12. July 2020

Task of the Week: Majestic Stones

Dörthe Ludwig created in Dresden the task “Majestätische Steine” (engl.: “Majestic Stones”) which we now choose as our new MathCityMap Task of the Week. In the interview, Dörthe Ludwig explaines how she uses MCM to foster her daughter’s mathematical interest.

How did you discover the MathCityMap project? How do you use MCM and why?

I am a teacher at a secondary school and attend a 4-semester extra-occupational training course at the TU Dresden. In a didactics seminar we were introduced to the MCM project in a lecture.

Since my daughter (3rd grade) was not so interested in a maths at this time, we searched together for tasks that can be found in our own environment. Now we want to create a route that she can solve together with her friends (and as many others as possible). She is already looking forward to it!

Please describe your task. How can it be solved?

The task is to skilfully determine the number of cobblestones on a certain parking lot at the primary school. The stones are placed in such a way that it results in a simple multiplication task, but it requires multiplication beyond the small 1×1. So you can simply calculate the number, or you can break the task down into subtasks that you can calculate in your head. In this case, one must not forget to add the partial results.

What didactic goals do you aim for with the task?

To be honest, my main didactic goal was to show my daughter that mathematics can be fun even if you don’t see the solution directly, but have to make a little effort to do so. It seems to have been successful! Of course I hope that many more children will enjoy solving the problem and will be proud of themselves in the end!

Further comments on MCM?

I am enthusiastic and I will try to create many MCM tasks in Dresden. I would also like to take my students out into the fresh air and create some tasks around our school in the future.

Date: 12. July 2020 | By: Simon Barlovits | Category:  | No Comments

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