Mary Jacobson GMS Lower El

Our last Great Lesson - The History of Mathematics, also called the Story of Numbers, begins rather subtly, but culminates with exciting activities that yet again bring history to life.  Throughout our lessons we have seen the creation of the Universe, watched life appear on Earth, and noted the coming of humans.  In our fourth lesson, we learned about early writing systems and our own alphabet.  The Fifth Great Lesson takes students through the evolution of counting and the use of numerals.  

We imagine ancient people with the need to keep track of items in their everyday lives.  Perhaps they needed to show how many animals were available for the hunt.  Perhaps they had collected items to get ready for travel. Whatever the case, we know that people used various ways to show "how many" or "what amount" long before they invented the written signs for numbers.  The students enjoy practicing one-to-one correspondence by placing stones, counting body parts, or notching "bones."

Our lesson continues with discussions about the great civilizations of the past and their contributions to our system of numbers.  During our work with the History of Writing materials, we discovered how the Sumerians used cuneiform writing and now we learn about the wedge-shaped marks used to represent numbers.  Students recall how the importance of trade changed the use of the alphabet.  It seems only natural that merchants would need an advanced numbering system to keep track of transactions.  What began with clay tablets slowly morphed into scrolls, ledgers, and more.  

As we examine these early cultures, we learn how the Greeks used the first letters of their number words to write their numerals, how the Romans created a way to write numbers that was commonly used until the 18th century (as well as decoratively in current times), and find that it was in India that the numerals that so closely resemble ours were first recorded.  All this time has passed and still no mention of zero.  The children are always astonished to think about this concept as they have always known zero as a number.  So, as sophisticated as some systems were, it wasn't until the seventh century that someone first began to treat zero as the number we know today.  

Our story continues as we learn about systems with additive notation, those with multiplicative properties, and ones that used the place value system. The children make a Peruvian quipu, try addition using Roman numerals, imagine a calendar with only seven months, and are introduced to many of the notable names in mathematical history.  Our entire year is filled with the key lessons that follow such an important Great Lesson.  Each day we practice practical application, operations, fractions, geometry, measurement, patterning, and more.  Our children proudly announce, "We love math!"

Peruvian Quipu

Chinese Abacus