Math Teachers Program 656 - History of Mathematics
Fall 2011
Roster of Time Capsules Chapters

Content Projects

Each student will read and present a chapter from the new book Mathematical Time Capsules, (Math. Assoc. America, 2011, ed. Jardine and Shell-Gellasch). This book is a collection of historical modules for immediate use in the mathematics classroom. Relevant history-based activities for a wide range of undergraduate and secondary mathematics courses are included.

The editors of the volume say the following in their preface: "Each capsule presents one topic or perhaps a few related topics, or a historical thread that can be used throughout a course. The capsules were written by experienced practitioners to provide other teachers with the historical background, suggested classroom activities, and further references and resources on the chapter subject. An instructor reading a capsule will have increased confidence in engaging students with at least one activity rich in the history of mathematics that will enhance student learning of the mathematical content of the course. Most of the historical topics contained in a capsule can be implemented in one class period with minimal additional preparation on the part of the teacher."

The eidtors continue: "Some of the capsules are, in some sense, ready-made lectures the instructor can adopt and adapt as appropriate. Examples of those include 'Copernican Trigonometry,' 'Numerical Solution of Equations,' or 'Finding the Greatest Common Divisor and More .... ' Other capsules clearly engage the students more actively, such as 'A Different Sort of Calculus Debate.' But the capsules should not be categorized as appropriate for one pedagogical approach or the other. For example, 'Finding the Greatest Common Divisor and More ... ' could be adapted for use as a student project to be presented by the student(s) in class after the Euclidean algorithm is covered."

Guidelines for your project:

  1. Students bid on chapters. There's a link to the roster above and another one on the Moodle page.
  2. The time limit is 10 minutes for each presentation. This will be strictly enforced, because we have only two classes for the presentations.
  3. The first 11 presentations will be made on November 29, the final 10 on December 6. The order of presentations is the same as the order they are listed on the roster.
  4. You should begin by briefly summarizing the historical background for your module: what time period? what country of geographical region? what mathematician or mathematicians were involved? (For some older topics, the identity of the people who discovered the mathematics may be lost to posterity.)
  5. Clearly explain the mathematical techniques, results or issues described in your module. You will probably not have time to mention them all, so pick and choose a small number of key results or issues to focus on.
  6. Assess your module on the following basis: what population would it be appropriate for (what courses, what grade levels)? How do you think it might enrich a topic or a course? If you think it may be unsuccessful in any ways, describe them. Would you consider using any of the material in this module in your own (future) classroom?
  7. Prepare a brief handout (one page or less) with either a lesson plan for a teacher or a student worksheet or activity, based on your module.