3+Math+in+Literature

http://www.bookbundlz.com/BBArticle.aspx?articleId=25
 * GENERAL BOOK DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:**

brainstorm together, categorize or organize our ideas
 * Introduction: What are the ways we can look at Math & Literature?**

Read aloud a few short examples, see how they connect math and literature... //Loves Me, Loves Me Not (Do the Math)//, Steven Strogatz (p.380-2) - cute analogy of modeling the ebb & flow of love between Romeo & Juliet using calculus use the poem about the number 8 at end of problem solving workbook; Sherlock Holmes & Dancing Men read a few paragraphs setting up the mystery, then hand out the code, and discuss how Sherlock broke it.

Jigsaw Readings with questions/share with class - each student chooses one of 3 essays to read for HW. //If Mathematics is a Language, How do you Swear in it?// David Wagner (p. 47-53) draws connections between math/language //What is Mathematics For?// Underwood Dudly (p.1 - 12) //Mathematics in Science Fiction: Mathematics as Science// //Fiction,// David Fowler Question(s): What is the purpose of the essay? Who is intended audience? Do you agree with the author's conclusions? Why or why not? What questions do you have about the reading? Choose other notes/questions from Critical Reading Outline for students to answer. also good general reading questions here be prepared to discuss in class tomorrow
 * HW Day 1: Essays: Writing about math** (from The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010 & 2011, by Mircea Pitici)

Discuss HW: Students meet in groups with kids who read the same essay and discuss answers to questions. Then regroup with only 1 from each essay to share/summarize their essay and compare/contrast their answers to questions.
 * Day 2:**

Students choose one of two excerpts: __Fermat's Enigma__, by Simon Singh excerpt pg. 60-71 about the marginal note, proving theorems, and Wiles' fascination, then pp.101-109 about Sophie Germain's contribution to Fermat's Theorem.
 * HW: __Fermat's Enigma__ & __Zero: The Bio of a Dangerous Idea__ excerpts**

__Zero: The Bio of Dangerous Idea__ excerpt: //Blind Dates// (p. 53 - 58) - development of BC and AD, //Zero's Triumph// (p.78-81) - commerce influences acceptance of 0, and brief explanation of old banking system and "tally sticks" //Zero Heat (p. 158 - 165)// - development of absolute zero leads thermodynamics to statistical mechanics to study of light to "ultraviolet catastrophe" to break down in physics.

Question(s): Summarize what the reading was about, and your reaction to it. What questions do you have about the reading? Is it valid to classify this books as a biography? Why or why not? Who or what is the main character of the book?

be ready to discuss in class

HW Discussion: Discuss answers to intro questions in groups. General discussion questions: http://blogs.wilps.wlwv.k12.or.us/library/?page_id=803
 * Day 3:**

Then, we'll choose a passage from each reading for students to respond to on a piece of paper, then pass the paper and respond to previous person's comment, etc. until every one has had a chance to write on each page.

Select 10 poems of varied types for whole class to read for homework. Use Anthology: Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics Amalie "Emmy" Noether poem: http://poetrywithmathematics.blogspot.com/2010/03/poetry-of-logical-ideas.html Intersections - Poetry with Mathematics: @http://poetrywithmathematics.blogspot.com/2010/03/howard-nemerovs-mathematical-imagery.html also Joanne Growney collection of math poems gathered by joanne growney @http://mathdl.maa.org/images/upload_library/4/vol6/Growney/MathPoetry.html blog of math poetry, substitutes words into equations with math operations...interesting...__Mathematical Poetry__ Ancient poetry uses: - Choose favorite 3 poems - why? be prepared to discuss in class. Question(s): Who is the speaker? What is the setting? What is the poem about? What words struck you? Discuss word choice, imagery, and symbolism.
 * HW: Poetry**

Discuss HW: Vote on board for top 3 poems to discuss. Then discuss each as whole class.
 * Day 4:**

Q: What is science fiction? Write down as many science fiction stories as you can. Share, then discuss definition in class. Then students choose one of 3 excerpts below: __The Time Machine__, HG Wells, Ch. 1 pp. 3-11 The Time Traveller tries to get some colleagues to question their assumptions of 3-d, and that time is not a different kind of dimension than space. Shows his model machine. __Flatland__, Edwin Abbott, Ch 1, pp. 3-5, 8-13, 17-19 basic premise of flatland, class structure, and how they 'see' each other, laws... __Dunwich Horror and Others__, HP Lovecraft - pp. 165 - 172, parts IV and V, about Wilbur Whateley's weirdness and task from his grandfather to find out about //Yog-Sothoth// (being from another dimension...)
 * HW: Science Fiction**

Questions: How does the reading meet the definition of science fiction? What aspect of the story could be considered 'real' vs. 'surreal'. Why do you think the author chose certain parts of be 'surreal'? List some details from the novel that describe science and scientific principles and how they're violated. Choose a character and describe the relationship with a scientific principle in the book.

