Home

Introduction

Learners

Standards

Process

Resources

Evaluation

Conclusion

Student Page

Credits

 

 

 

Process Overview

Step 1 - Quickly (>2 minutes) research the mathematicians that are in your assigned category. Organize your top 3 picks of mathematicians that you believe would benefit your group the most.

Step 2 - Research your mathematician.

Step 3 - Write the biography of your mathematician.

Step 4 - Come together with your group to design and create your poster boards.

Step 5 - Present your project to the class

Process - Step 1

Take a quick look in your area to decide who are you favorite mathematicians. Choose 3 of your favorites and rank them on the worksheet. Be sure to give a brief reason for your choices. Here you can either have students write their choices on a piece of paper or you can create a quick Word document with spaces for the names of mathematicians and reasoning.

Your teacher will do their best to match you up with one of your favorites based on availability. One possibility could be to have students pick numbers and call out their choices until all mathematicians are chosen.

European

Thales

Pythagoras

Euclid

Archimedes

Eratosthenes

Fibonacci

Asian

Wang Xiaotong

Liu Hui

Tsu Chung Chi

Yang Hui

Chu Shih-Cheih

Middle Eastern or Indian

Aryabhata

Brahmagupta

Al-Khwarizmi

Al-Samawal

Abul-Wafa

Madhava

Women

Hypatia

Maria Agnesi

Marie-Sophie Germaine

Sofia Vasilyevna-Kovalevskaya

Florence Nightingale

Get together in your group and discuss your choices with your teammates. Turn in all your worksheets together.

Process - Step 2

By now, your teacher will have assigned your group your dream team of mathematicians that you will present together. Now that you know which one you are researching, it's time to start finding out more about them. Here are the main points you should be thinking about as you are looking:

  • A brief description of their early life.
  • Influences that pushed them into the field of Mathematics.
  • Contribution(s) they made to Mathematics.

You will be writing a 1-page biography of your mathematician using the above items as a guideline.

Here are some additional links to the biographies of mathematicians.

Excellent reference for all - Go here first!

Women

European

Middle-Eastern or Indian

Asia

NOTE: There are not a lot of additional references for Asian mathematicians, so be sure to search the first website at the top of the list.

Step 3 – Write your Biography

This biography must contain :

  • A brief description of their early life.
  • Influences - Write about some Highlights of the person's life. How did this person influence others? Or was there someone who influenced him/her? What were the beliefs this person had?
  • Contribution(s) they made to Mathematics. To which branch of mathematics did they contribute? (Algebra, Statistics, etc.)

REMEMBER : Please plan your Biography before you begin writing. Write down some important facts about the person and key words that you are going to use in your esssay. Also, remember to vary the beginning of your sentences. Think of some new and exciting ways to begin sentences. After writing the first draft, ask someone to proof read your work. Check spelling and punctuation. The biography must be 1 page in length, typed, double-spaced, and 12pt font.

Step 4 – Design Poster Board

Get together with your group members and start thinking about a design for your poster board. The group has complete freedom with the layout and design of the board but the following must be included:

  1. Highlights of the written biographies (do not include the written biography in your poster)
  2. A timeline marking the life spans of your mathematicians beginning with the earliest born mathematician to present day.
  3. A quote from at least 2 of your mathematicians with an interpretation of the quote agreed upon by all group members.
  4. Pictures and diagrams.

Step 5 – Oral Presentation

Now take some time to prepare your presentation to the class.

Giving oral presentations is one of the most important skills you will need in high school and college. So, look at this part of the project as practice for the future. If you feel nervous about public speaking, you can go to the website Tips on Giving a Presentation for some helpful information to put your mind at ease.

Your team will have a total of 10-12 minutes to present.

After all teams have presented, you might create a timeline in your classroom that would include every mathematician researched. Each student can add their mathematician to the timeline.