From: dal3@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (dale.e.parson)
Subject: Re: Is Math Hard?
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 19:58:09 GMT

In article <00721449615@elgamy.uucp.taronga.com> elg@elgamy.uucp.taronga.com (Eric Lee Green) writes:
>
>At last! A concrete suggestion!
>
>I can even work it into the curriculum, believe it or not, though not in
>"math" class. How about social studies, where the kids are supposed to
>learn "map skills". Fourth grade inner-city kids haven't the foggiest
>notion of any part of the world outside of their neighborhood. They live in
>Houston, they may know the name Houston, but they don't know that they live
>in Harris County (though they know what the Harris County Detention Center
>is!), they are only foggily aware of an entity named "Texas" that they live
>in that they can't place on the map... today I had one point to California
>and ask, "Where's New York? Over here?". "America" is just a warm fuzzy
>feeling with no meaning.
>
>So I'm back to second grade material: I'm going to have them do a scale
>map of the classroom. How about -- fractions, basic integers, base-12
>arithmetic, all in one, along with a fuller understanding of how maps
>represent reality?
>

Good to hear it. I take my homeschooled, 6 year daughter out orienteering
regularly to instill basic geometry skills and comfort with symbolic
mapping. Some tips after a year of work:

I started out emphasizing what I thought were important geometric concepts
(left or right at this junction? step counting for measurement) with mixed
results. Then I read a tutorial advisement that said concentrate on the
meaning of (symbolic) map colors & discrete map symbols. She took much more
readily to this, identifying features as we passed, and worked her way into
the geometry as a byproduct.

We scale mapped the solar system recently using objects from a beach ball
(sun) to a grain of sand (Pluto) across the space of about 1 mile radius,
with a topographic map in hand. That was good for astronomy, general map
reading, and scale.

For long distance walks (2 miles for her) she learned after about the second
time that if she zig-zags her energy away at the start, she pays by the end.
She learned it without nagging, & is now a more disciplined orienteer.

I've seen books on teaching orienteering to kids in classroom & parking lot
environments but don't have any to recommend. You might contact the
	US Orienteering Federation
	PO Box 1444
	Forest Park, GA 30051
to see what they have or recommend. There's also a
	Houston Orienteering Club
	c/o Carolyn Ortegon
	PO Box 18251
	Houston, TX 77023
	713-484-1391
that might be able to help you out. I know folks in our local club do school
sessions from time to time. Also they'll have some local country maps if you
ever get chances to get out of the city.

Good luck.

Dale Parson, Bell Labs, dale@mhcnet.att.com

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|    "These words are too solid, they don't move fast enough           |
|     to catch the blur in the brain that flies by, and is gone..."    |
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|     Suzanne Vega                                                     |
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