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Math for seven-year-olds

jdh.hamkins.org

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Re: Math for seven-year-olds

#11

Post by kneth »

I introduced graph theory to my son when he was about 8 or 9 years old. By Nature, he's a networker (like to connect to people) so "friends of a friend" was very intuitive to him.

I have also tried to introduce the concepts to teenagers. In Denmark, we have an annual, national science weeks in primary and secondary schools. I have given http://www.slideshare.net/geisshirt/naturvidenskabsfestival-... as a talk/lecture at 4-5 schools and most 13-15 years old children get the ideas quickly - Facebook and other social medias are a big help :-)

Re: Math for seven-year-olds

#12

Post by zhte415 »

I appreciate the polish of making this into a small book. When educating kids, the 'take away' of having things in a format to take home and play with / show parents makes a big difference (as it does for adult learners).

Re: Math for seven-year-olds

#14

Post by mkesper »

mollerhoj wrote: post #9

This! Graph theory should be taught very early to all children. It is as fundamental and important as simple algebra, and yields great insights without requiring tough computations.

When I was a child, we had set theory in elementary school. They dropped it shortly afterwards, though I still think it's very elementary.

Re: Math for seven-year-olds

#15

Post by blisterpeanuts »

Fantastic! I'm going to print this out for my 9-year-old daughter to play with, and to teach to her friends when they come over (she loves to play school teacher). This is the kind of intuitive math games that I've been looking for to challenge her a bit without scaring her off with dry, boring stuff.

There's also the game of Sprout (or Sprouts) that is easy for kids to learn and has interesting mathematical implications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprouts_(game)

Re: Math for seven-year-olds

#16

Post by pbhjpbhj »

What I'd like is a companion booklet that looks with a bit more rigor and formalism at the topics - but not too much! - that would suit a Y13 (17-18yo) or an introductory lecture at undergrad level. I've never really had a proper introduction to graph theory.

Incidentally this has come at the perfect time. I was just discussing with my 8 yo different fields of mathematics and which symbologies he's used and starting him on Boolean set operations. Graph theory was mentioned (by me!) so this will be a good flexi-day if he wants to follow up on it.

A nice accompaniment might be a lightbot like game for exploring Eulerian paths.

Re: Math for seven-year-olds

#17

Post by hellbreakslose »

wth is this article... alex bellos advert or something? formula? that seems like insanity, what ill take everyone and interview him?

YOU DONT INTERVIEW THE WOMAN YOU'LL MARRY, if you do you are an idiot that doesn't enjoy life and takes everything as a freaking robot.

Re: Math for seven-year-olds

#19

Post by jonsen »

remon wrote: post #18

Amazing project! Does anyone know why a (2D?) map will need at most four colors while avoiding neighboring areas with the same color?

"The four color theorem was proven in 1976 by Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken. It was the first major theorem to be proved using a computer.":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_color_theorem

Re: Math for seven-year-olds

#20

Post by j2kun »

remon wrote: post #18

Amazing project! Does anyone know why a (2D?) map will need at most four colors while avoiding neighboring areas with the same color?

This is a monumental theorem called the four-color theorem, which specifically states that ever planar graph is 4-colorable. It actually took mathematicians many years and many pages (and computer programs!) to prove. There is a simpler proof that every planar graph needs at most 5 colors. [1]

Also, 2D is not quite specific enough. It turns out that there are non-planar graphs that can be drawn on a different kind of 2D-surface (the surface of a torus) that need more than four colors. [2] It turns out that for tori, the max number of colors is seven. And you can keep going up, culminating in this cool thing called the Euler characteristic. [3]

[1]: http://jeremykun.com/2011/07/14/graph-coloring-or-proof-by-c... [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toroidal_graph [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler_characteristic#Examples

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