Math supports science!!!

One reader brought this link to our attention...Strengthening math helps science...http://mathcollege.tripod.com/ Take a look by clicking the link and then hitting cancel. See if it is helpful to you.

Please post comments here. Thanks. J

New Math ...Reflection...

Many people make fun of the, "new math," lots of baby boomers were taught in the USA. Here is an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a81YvrV7Vv8 and another version of the same song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAm3KWiDPKU&NR=1

I studied the New Math. It meant I did Boolean algebra in 4th grade (age 8 and 9). I loved it. It also helped me a great deal when I did my doctorate and when I used engineering skills at work. I get tired of hearing people bad-mouthing New Math because I believe it helped give me a basis for understanding all sorts of computerized lab equipment and also wave and tide recorders used in the field to predict tsunamis.

We did not memorize the (base ten) times tables, however we could multiply and divide in bases 2, 8, 10, and, 16. We could readily set up and solve problems. And, we could do all these things without a calculator and even without a slide rule. I do feel memorizing the times tables for base ten would have been useful and therefore, taught them to myself so I could do freshman chemistry problems quickly. That helped with rapid responses in physics, too. But, engineering courses and logic were much easier having had the bases and the Boolean algebra background in grade school.

So, based on my own experience, I suggest adding times tables and also radians to the, "New Math," but, I would not trade my, "New Math," experience. I loved it and found it very helpful toward my science career and to every day life in a computerized world. I understand the 1's and 0's so prevalent today.

I have come across a way of teaching math that I like that uses languages. More on that another day.

(c) 2008 J S Shipman

Publish Post

Sometimes we use math!!!

I thought you would enjoy this math video. It is well done and the lyrics are available. It is an excellent example of putting math standards into an audible form, very artistic. Smile.


Congratulations, Drew D'Amelia!

It is a wonderful example. Can you do a creative video on science standards that you are studying? Just trying will help to expand your mental brain capabilities. Whole brain development is encouraged by such creativity. Enjoy and share your results.

Dr. J

Pie Day, Oh, Pi Day.... Pi Day's coming!

Are you ready for Pi Day? ...Haven't heard of it? What?

pi = 3.14159265.....

Pi day is a day to celebrate pi and to encourage students in learning math. Now, math is important to scientists, among others, so I encourage you to get involved in Pi Day. When? March 14th of course (3/14).

Here's the official Pi Day site: http://www.piday.org/

Post under development.
Check back later.

From Tesselation and Fractals to Stretch Reading in Science

Here's a playful way to learn some advanced math that applies to science. Enjoy! http://wchow.home.znet.com/koch.htm

Here's a link to a pineapple fractal...Fractals are found in nature. This link goes to a photo taken by Dr. Ron Hurov who works in the botany of commercial pineapple production. http://www.geocities.com/wenjin92014/botany/pineapple.htm

One of Ron Hurov's papers is at this link. You can try reading scholarly works in botany and other fields as part of "stretch reading."

"Stretch Reading," invented by Dr. J, is needed in the sciences where vocabulary words are developed every day as we discover new things. First, just skim the paper and look at the graphs and pictures. Then, circle any words (on a photocopy) or list words in your notebook that you don't know. Now, just try to get the gist of the article in one sentence. This might be as simple as, "The article is about pineapples, whatever they are." As you look at more and more articles, you will find yourself more able to understand them. Do not worry about understanding when you first start. Even medical doctors and PhDs need to learn new words and especially if they switch their area of reading a bit. For example a biopsychologist may have to learn new jargon to read electrophysiology papers. So don't worry, even if every other word is one you don't know. You are getting yourself comfortable with the unknown. You are stretch reading. (More on that later.) When there is something that interests you enough, I have no doubt you will attack it to the point you understand it. And, you won't be afraid to tackle it. You might also like: Reading Science.

(c)2007 J. S. Shipman

Teeter-totter your way into math...

Algebra can be fun! Click on this link and see. Such math skills help you learn science, too. (Once you read the directions, hit the close button and you will see the teeter-totter in full.)

Cool: You go to MIT!

Build up your math, science and engineering skills!!!

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

Poetry in Motion, I mean Mathematics...

Here is a post you don't want to miss. Poetry.
http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/mathematics

Stocks and Options and Science?

You know, banks would have us believe that stocks and options are dangerous. To some extent they are. Like driving a car, you need to know what you are doing. Stocks and options share with science that they have their own vocabulary. The jargon of the finance world, like that of the science world, is worth learning. The rewards are many.

I am not recommending that you go out and get into stocks and options any more than I would recommend driving a car without knowing what you are doing. Even when you know, you must stay ever vigilant. Yet, if you "safely" keep your money in the bank at 1 or 1.5, or even 3%, the inflation monster will eat you (and your money) alive. And while you are safely at 1.5%, the bank is using stocks and options to make 12-35% with your money and then keeps the difference between that percentage and what they give you. With a portion of your money, you could risk, lose half, and come out ahead of where you'd be if you stay safely at the bank. You need to learn the jargon (http://tradeoptioned.blogspot.com/2007/08/some-new-changes.html), understand math and charts, and, know what you are doing. Do not risk borrowed money, or your house, or college fund, insurance,nor retirement. These are other aspects of your financial house that you need in order.

