GRADE FIVE: the required math elements

• Topics:
  • Euclid, Books I & II, constructions only
  • geometric algebra option

    Note: Bruce and Don maintained that it is impossible to teach this in Grade 5 on the grounds that the children do not understand quadratic equations, and not even square roots. I agreed to omit this topic for this year, pending further discussion.

  • topics from the history of math in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, and Megalithic Western Europe
  • Pythagorean triangles and triples
• Activities:
  • graphical solutions for problems
  • Chinese proof of the Pythagorean theorem
• Suggested Integrated Projects (one required):
  • Stonehenge and carved balls of Scotland
  • The Golden Ratio in the art and architecture of ancient Egypt
  • The monochord and the scales of Sumer with musical arithmetic
  • The rope-stretchers of Egypt and the orientation of temples
  • The squareness of the pyramids
  • The relations of Phi and Pi
  • Musical arithmetic of the Rig Veda
  • Binary arithmetic of the I Ching