The Marvelous Maya
I don’t have much time to write today, but I thought I’d write a brief reflection on the Maya. I’m really in awe of the accomplishments of the Maya. They were obsessed with tracking the movements of celestial bodies. Without telescopes or equipment they mapped the movements of the planet Venus and used these observations along with others to establish their incredibly accurate calendar.
It made me think… how spoiled our we we our cable tv, our docu-dramas, and the Internet. They had two sticks they used as sort of cross hairs for pinpointing heavenly objects in the sky, their eyes, and the night sky.
Their understanding of the patterning of celestial events led to calculations that defined their calendar.
Here’s a pretty good example of their calendar: http://www.geocities.com/wwwtimto/gfx/azteccalendar.jpg
When I was a child we had a pottery plate with the calendar on it. I think it was a souvenir from our visit to Mexico. I used to trace and follow the different patterns around the cycle. Of course I had no understanding of what they meant or even the purpose of the disc.
Is it happening? Connections are firing off…
This may seems strange, but I think a bit of a metamorphosis has come over me… no, don’t worry I’m not going to transform into a cockroach or some unpleasant things with more limbs than what’s normal for a mammal. I’ve been noticing that I actually, am finding it easier to explain or think out mathematical terms and concepts better than before. I actually start analyzing experiences or occurrences with Math in mind. As I’m out walking the dog, I notice my shadow and I ask…What angle is my shadow to me in the afternoon vs. the morning? What size rice dispenser should we get if we eat about 2-3 cups of rice a day? We’ve actually been eating more since we’ve made an effort to be gluten free. I want to design a baby blanket or quilt for a friend… but I want the proportions just right. Say I want the width to be 3 feet. To get the proper length I’m going to multiply 3 feet by 1.6 (the Golden Ratio).
Also, strangely, I’ve been finding that I actually am more drawn to reading about or even thinking about math concepts and problems lately. I’ve been reviewing a site called Ravelry which houses a ton of information on knitting patterns, yarns, etc. What I love about this site is that many knitters can contribute what they’ve learned about knitting a pattern or yarn, or using a different technique. They can contribute their own pictures of their finished objects or their process, and others can look at or observe. I often find myself looking at a texture of knitting or a pattern and start to build the chart for that pattern out in my head. I love charts and prefer to refer to them rather than written instructions. It’s funny because we have a good friend that’s a gifted and unorthodox programmer and gamer and he was looking over my shoulder one day when I was looking over a book of charted patterns and he noted, “Wow, that’s pretty cool it’s like a program.”
I’d never thought of it that way, but that’s right. Knitted charts are like numerical patterns or programs. The simple chart below is a great example. It’s actually the chart from the pattern I used to make part of my Mother’s X-mas gift this year. But you can see how the symbols are used to create instructions on stitching. I often find myself reviewing patterns without looking at photos of the knitting to see if I can imagine what the finished swatch will look like. Sometimes, if I’m waiting in line and the person in front of me is wearing a particularly fetching piece of work. I’ll start charting out the pattern in my head. It’s more fun than re-arranging the words on the message board to spell silly things.
I’m starting to think that perhaps my new appreciation of Math and my ability to see connections between Math and other applications or forms of analyzing the phenomena around us is being heavily influenced by my love of knitting (you think?). But it seems that that really what we need to do as teachers or educators, to tap into what our students are interested in and then start helping them build connections that make meaning.
Image of chart from Spindilicity:http://www.spindlicity.com/spring2006/smokering.shtml
