The King's Chessboard by David Birch tells the story about an exotic king and an old wise man. The wise man provided the king with a service, to which the king wanted to reward him. After much disagreement over whether to accept a reward the wise man finally concedes and decides to ask for a grain of rice on the first square on the king's chessboard. With each day that passes the number of grains of rice on the previous square will be doubled. It does not take to long for the king to realize that he has been outsmarted by the old man and his knowledge of exponential growth that requires elephants to carry off the amount of grains of rice. The power of math is shown in this story along with the wisdom of completing the calculation in your head before you agree to a deal, as the king should have done.
With each day, we move to a different square on the chessboard. The first square shall have but one grain of rice on it. The second square shall have two grains of rice, the third would have four and the fourth should have eight. This is an example of the exponential growth of doubling. At first it starts off but a small increase until it starts to reach large amounts rather quickly. By the tenth day there are already one hundred grains of rice on the one square.
The imagination is a powerful instrument, some would argue even more powerful than your logical and conscious mind. Most children are not lacking in terms of imagination but suffer when it comes to grasping mathematical concepts. The power of words transports them to a land where their imagination runs free and they are faced with an adventure in which they must rely on their wits. Allowing them to benefit from using their logic to excel. By using literature to relay mathematical concepts both sides of their brains are being put to use, therefore allowing them to better recall theories in terms of stories. Words open up the imagination while math enhances them.
Shahad Nejaim
With each day, we move to a different square on the chessboard. The first square shall have but one grain of rice on it. The second square shall have two grains of rice, the third would have four and the fourth should have eight. This is an example of the exponential growth of doubling. At first it starts off but a small increase until it starts to reach large amounts rather quickly. By the tenth day there are already one hundred grains of rice on the one square.
The imagination is a powerful instrument, some would argue even more powerful than your logical and conscious mind. Most children are not lacking in terms of imagination but suffer when it comes to grasping mathematical concepts. The power of words transports them to a land where their imagination runs free and they are faced with an adventure in which they must rely on their wits. Allowing them to benefit from using their logic to excel. By using literature to relay mathematical concepts both sides of their brains are being put to use, therefore allowing them to better recall theories in terms of stories. Words open up the imagination while math enhances them.
Shahad Nejaim
nice, job, shahad! i really like your last sentence! spot on!
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