This is it, the last one, the
moment of truth, the big one, the last straw, the big show, the last whoora,
the big finale, my last math blog post (for now). There will be no lady
singing, but after publishing this I have to say a smile has not left my face.
It is not that I didn’t enjoy creating my posts, it is more like a sense of
accomplishment, I have made it this far.
I
brainstormed many ideas as to what I wanted to talk about in my last post, but
the topic of this week’s online portion of class gave me a lot to work with. It
is very easy to find math in our daily lives, highlighting these real world connections
to the topics in math class is the ultimate way instructors can promote student
engagement. I really liked the videos we watched about how math is the ultimate
designer in nature. Nature is math, it’s all about symmetry and relationships
based on number patterns.
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| Retrieved from https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wvAXzlHpSs8/maxresdefault.jpg on October 28th, 2017 |
One
of my favourite words to say is Biomimicry,
which is scientific approach to innovation that aims to crate sustainable
solutions to human challenges by imitating designs and patterns we see in
nature. The idea behind this is the belief that nature has already solved many
of the problems we face, their solutions are time tested (because of time
itself). Nature has used this time to do all the math for us, and we as society
are starting to take notice of this more and more. Biomimicry.org goes outlines
how biomimicry is changing our lives for the better, improving our designs of
the innovative things people are doing all over the world. One of my favourite
examples is how a bird’s beak made the fastest train in the world, even faster.
The Shinkansen Bullet Train in Japan travels at 200 miles per hour, but when it
first hit the tracks, the speed at which it traveled produced thunder like
claps every time it left a tunnel, making many people very mad. Engineers used
the design of the Kingfisher bird’s beak, who dives into water with a minuscule
splash, to redesign the front of the train. This change, made only possible because
of the things we learned from nature,
got rid of the thunderous clap, improved electricity use by 15% and made
the fastest train in the world, 10% faster.
Biomimicry is combining biology
and technology, nature can help us help others even more. Behind all types of
science and design, there is math. Behind any phenomenon in nature, there is
pattern and symmetry, which is math. These realization fuel my belief that
students need to be exposed to more and more real-world applications in math
class via blended learning designs. Science and math are two subjects that I believe
can be symbiotic in the classroom, teaching one with the other. It also makes
me very excited to teach math and science in my upcoming practicum, as I have
the opportunity to practice these types of strategies in my class.
Before
I taught math, I was not a math person. I didn’t get the math gene from my
mother, the accountant, that’s what I use to always say. I never considered myself
a math person, I don’t think I do yet either. What I do consider myself is a
teacher, an educator who has the opportunity to provide students with an array
of experiences in math class due to my lack of a mathematical background. I
never want my students to be the only one learning in my class, the best math
classes to me are ones based on overall discovery and teaching for all parties involved,
me included. My future students only
have two jobs to do in my classes. The first is to try, and the second is to
be kind. Whatever they do after that is a bonus.
Thanks for reading,
Mr. Primeau
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