Tomorrow you'll make a visual poster to illustrate & summarize what your reading was about. Bring your creative juices!


 * Day 5:**
 * HW Discussion**: Make sci fi poster to illustrate your reading to rest of class, and discuss questions.


 * Pick your book for Book Club!** Browse through these and pick one to read in next 2 weeks. Book clubs must have from 2-4 students.

Fiction: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Hadden - story of autistic boy who solves mystery of dog's murder (for which he is blamed) using logic Sherlock-Holmes-style. __A Certain Ambiguity__, by Guarav Suri (304 pgs) - more math - __Turing: A Novel About Computation__, by Christos Papadimitriou, 283 pgs - a love story in a networked age, triangle between hacker, software exec, archaeologist, including computer program...

Biography: __Leonardo's Universe__, by Bulent Atalay The Prince of Mathematics: Carl Friedrich Gauss: W. Trent, 264 pages, 4.5 stars __THe Man Who Loved only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos__, by Paul Hoffman, 336 pgs

Math Topics: The Power of Limits: Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art, and Architecture, Gyorgi Doczi (160 pgs) __Fermat's Enigma__, by Simon Singh (315 pgs)
 * [|"e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library)]** by Eli Maor, 248 pgs

Have graphic organizer for students to fill out to make a reading plan, and also choose questions each day as they get through reading. Final product will be an online book review, and turn in discussion questions.
 * Days 6-12:**

ideas: students keep reading journal, teachers sit with students regularly and ask probing questions to deepen their analysis of the book. text renderings - students come in with a sentence, phrase, and word from section to use for a discussion, use GTG's protocols? have students come in with a passage and a question they'd like to talk about, have kids take turns being the discussion leader for a day;




 * Short Story: Sherlock Holmes and the Dancing Men**
 * Online program to practice code-breaking: http://www.crealude.net/us/codes/**


 * //Quest for God's Number// Rik Van Grol (p. 27 - 34 . . Rubik's Cube)**


 * //THe Mysterious Equilibrium of Zombies, and other things a Mathematician Sees at the Movies// Samuel Arbesman (p. 383-386)**

[|A History of Pi] **by Petr Beckmann,, 208 pgs (more about history than pi)** [|An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" [the square root of minus one]]** by Paul J. Nahin, 296 pages (contains calculus math stuff, for more advanced students)
 * books:**
 * __21: Bringing Down the House__, by Ben Mezrich, (272 pgs) story of 5 mit kids who beat vegas with their professor, betty has**
 * __Euler: The Master of us All__, by William Dunham 196 pgs**
 * __Perfect Rigor: A Genius and Math Breakthrough of the Century__, by Masha Gessen (250 pgs) story of Grigory Perelman, who solved Poincare Conjecture in 2006, then went into total seclusion.**
 * __In Code__, by Sarah Flannery (350 pgs) story of young Irish woman who solved some coding problem, taught by her mathematician father**
 * __Lewis Carroll in Numberland__, by Robin Wilson (230 pgs) story of Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, and his math/logic-filled life**
 * Archimedes and the door of science: Jeanne Bendick, 5 star**
 * Hypatia of Alexandria: Maria Dzielska, 176 pages, 4.5 stars**
 * The Calculus of Friendship: What a Teacher and a Student Learned about Life while Corresponding about Math: Steven Strogatz, 196 pages, 4.5 stars**
 * Galileo in Rome: The Rise and Fall of a Troublesome Genius: Shea, William, 272 pages, 4.5 stars**
 * __The Man Who Counted__, by Malba Tahan**
 * __Uncle Petros and Godbach's Conjecture__, by Apostolos Doxiadis, 220 pgs - fictional account of mathematician who spends life obsessed with solving Goldbach's conjecture, that every even number greater than 2 is the sum of 2 primes**
 * Alice in Wonderland, or Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll**
 * __The Gold Bug__, by Edgar Allen Poe, short story - code breaking - statistical analysis**
 * Moneyball - http://www.amazon.com/Moneyball-Michael-Lewis/dp/0393338398/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343057548&sr=8-2&keywords=moneyball**
 * __Zero, the Biography of a Dangerous Idea__, by Charles Seife 248 pgs**
 * __The Golden Section: Nature's Greatest Secret__, by Scott Olsen (64 pgs)**
 * The Golden Ratio: The Most Astonishing Number, by Mario Livio**