Math+as+an+AOK

Math: 3. Why teach math? · It provides a foundation for several other different forms of knowledge. o Example: musicians’ understanding of the concept and effectiveness of length in relation to their music. · Improves logical thinking.

1. Is it there to be discovered? · Yes. Just because I don’t understand the concept of area, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. o Example: The desk is a perfect rectangle, and the area is equal to the length multiplied by the width. If I don’t know that, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. · When any concept in math was ever discovered, it’s because that concept was already existent. Humans just needed to use their logic and prior knowledge to discover this concept.

2. Are we placing a system of understanding on what we experience in using math? · Yes. o Example: Pizza slicing. If a teacher is trying to teach students about fractions, he could cut the pizza into 8 slices and show the different types of fractions could be made.

4. When stop teaching it? · Math should be taught throughout high school just to build a foundation for people, however, afterwards it should probably be the person’s decision whether or not to pursue mathematics. The better choice would probably be to continue in learning math because it is such a major portion of our lives that it would be useful to know as much about it as possible.

5. When was infinity “discovered”? And by whom? · The Greeks discovered infinity in the 6th-5th centuries B.C. Pythagoras is attributed with having laid the foundation for the discovery of infinity. Afterwards, several Greeks built upon this idea.

Math in All Ways and Areas

1. List how the ways of knowing are a part of Math knowledge. Math and: Perception, Emotion, Reason, Language

Perception is used in Math knowledge because in order to understand or comprehend something, you need to observe it to see how it works. For example, if we are given a chart with mathematical data on it, and this data described how many crimes there in a certain city, then this data was most probably collected as a result of observation of the city. This observation of the city was made with perception. After the chart is distributed to people, then emotion can play a role in Math knowledge. If I received the chart that showed the amount of crimes yearly in that one city, then my emotion would affect my insight towards that city. I'd feel that it is a very dangerous city, or that the people there are not the best of people. Reason plays an equally large role here. I use my reason to conclude, based on the information provided to me on this chart by way of observation/perception, that if there are a lot of crimes in the city, then it is not a safe area. This reason, in turn, affects my emotion, which makes me uncomfortable to live in an environment that I reasoned to be unsafe. Finally, language is a part of mathematical knowledge because you use it to understand the data you are given (or math in general). Math itself is a language and in order for people to use it, they need to comprehend and understand it. I wouldn't be able to understand the chart with the data on it without being able to understand what it's saying.

2. Describe how Math may or may not be found in all other areas of knowing. Math in: Natural Sciences, Human Sciences, History, Art, Music, Ethics

Math can be found in most of the areas of knowing. First of all, it is quite obviously present in the Natural Sciences, which include Physics and Chemistry. A majority of Physics deals with mathematics, such as calculating acceleration, velocity, distance, and so on. Similarly, in chemistry, math is used quite a lot. For example, when balancing equations and trying to find the amount of moles in a given substance, you use a lot of Math. In the Human Sciences, which includes history, biology, and anthropology, math is also used (but not as much as it is used in the Natural Sciences). In history, math can be used because history deals with time, which can be measured in numbers using years. Calculating the difference in years between two empires that existed within the same century required math. Anthropology uses the same concept: math is used to determine the difference in years between, for example, the number of years someone from the 1300s lived and the number of years someone from the 1900s lived. However, the math used in the Human Sciences is not as the math used in the Natural Sciences. Math is used in both art and music as well. In art, artists sometimes apply the Golden Ratio to their paintings. Similarly, musicians sometimes apply the Golden Ratio in their musical pieces. The mathematical Golden Ratio gives the artist/musician a certain ratio that they can use to set an order to their pieces. Ethics is uses math as well, but not as obviously at the other areas of knowing. Ethics is the study of moral values and rules, but it can involve math in situations that involve money. For example, an ethicist could be studying the morals that doctors have to abide by, and the tough decisions that they would have to make. Maybe a doctor needs to treat a young patient but the treatment would cost $10,000. However, with that same $10,000, the doctor could treat 5 older patients. Math is used here because the doctor realizes that one person could cost $10,000 in one case, or one person can cost $2,000 in the other case. This would be a situation in which math is used in Ethics.