OFMS February Newsletter

Math + Collaboration = problem solving

Doug Desper, High School Math Teacher

Last year in the April newsletter we asked the questions: “What is Calculus?”, and “When is Calculus ever used in real life?” These are still great questions, and the answers continue to increase at a faster pace each year. Calculus, in its most basic form, is a method for computing the rate at which something is changing; a method for finding maximums and minimums to various scenarios, as well as a method for accumulating total amounts in which variables are continually changing. These applications are used on a daily basis today in the disciplines of architecture, engineering, graphic arts, biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, medicine, pharmacology, business, manufacturing, banking, and economics.

In our current world we have been dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic; in particular, the rates in which the virus has spread throughout various parts of the world, how infectious it is to people of different blood types, how it affects people with different health issues, how deadly it can be to different age groups, in the development of vaccines, and in the distribution of the vaccine. Calculus has been an integral part in finding solutions to all of these issues related to the Coronavirus in the collaborative fields of biology, medicine, pharmacology, chemistry, physics, and manufacturing. The key word here is “collaborative”. Professionals from these disciplines are all working collaboratively to find solutions that are needed to get society back to a greater sense of normality.

With all of that said, it is critical to know that here at Oak Farm Montessori School, in our mathematics classes, students are encouraged to collaborate to find solutions to problems. Not only are they encouraged to collaborate, they find that it is imperative to collaborate to find solutions to the most difficult real-life problems that are presented to them in class. As students continue to take higher and higher level mathematics, they find that mathematics cannot stand alone in solving real-life problems. Knowledge of other fields of study are

essential to understanding and solving these real-life problems.

Currently, we see professionals from the previously mentioned disciplines of biology, medicine, pharmacology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics, and manufacturing all working tirelessly to find the needed solutions to the current pandemic. What do we see here at OFMS that prepares students for that collaborative work experience between disciplines? First, all mathematics classes incorporate applications to various professional work careers. Those applications become more complex and more interwoven with multiple disciplines as students move up to higher and higher level mathematics. Second, we are continually looking for curricular situations that encourage and even require integration of multiple disciplines.

These collaborative problem solving opportunities require two elements from students. The first is a mastery of the underlying mathematical skills (which is required at all levels of mathematics at OFMS) needed to solve the problem. The second is the ability to integrate all students’ individual background knowledge needed to collaboratively address the real-life problems that are presented to the students. This is the arena where true problem-solving skills are developed and where students get the opportunity to experience success in the collaborative work of individuals with diverse knowledge and educational backgrounds. This is the goal of mathematics here at Oak Farm Montessori School; developing students who possess a wealth of higher level mathematical skills and can effectively work with others to integrate their knowledge and insight to become the problem solvers of tomorrow. These students will be the ones that find the solutions to real-life world-changing issues of the future.

Mathematics is not about numbers, equations, computations or algorithms: it is about understanding.

~William Paul Thurston