Entrance Slip( for Oct 10) : Experiencing meanings in geometry

The article "Experiencing Meaning in Geometry" by David W. Henderson and Daina  Taimina inspired me to think that how beautifully and aesthetically the abstract concepts of maths and physics can be explained. Ever since I came to Canada, I have been closer to nature than before and become more thoughtful about making connections between math and science education to the nature. In my past school visits, I have seen the inclination of the teachers to more inquiry-based student’s learning. For instance, yesterday, in biology 11 class the students were dissecting the crab fish and grasshopper and trying to recognize whether they have a male or a female sample. And In another science for citizens class, students were calculating how high did their hot air balloons go and making use of angles and trigonometry to calculate the height. But from my past experience in India, math for most of the students was nothing but following certain rules and set algorithms and getting the right answer. I would not say it was their fault. It is just because of the culture of competition and assessments and labeling the students with the marks have encouraged them not to think more than just what is given in the books. And the teachers and the parents backed up this culture owing to their unawareness about the embodied ways of learning and its excellent outcomes.

I believe that good understanding of the concepts plays an important role in education. Therefore, it is essential for teachers to impart meaningful understanding to their students. The teachers and guardians should be aware enough to make the right choices, demonstrate, exemplify the abstract concepts of math and science with the use of gestures, expressions, body movement, spatial words. The use of head, heart, and hands can do wonders to experience the true meanings of the difficult concepts. Such as mentioned in the reading that the aesthetic of the hyperbolic plane can be realized by making crochets. It was interesting to see that the polyhedron hyperbolic surface is nothing but the “hyperbolic soccer ball”. Therefore, such models can help us understand the inherent nature of the shapes that are difficult to visualize. For instance, for the high school students the concept of the surface area and volume of rectangular prisms, triangular prism, pyramids, etc. can be well explained with the use of models and manipulatives. In addition to this, I believe that the use of body movements, gestures in the context of education adds the spark, liveliness and the fun element in the classrooms and makes the teaching and learning more enthusiastic.