1 Unit 1 Mathematics Everywhere

2 Section 1 What Is Mathematics?

3 Aims :  Help you clarify your own ideas of what mathematics is;  Give you experience of reading different types of written mathematics ive you an initial feel of how a mathematician views the world

4 Active reading = Read and make notes ( in margin maybe) and comments speak about your own experience at school and about your feelings while learning mathematics Mathematics and You Activity 1 : Active reading of the article “ Carl Jung’s school days” It’s about the feelings of someone towards mathematics and its experience in learning mathematics Activity 2 :

5 Active watch of a video band showing 3 people talking about their experiences with mathematics and their own views of mathematics and what it means for them to be a mathematician. Identify the occasions where you are using mathematics consciously or unconsciously Activity 3 : Activity 4 :

6 Identify the things that indicate that this is a mathematical writing and decide what sort of mathematics is being used Read actively the first mathematical passage about negative powers. Interpret a statistical diagram ( the second example). Recognizing Mathematics Activity 5: Activity 6 : Activity 7 :

7  make note of the unclear points and of what is hard to understand ( learn how to criticize a mathematical writing) Read aloud a passage full with symbols to see if you are familiar with what they represent. Activity 8 :  Read the third geometrical example, Activity 9 :

8 What Is Mathematician?  Is a mathematician someone who does mathematics? s it someone who uses it?  How does a mathematician see the world?  What are the key parts of being a mathematician? hat are the necessary components of developing a mathematical view of the world

9 Activity 10:  read actively the article “ Cabbages are not spheres”  make notes of any sentences illustrating a mathematician’s view of the world. Activity 11:  Listen actively to band 1 of Audiotape 1  someone is describing a number of everyday things and occurrences which she sees as having interesting mathematical features.  See if you share her ideas

10 By the end of this section, you should have : Section-1 Outcomes  clarified your own ideas of what mathematics is and what it is to be a mathematician ( Activities 1-5, 10 and 11)  gained experience in working from videotape and audiotape as part of your mathematical learning ( Activities 4 and 11)  begun to recognize different types of written mathematics (Activities 6-9)  developed your skill at reading mathematics ( Activity 9) bbecome more attuned to noticing mathematical questions arising from the world around you ( Activities 3, 4, 10 and 11)

11 Section 2 Tapping Into Your Calculator Aims :  Develop an effective means of working from the calculator book  gain greater fluency, confidence and skill in using your calculator;  begin to appreciate how the calculator can be used as a tool for learning mathematics;

12 Glance at the Assignment booklet I and see if you can work the questions related to unit 1. Completing Chapter 1 Activity 12 : Glance back to sections 1.1 – 1.4 of the calculator book, done during the preparatory period. Activity 13 : Glace ahead through section 1.5, then make a plan for your work with this section. Activity 14 : Work with section 1.5 of the calculator book and make notes Activity 15 : Work with section 1.6 and 1.7 of the calculator book using the suggested method for section 1.5 Activity 16 :

13 You should be able now to :  appreciate the idea of doing and undoing associated with pairs of specific keys on the calculator, and give some examples of common mathematical “doing- undoing” pairs of operations (Calculator book, 1.7) Section 2- Outcomes  use the calculator for every day calculations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and percentages ( Calculator book, 1.2 and 1.5)  express numbers in scientific notation and understand how this notation is displayed by the calculator. (Calculator book,1.6)  understand the effect on a number entered on the calculator of the x-squared, square root, reciprocal and power keys ( calculator book, 1.4 and 1.7)  read simple mathematical expressions containing symbols such as +, -, , ,  and positive and negative powers ( calculator book, 1.2 and 1.6)

14 Section 3 Studying Mathematics The aim of this section is to help you to think about how you study mathematics and consider ways in which you can make your study of the course more effective Aims :

15  Learning is a combination of theory and practice. It is when you think carefully about the activities and exercises that you can start to form general rules or theories. Use the cream-coloured activity sheet to describe your experience of study on MU120 so far. Spotlight on Study earning happens rarely passively  long-lasting learning comes about from reflecting on experience and integrating it into what you already know. ( The lists of outcomes help you put your understanding under the spotlight)  Written activities help you deepen your understanding and is a valuable tool and a skill well worth developing. They are also useful as reference for you later in the course. Activity 17 :

16 A learning file may be a box, note books, a filing cabinet, files on computer or something else. It may contain:  Assignment booklets and marked assignments The sorts of notes that you may keep in your learning file are:  Study-skill activities ( cream-colored activity sheets) Decide what your learning file should consist of and how to organize it. Keeping a Record : a Learning File  Tutor’s details ( name, address, phone number…)  Stop presses  Activity sheets  Exercises  Investigations  Handbook activities ( blue activity sheets) Activity 18 :

17  You are asked about what skills you have been developing in the course so far Skills in Learning Mathematics Activity 19  Listen to band 2 of audiotape 1.  A former MU120 student speaks about some of the skills he developed during his study of the course and how he has been able to use them since. Activity 20 Use the cream-colored sheet: ““ on reflection” describing your feels about unit 1  recording the time you spent in studying it,  to describe where and when you have studied and if you fell you need to change the way of studying in the following units.

18 You should now have :  Reviewed the way you are studying the course so far and begun to think about improvements ( Activities 17 and 19) Section 3- Outcomes  Organized your learning file ( Activity 18 )