For more information, please visit the Reason for Math web page.
Reason for Math is a video series being created by Zipheron Design labs that will challenge conventional wisdom in math education and redefine the curriculum. Volume 1, the Language of Math, is the first step on the journey into mathematical thinking.
What’s the target audience and what content does it cover?
The content of Reason for Math, Volume 1 generally fits into national standards for 3rd through 5th grade level math. However, these standards bring the assumption that at a certain age, a student should understand a certain concept. Many learners can progress through their entire math education and have little understanding of the nature of the language of math and what it means to think mathematically. This video is intended to introduce ideas to young students as well as eliminate confusion and misconceptions in older math-skeptical or math-fearful students.
Volume 1 of Reason for Math deals with the basic patterns in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division including:
-order of operations
-factors and multiples
-prime numbers and factoring into primes
-use of punctuation in math statements
-and the distributive property
However, the real content of the video is how these basic ideas come together to help form the overall language of mathematics. We’ve all heard math called “the universal language”. This video examines how math is similar to word languages, yet has a unique structure all its own. We’ll see how the seemingly strange terminology (like “commutative” and “associative”) and apparently pointless factoids (like “the number 1 isn’t a prime number” ) aren’t simply data to memorize for a test, but are actually the foundation for logic and reason for the amazingly empowering language of math.
Are there any special features?
The goal of Reason for Math is to illustrate the concepts so that they are clear and easy to understand and to show how those concepts are relevant and useful. Since this relevance will be unique for each individual based on their own personal interests and experiences, we show a few interesting applications to help the viewer to see these ideas from a broader perspective and inspire them to make connections to their own lives.
To this end, volume 1 of Reason for Math contains a special feature in which creator Beau Janzen describes how he had to use the concepts covered in the video to make the animation for the video itself. For an animator, concepts like factoring, multiples, and order of operations aren’t simply abstract ideas in a textbook. They are the raw tools necessary for creating art.
This look inside the making of Reason for Math helps to show how mathematical ideas are truly relevant and creative. |
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The domain reasonformath.com will soon feature more in depth information on this series. |
