Professor Little
Applied Precalculus
22 March 2015
Infinity and Me
For this assignment, I am using the storybook Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford. This story follows a young girl who consults her friends and family in an attempt to define "infinity." She asks her friends, teachers, and her grandmother what infinity means to the, and she received a wide variety of answers in response. For example, while her best friend instantly thought of the infinity symbol, her school chef used the example of cutting a noodle in half forever -- a thought that Uma, the protagonist, had trouble fathoming. Uma remained in a state of unrest over the intangibility of "infinity," and it was not until her grandmother complimented her shoes at dinner, that she realized that her love for her grandmother was infinite, and that was what infinity meant to her.
The main mathematical theme in this story is the concept of infinity, and that it is impossible to measure infinity with distinct numbers. Hosford demonstrates this well by using the different characters' perceptions of infinity to represent the various definitions that infinity can have. The first boy in Uma's class attempts to write it in a number, but says that infinity is a number that goes on "forever and ever," showing how there is no end to infinity.
I think that the storybook application is a great one because I could follow Uma's thought process as she learned how to define infinity in her unique way. This is a great model of how we might go through our own process with infinity, and with any large mathematical concept. While math can be very formulaic, sometimes it is best understood when we can explain concepts in a way that helps us understand. That way might be different from someone else's, but, as Uma learned, it can still be right.
awww, that's such a sweet way to look at a mathematical concept!! i wish there were more stories like that because it would be a lot more reassuring to me that your own way of understanding math may be different but it doesn't mean it's wrong. that moral is almost as cool as the idea of infinity:-))
ReplyDeleteIt seems like this book does a great job of explaining an abstract concept to young learners. Your comment about learning math through your own personal understanding is very true!
ReplyDeletei agree, brenna! so true!
Deletechanning,
ReplyDeletethis story is near and dear to my heart, because it conveys the real beauty of mathematics by showing the beauty in relationships. you do a great job of giving a synopsis of the book and i like your conclusions about how literature can ease the formulaic stigma of mathematics. your explanation of the mathematical concept is good, but it would have been good to see just a little more detail or maybe explaining how the little boy tried to write out the number or an example of some of the "perceptions" you mentioned.
all in all, though, a nice post!
professor little