[Edu] Math teacher question - part 2

[Ruth Levenstein]

Could be a problem for a statistics class.

R
On Mar 6, 2007, at 5:25 PM, Carol Townsend wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> This math lesson idea is still bouncing around in my head - guess  
> once you're a teacher, it sticks, huh?
>
> Anyway... would it be a worthwhile excercise to do something like:
>
> a) give the kids sets of pyramids
> b) have them try to figure out what the formula is for the relation  
> of Base Size to Face Height to pip count (with all those terms  
> defined, of course)
>
> c) get a class consensus on this formula
>
> d) reveal the "real" formula - and then figure out the deviation  
> that their experimental formula revealed (ok... so I'm thinking  
> more like a science teacher here... but that's my training... and  
> it's a valid skill for say engineers who are more math than science  
> based... right???)
>
> e) extrapolate with their formula (or the "real" one that Andy just  
> shared) - to figure out how many pips a Giant Cardboard Pyramid set  
> would be... or the pyramids at Giza, for that matter.... or various  
> other pyramidal solids you might have...
>
> I really like Andy's formula, as it's involves exponential growth -  
> something that is found all the time in nature.  And by doing the  
> "extrapolate how many pips" you're having to do logs and such.   
> Fun!  :)
>
> For those who missed the formula, it's something like
>
> Base Size = 4/7 Face Height  = [ 4 + (2^n-1)] / 8
>
> where "n" is the number of pips.  (that's 4 plus "2 to the power of  
> n-minus-1" all divided by 8)
>
> Which... gets me past my math abilities at this time of night...
>
> So... thoughts on this??
>
> thanks!
>
> Carol
>
>
>
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