Multiplication Tables and Mathematics Vocabulary
How many times do you see people apologizing for using math in a TV show, book, discussion group, etc.? They apologize for using equations or mathematical terms as if they were speaking Martians. These days, everyone has attended countless math lessons in school and many have studied the subject at a higher level, so there really is no reason to avoid these terms and concepts.
Even Professor Hawking of Cambridge University, in his book “A Brief History of Time”, said that he had been told to keep the number of equations to a minimum, as each equation he included halved his number of potential readers. .
What a crazy world we live in. You never hear a critic of a drama or fiction book apologize for using big words to describe the characters or the genre of the work. Why do we do this in mathematics and why do we mathematicians tolerate it?
Children love to learn and use new, often difficult, words. Watch them try to stick their tongue out at words like ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’, ‘Diplodocus’ or the name of some Italian or Lithuanian soccer player. They love!
So pay attention to math language and be sure to introduce it into your conversations with your children when appropriate, just as you would any other term.
You can start when they are very young and I would like to use the concept of multiplication as an example.
In how many ways can we describe a simple sum like ’12 x 6′?
All of the following statements imply this problem:
How much is 12 times 6?
How much is 12 multiplied by 6?
Find the product of 12 and 6?
How much is 12 times more than 6?
How much is 12 lots of 6?
What number is 12 times greater than 6?
How much is 12 groups of 6?
What is the twelfth multiple of 6?
Commutative law (the law that says that 12 x 6 is the same as 6 x 12)
There are similar words and phrases for the other three processes:
Addition – total, sum, all together, more, how many in total…
Subtraction: difference, how much more, subtract, remove, how many are left, how much less, how many more to do…
Division: divided by, divided into, quotient, shared by, half, a third of, how many 5’s make 35?…
Once you introduce these terms into your everyday conversation, other math terms like ‘equilateral triangle’, ‘isosceles’, ‘quadrilateral’, ‘hexagon’, ‘perimeter’, ‘millimeter’ and ‘magnification’ will not scare them away. and soon it will also become part of their everyday language.
Children’s brains are designed to learn new words quickly and love to try, so use this to your advantage (and theirs).