Somehow I find a sense of peace working with numbers. In fact, I spent a good part of yesterday setting up some fun math problems for my grand kids..
The article explains a rediscovered way for solving quadratic equations, one that avoids the use of the quadratic formula.
I've always thought felt that simply giving students the quadratic formula was the epitome of bad pedagogy, especially at the Grade 10 level where most students are not ready to understand why it works. In fact, some students have calculators that only require one to enter the values of "a", "b" and "c" to yield the roots. Yikes! Even a baboon can be taught to do that.
As well, using the quadratic formula to solve relatively simple equations is a bit like using a sledge hammer to drive in a finishing nail. Good mathematics is much more elegant than that.
The video below provides a different approach to solving quadratics, one that I have seen before in the context of looking for factors of trinomials with large numerical coefficients.
The technique is based on the difference of squares and is easily accessible to Grade 10 students.
Have a look and enjoy especially if you're a math nerd like me.
|
Looking for the answers to ax² + bx + c = 0? A mathematician has rediscovered a technique that the ancient Babylonians used.
www.nytimes.com
|
--
No comments:
Post a Comment