One of our activities each day, as we start math, is to count the days of the school year. This is a classic kindergarten, first grade activity, but we give it a special twist in room 19 by adding counting in Roman numerals and in Base 8.
I think that just like you never really understand the structure of your own language until you can compare and contrast it with the structure of another, only by learning other number systems will students really grasp our number system in its wondrous simplicity and in its astonishing complexity. Roman numerals certainly help the student understand the brilliance of using only 10 digits in the Hindu-Arabic system to write all possible number. Imagine trying to subtract MMCMDLVII from MMMMXXII. It’s a headache even to consider the possibility!
But Base 8 helps the students to really grasp the place value concept better. By eliminating the digits 8 and 9, students have to imagine a world where things are counted
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, and so forth.
It enchants them and fries their brains at the same time.
Today we took that counting a little further and we started to subtract and add in Base 8. At first, students wanted to use their existing Base 10 number facts. For example, they wanted to tell me that 11 – 3 was 8. But then I reminded them that this digit didn’t exist in that number system, and they had to create number lines to learn that in Base 8 the answer is 6!
Homework: (1) Study spelling. (2) Dog and Leopard study questions. (3) Multiplication by 2 and 5, pages 118-119.
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