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ERIC Number: EJ802691
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0045-0685
EISSN: N/A
The Spirit of Investigation: Modifying Pascal and Fibonacci
Lopez-Real, Francis
Australian Mathematics Teacher, v64 n2 p2-7 2008
Using investigations in teaching mathematics has for many years become an established feature of most curricula around the world. Investigations can be a vehicle for enabling children to experience the genuine excitement that comes from mathematical discovery. The true spirit of inquiry and investigation lies in the mind-set that continually asks questions about a given situation. The author relates that he was brought back to earth by some of his students when they were discussing these ideas. One of the students commented that topics like Pascal's Triangle, the Fibonacci Sequence, Golden Ratio, etc. must be among the most explored topics in mathematics and are often used for investigations in teaching. How is it possible to come up with any new questions on such topics? An Internet search using Google, for example, gives thousands of hits for each of these phrases. So, what can possibly be left to investigate? In this article, the author provides several examples of modifying Pascal's Triangle and Fibonacci sequence, and illustrates the point that it does not matter how many previous investigations have been conducted, as long as the information that students are investigating is new to them.
Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT). GPO Box 1729, Adelaide 5001, South Australia. Tel: +61-8-8363-0288; Fax: +61-8-8362-9288; e-mail: office@aamt.edu.au; Web site: http://www.aamt.edu.au
Publication Type: Guides - Classroom - Teacher; Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A