Finding the radius of a circle or calculating a quadrangle will soon be easy for a non-lover of mathematics too, almost like adding two and two.
An innovative way to learn mathematics is to be launched in nearly 70 schools in the city under the North Urban Resource Centre of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA). Named ‘Aids for Intense Mathematics Study’ (AIMS), it has a maths kit which will have instruments, everything from a geometric compass to a fraction disc, to make learning mathematics fun and engaging.
The kit will keep growing, as the students keep hopping to higher classes.
“Mathematics appears demon-like to students because of the serious way it’s being taught. Apart from a geometric box, there are not many instruments used for doing maths. This Mathematics Kit will have more instruments and fun objects to make the learning interesting. Of course most of the instruments will be connected to the textbooks,’’ says Harikumar, North URC Project Officer.
The maths kit will be given to students of class III to VII initially.
Abacus, which is yet to transcend the addition-subtraction levels, will be put to use to teach multiplication and even division lessons.
Fraction discs to learn additions, tangrams to learn geometric portions (it’s like a puzzle) and other jigsaw puzzles which help students grasp, learn and store forever the techniques in mathematics would be included in the kit.
Easy-to-make objects would be made by students themselves. To start with, the North URC has created a list of such learning instruments to fill the maths kit. The search is still on to find more.
“We have arrived at the choices for a minimum level kit. More discussions will be held in our cluster meetings as to which are the maths portions that really trouble students and which are the ones that could be made easier using maths kit. The suggestions will be put before a workshop attended by teachers before we finally design the mathematics kit,’’ says Sunitha, a trainer with North URC.
A decision will be made quickly, before next week, officials say. The study materials and kits will then be bought with the funds or grants of Cluster Resource Centres and through sponsorships. The City Corporation is also learnt to have promised all help in implementing the project in the UP schools within its purview.
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