Monday, May 25, 2020
Using the Manhattan Project Paper Topic to Teach Math
Using the Manhattan Project Paper Topic to Teach Math?As many of you know, I wrote an essay about the Manhattan Project Paper Topic and the way it was chosen to help explain the military's research. I was talking to a couple of friends the other day who told me they were thinking of writing their own article to put in to that same class and were wondering if anyone had any thoughts on it. After all, I already had that essay in mind. But I had to admit, it has its drawbacks.First off, the Manhattan Project Paper Topic is not exactly something I would recommend for teaching the high school or even middle school level. It really is an example of an overly simplified problem solving situation that leaves out some key factors that will help students understand the bigger picture, more complex problems and concepts. In addition, the problem solving process involved in this instance really wasn't all that unusual, and many processes are similar in nature in terms of how they were used.For e xample, when a person solves a problem by taking a step back, they typically do so to examine whether the steps taken in solving the problem make sense. This is something that might be seen in many successful and less successful problems. If the process is used in a big enough way, the end results can be as compelling as a very good solid solution to the problems we are trying to solve.In addition, taking the step back from the problem is a natural way to move on to another problem. For example, if someone is trying to figure out how to boil water, they may want to stop and think about what is causing the water to boil. The same applies to solving problems, as a person may use their own minds to allow them to move on to the next problem in an orderly manner.Lastly, people do not solve problems by stepping away from it. They don't sit down and try to understand the process of their problem solving steps and then come up with solutions by just 'feeling' what should happen and then thi nking what will happen if that step happens.It is the equivalent of someone taking out a piece of paper and solving the problem. Except in this case, there is no paper. Instead, you are required to use examples, diagrams, reasoning, math and just about anything else that can be used to explain a problem in a way that your students can easily understand.One might say that this makes the project paper topic too limiting, and that it doesn't provide a good explanation of why the process was used and where to find examples of similar processes in real life. While this is true, what is most important is that they are aware of what you mean when you use examples in order to show them how to solve the problem. In addition, if the teacher wants to actually use the process in their own way and model the steps that are required, this can work.If the teacher wants to use the Manhattan Project Paper Topic, one should realize that the project paper topic and the process described are not the sam e thing. I think I've shown in this essay that I do not think that they are the same thing and that the process outlined by this topic is more about helping students understand why certain steps are necessary. In this way, I think it would be easier to discuss the problem in the context of the process than it would be to explain it using examples.
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