The Fifth Great Lesson: The Story of Numbers

The last of the lessons is the Fifth Great Lesson: The Story of Numbers, also called the History of Mathematics. This lesson begins with the earliest civilisations, who often only had “one”, “two”, and “more than two” as their numeric system. It continues with a look at different numbering systems throughout the centuries, culminating in the decimal system that we use today.

This lesson leads to the study of:

• Mathematics: operations, fractions, decimals, multiples, squares, cubes, percentages, ratio, probability, intro to algebra

• Numbers: origins of numbers and systems, bases, types of numbers, scientific notation, mathematicians

• Geometry: congruency, similarity, nomenclature of lines, angles, shapes, solids, measurement, theorems

• Application: story problems, measurement, estimation, graphs, patterning, rounding, money concepts.