Saturday SAVY, Day 1, Secrets of the MoLi Stone (3rd-4th)
Hello SAVY Families,
Day one of Fall SAVY 2024 was full of creativity, curiosity, and the development of mathematical skills. I was so impressed by the SAVY mathematician’s dedication and hard work today, and I am honored to get to tell you about it.
To start our morning, we got to know one another using a “common ground” activity. The mathematicians worked in their table groups to find something that all four students at their table had in common. While this seemed difficult at first, I was impressed by the mathematician’s creativity in finding a common ground. Next, we took a pretend flight to China where we got to see a glimpse of what the city and rural landscapes of the country look like. This set us up to be introduced to our main puzzle for our course: The Moli Stone. We positioned ourselves as mathematicians who are going to assist the archaeologists in figuring out what the Moli Stone means.
To start, the SAVY mathematicians were given a task and background: “You are a mathematician on a team of archaeologists working in a rural part of China. This team wants to find out about the numbers used by people who lived long ago. The archaeologists figured out that this stone was created by two different groups of people. Each group had its own number system, and the symbols under the pictures represent numbers that tell the cost of the items. In order to trade, each item must cost an equal amount in both societies. One of the two groups of people uses a 1 and a 9 just like we do. Your job at the end of the week is to figure out what the other symbols mean and what kind of number system these people used.”
I told our SAVY mathematicians that the Moli Stone is based on the real-life discovery of the Rosetta Stone. Some mathematicians had heard of it before, but for those who had not, we built our background knowledge by observing the Rosetta Stone. Then, we built background knowledge about archaeology and the job of archaeologists. We observed images of artifacts and discussed what the artifacts may teach us about the past. As an enrichment activity, the SAVY mathematicians made their own “secret room.” Within their secret room, the mathematicians were challenged to make seven artifacts using a variety of craft supplies. The mathematicians were told that the artifacts should teach future archaeologists about their lives today. Ask your SAVY mathematician what they included in their secret room, and why?
After lunch, we were introduced to the grounding concept of our class: systems. First, we created a definition of a system. Next, we brainstormed examples of systems. Then, we debated if the provided examples were systems. Finally, we generalized systems and edited our definition. The SAVY mathematicians were told that the rest of the focus of our class would be on number systems.
The first number system we studied is the place value system. To explore more about place value, our mathematicians were challenged to figure out how many combinations of $0.47 they could make using only pennies and dimes. We repeated this activity with $0.37, $0.57, and so on. We observed patterns relating back to our generalization of systems, which states that “systems follow rules.” Then, we learned more about the system of place value used in the United States, the base ten system. To challenge our minds using the base ten system, we played a series of card games: card game capers, some sum, and some difference. Each of these games required students to use their knowledge of the base ten system, regrouping, and place value to create either the largest or the smallest two-digit number possible. We connected this back to our generalizations of systems by talking about how we used each of the four generalizations to make decisions when playing the games. The SAVY mathematicians seemed to really enjoy the game structure of our learning this afternoon!
I am looking forward to seeing each of you again next Saturday, and I hope you have a great week at school!
Discussion Questions:
- What did you put in your secret room? What would this teach a future archaeologist about you?
- What is a system? Can you provide any examples? Do you remember any of the generalizations of systems?
- Which of the three games was your favorite today? Card Game Capers, Some Sum, or Some Difference? How did you use your knowledge of place value, base ten, and systems to play these games?
Sincerely,
Ms. Anna Gruchot