Sharing your Birthday

SCORE Mathematics

Standards Connections

Sharing your Birthday

Introduction: This is a writing assignment in which the student uses the Internet to locate a famous mathematician that shares his or her own birthday.

Prior Knowledge: Minimal writing knowledge.

Grade Level: 4-6

Task: Each student will use the Internet to find a famous mathematician with the same birthday as their own. They will then answer a series of questions about the mathematician and then write a short summary.

Resources:
MacTutor, History of Mathematics archive on the Internet
Mathematicians Throughout the Year
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Day_files/Year.html.
At least 20 minutes of individual access to the Internet.
Student Worksheet (html) or Student Worksheet (pdf)

Process:

Access "Mathematicians throughout the year" on the Internet.
Click on your birth date.
On your worksheet, list the Mathematicians that were born (or died) on your birth date.
Investigate the Mathematicians on your list, then choose one of them.
Read through the information about the Mathematician, then answer the rest of the questions from the worksheet.
At home, use all the information you obtained on the worksheet, write a summary about your mathematician.

Learning Advice: I choose a birth date ahead of time and print out an example to show the students what might come up on the screen. I do not want the students printing out the information. I want them to fill out the worksheet while on the Internet, and then take the worksheet home to write their summary. This should help eliminate some of the plagiarism.

Evaluation: I look over the worksheet first, to make sure it is complete, then I see how they have incorporated the worksheet info into their summary. The summary needs to be in their own words. I grade this assignment on a 4-point rubric and then convert it to points.

Extensions: The MacTutor has a lot of different Mathematical history that you may want to incorporate into your lesson.

Conclusion: The student will practice their writing skills as well as learn some Mathematical history.

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California's Mathematics Academic Standards

Grade 4:
Mathematical Reasoning
1.0 Students make decisions about how to approach problems.
1.1 analyze problems by identifying relationships, discriminating relevant from irrelevant information, sequencing and prioritizing information, and observing patterns
1.2 determine when and how to break a problem into simpler parts

2.0 Students use strategies, skills, and concepts in finding solutions.

2.1 use estimation to verify the reasonableness of calculated results
2.2 apply strategies and results from simpler problems to more complex problems
2.6 make precise calculations and check the validity of the results from the context of the problem

3.0 Students move beyond a particular problem by generalizing to other situations.

3.1 evaluate the reasonableness of the solution in the context of the original situation
3.3 develop generalizations of the results obtained and apply them to other circumstances

Grade 5:
Mathematical Reasoning
3.0 Students move beyond a particular problem by generalizing to other situations.

3.3 develop generalizations of the results obtained and apply them in other circumstances

Grade 6:
Mathematical Reasoning
2.0 Students use strategies, skills, and concepts in finding solutions

2.1 use estimation to verify the reasonableness of calculated results

3.0 Students move beyond a particular problem by generalizing to other situations.

3.1 evaluate the reasonableness of the solution in the context of the original situation
3.3 develop generalizations of the results obtained and the strategies used and apply them in new problem situations

NCTM K-4:

STANDARD 3: MATHEMATICS AS REASONING

NCTM 5-8:

STANDARD 3: MATHEMATICS AS REASONING