$44
for 4 classesAlien Math: Exploring Alternative Number Bases
Completed by 10 learners
Ages 9-11
Live Group Class
Live video meetings
1x per week, 4 weeks
4-8 learners per class
50 min
What's included
4 live meetings
3 hrs 20 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
In this 4 week course, students will practice translating numbers in several different base number systems. We will start with something simple, like base 4, and if it feels right to the group, work up to base 12, which gets really fun because our fingers can be used to count, add, subtract, multiply and divide in this base (look at all four of your fingers and notice that each finger has 3 sections, and 3x4 = 12!). After listening to a mini lesson, students will have time to work on math problems that go with the base we are currently working on and ask questions. For people who learn to speak multiple languages, their understanding of grammar, tenses and language development becomes more deeply understood. They have to learn how to perceive language in a different way. This is the same for learning to compute in a different base, creating a more in-depth view of what numbers are to increase understanding when computing. Class Format and Structure: I will begin with a mini lesson on how to compute in a different base using video, screen sharing and a whiteboard. Then I will give the students several practice problems to work out on their own, asking questions as they need and then sharing aloud how they solved the problems with the other students. I highly value their thought process over just getting the right answer! During the final class, we will review the number bases we already explored and I will encourage students to pick a base and explain how to translate numbers in that base to others. Students can imagine their own alien with a different number of fingers and share with us how their alien counts and computes in this different number system. We have ten fingers and use the base-ten number system, but their alien might have only 6 fingers and therefore computing in base 6 would make more sense for them. This will be a fun way for the student to practice teaching what they have practiced and learned in this course. * I have adjusted the learner age for this class to 9-11. I have another listing for 11-13 year olds where we will move at faster pace and cover each base with more depth.
Learning Goals
While they are learning how to compute in different bases, students will:
- deepen their understanding of place value in our base ten number system by examining how it works in other bases.
- practice multiplying and dividing by single digit numbers, thus strengthening their basic math fluency.
- understand the symbolism of numbers and invent their own symbols for numerals beyond 9.
- have fun being playful and creative with numeracy!
Other Details
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Meet the teacher
Teacher expertise and credentials
I have been working with children in a variety of schools for the past 20 years. I have a degree in Elementary Education with an area of emphasis in Mathematics. After college, I began teaching 5th grade in the public school setting and found that most students weren't receiving the foundation to love math and numbers. Instead, many of the "strong" students were those who could follow steps, yet they didn't really grasp or understand what they were doing and why the algorithms they were using actually worked.
I left my public school career in 2009 to pursue teaching in small private schools, first a small Quaker school and now an Agile Learning Center. I am continually working on reinventing how math is presented to children. I have spent the past decade reading, researching and testing out my ideas, with most of my teaching pulling from the work of John Van De Walle.
John Van De Walle's book Teaching Elementary and Middle School Mathematics is a fantastic resource for math games and lessons for students. This text was used when I studied teaching mathematics in college, however in the public school world I was never allowed to incorporate any of his strategies or techniques into the classroom. I've found that ability in the private school world and am now excited to offer this to the Outschool community.
Key to Van De Walle's approach is the use of invented algorithms, estimation, problem-based inquiry, and discussion to build a solid foundation of mathematics. Students are not rushed to learn standard algorithms. I firmly believe that no child should be pushed to use a system that doesn't make sense to them. I care to create more space for a love of numbers, logic, and problem solving that comes with math, not the memorization of steps to just get an answer.
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