So, where does science fit in? The analytical skills and chart reading skills are critical in science. Practice reading financial charts and graphs can synergistically improve your interpretation of data in science, strengthening your science abilities. Enjoy the overlap in these seemingly different fields and grow in both.

Dr. J

(c)2007 J S Shipman

Fractals...Math found in Nature

Fractals are exciting and integrate math and science and art. The overlap of areas in the humanities and sciences appears to make fractals very popular. A movie follows which shows a well-known fractal and gives a link to more learning about fractals. Then, there is a portion of a research article showing one application of fractals in forestry. There are many more applications. This post is to give you an idea about fractals and encourage you to pursue the fractals in your own area of interest whether art or science or applied science. Enjoy the movie.



"Biologists have traditionally modelled nature using Euclidean representations of natural objects or series. Examples include the representation of heart rates as sine waves, conifer trees as cones, animal habitats as simple areas, and cell membranes as curves or simple surfaces. However, scientists have come to recognize that many natural constructs are better characterized using fractal geometry. Biological systems and processes are typically characterized by many levels of substructure, with the same general pattern being repeated in an ever-decreasing cascade. Relationships that depend on scale have profound implications in human physiology (West and Goldberger 1987), ecology (Loehle 1983; Wiens 1989), and many other sub-disciplines of biology. The importance of fractal scaling has been recognized at virtually every level of biological organization (Fig. 1; Section 5).

"Fractal geometry may prove to be a unifying theme in biology (Kenkel and Walker 1993), since it permits generalization of the fundamental concepts of dimension and length measurement. Most biological processes and structures are decidedly non-Euclidean, displaying discontinuities, jaggedness, and fragmentation. Classical measurement and scaling methods such as Euclidean geometry, calculus and the Fourier transform assume continuity and smoothness. However, it is important to recognize that while Euclidean geometry is not realized in nature, neither is strict mathematical fractal geometry. Specifically, there is a lower limit to self-similarity in most biological systems, and nature adds an element of randomness to its fractal structures. Nonetheless, fractal geometry is far closer to nature than is Euclidean geometry (Deering and West 1992).

"The relevance of fractal theory to biological problems is dependent on objectives. To the forester interested in estimating stand board-feet, a Euclidean representation of a tree trunk (as a cylinder or elongated cone) may be quite adequate. However, for an ecologist interested in modelling habitat availability on tree trunks (say, for small epiphytes or invertebrates), fractal geometry is more appropriate. Using a fractal approach, the complex surface of tree bark is readily quantified. A forester's diameter tape ignores the surface roughness of the bark, giving but a crude estimate of the circumference of the trunk. For an insect 10 mm in length, the 'distance' that it must travel to circumnavigate the trunk is much greater than the measured diameter value. For an insect of length 1 mm, the distance travelled is greater still. This has consequences on the way that the tree trunk is perceived by organisms of different sizes. If the bark has a fractal dimension of D = 1.4, an insect an order of magnitude smaller than another perceives a length increase of 10D-1 = 100.4 = 2.51, or a habitat surface area increase of 2.512 = 6.31. By contrast, for a smooth Euclidean surface, D = 1 and both insects perceive the same 'amount' of habitat. The higher the fractal dimension D, the greater the perceived rate of increase in length (or surface) with decreasing scale."
Source: http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/science/botany/LABS/ECOLOGY/FRACTALS/fractal.html

Watch this Video on Shampoo Science!

You, too, can do Quantum Physics :-)

Prosper grows

Integrity is an important part of any education. P2P lending counts on integrity. Prosper is a key place for P2P, People-to-people lending. Remember that your name is important, Honesty and integrity are part of that name. Prosper is a place that lends a helping hand when many banks won't. But, if people fail to keep their word, P2P will not succeed. I believe it will succeed because we strengthen our selves and our nation with values like honesty and integrity.

Ready for your standardized tests?

Think of these tests like a new video game. Look for the challenges. What do you remember from other games? Do you remember what others have said about your previous game levels? Each test is a new "game level," Think of these tests as fun and you won't be nervous, or at least, not as nervous as you could be. And remember...practice improves your, "game." You can do well...and you will do well. I am confident of that.

Want more practice? Try highschoolace.com again....20 minutes a day!!!

(c)2007 J. S, Shipman

Bank Fees and School Math

http://reddit.com/goto?id=1sdsr

Reading the article by putting the above link into your search engine, might give you the courage to overcome math phobia. It could boost motivation to learn about percent and interest and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It could make you want to use your math skills in other classes, like science, but not only science, not only classes, but using math for connections to real life. ...Might be worth doing math homework every night!

(c)2007)J S Shipman