degree in biology, then went on to get a job working with computers.A few weeks ago my sister asked me to help her with her biology homework. The next day she told me most of what I helped her with was wrong because it's been changed since I learnt it.I even had to dig out the books I used at Uni to prove to her that I did actually know what I was talking about.The thing I find the most frustrating though, is that a whole load of spellings have now been Americanised. For example 'sulphur' now has to be spelt sulfur.I really don't see the point in this, so I'm going to keep spelling words how I was taught to, unless I'm given a really good reason not to, I don't suppose you have a choice with your son's education though.------------------Bovril - It's liquid cow y'know

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.

Posted: 8th Feb 2002
I don't care as long as it remains consistant for him in school. I was a Literature and Theater major with a minor in Foreign Language and Education. I took every biology I could as well, from high school through college. I never had to take seriously advanced math, or sciences for that matter. And since I know things change, that is why I asked. TBM...that is why I stuck with Theater and Literature...the only real things that change are definitions of some words along the way (ie: "gay" in Shakespeare doesn't apply to his fairies, for instance, unless they are really happy.). As for the changing of words to Americanized versions, I can explain that. The American school system is swinging back to teaching to phonetically read (and why is phonetic spelled phonetically?:confused . Instead what they should be doing is letter recognition and letter combonation recognition by sound. It is how I was teaching my son to read before he entered school, and it worked quite well. It takes more time though, and the American school standard feels it must compete with the Asian school standard, without the strictness or stringentness of the society to back it up. Unfortunately, when I was teaching, I was watching alot of kids slipping through the cracks.I also want to point out here, that while teaching terminology now is good (and the dinosaur example is something kids are interested in, so they are more prone to learn it themselves), it can actually be non-beneficial later. I have home school Noah, because I wanted him to have a head start. He is working to the top of the levels allowed in his grade without skipping up and is bored by the work, so he keeps getting reports that he talks in class and can be disruptive. Sometimes, the jump start we think we are giving our child that is good, can actually set them apart in other ways. *sigh* I tried to do what I thought was good. ------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...https://www.pyromorph.com

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK