Pythagoras & The Pythagoreans: Mathematics, Music, and Mystery
Pythagoras was an ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher who lived around 500 BC. He traveled widely and gathered knowledge from diverse cultures, like Egypt. He also founded his own school of men and women in Italy. There, he taught that numbers held the key to understanding the whole universe. Pythagoras is best known for the Pythagorean theorem.
Fun Fact! There are stories that when Pythagoras discovered his famous theorem, he celebrated in a big way. Some say he sacrificed 100 oxen, while others claim it was just an ox made of flour. The Pythagoreans were famously vegetarian, so what do you think?
Math & Music: Pythagoreans explored the relationship between math and music. They discovered that musical notes have mathematical relationships. Hippasus, a member of the Pythagorean community, used bronze disks to show that musical notes are connected to mathematical ratios. This is considered one of the first scientific experiments!
Activity: Using a stringed instrument, like a guitar, try plucking the strings when pressing at 1/2 the string or 2/3s the string. Try different fractions. Can you hear the mathematical relationships in the sounds?
(My Pythagorean math blog is yet to be, but I do have some Pythagorean blog posts at https://aixd.substack.com)
You can find the whole thing on youtube
jk DD rocks
Asking the children "why do you think these sound different?" without telling them why first, letting them explore it themselves, gently correcting them along the way. Then pulling out another example and encouraging them to apply the same logic to the new example.
No, instead for the most part, children _still_ get what we all had: memorise these facts without explanation and fill out the blank space on the exam where the memorised words get you points. Most of our entire schooling is just an exercise in memorisation, not in thought and it's sad.