A Creative Encounter of the Numerical Kind

A WebQuest for Middle Grades Math Students

The year is 2073 A.D. and the President of the United Nations has drafted you (because of your famous mathematical brain) to join a team of mathematical consultants to travel to Zonetia, a recently discovered planet in a neighboring galaxy. King Zoppo (he's the green guy on the Home page) of the Zony Tribe on Zonetia insists that his primitive society cannot begin to make technological advancements unless they have guidance to develop a brand-new base 4 number system to fit the Zonies' two-fingered hands. That's right; they have two hands just like you, but each hand has only two fingers. Therefore, they need a specially-tailored number system with only four symbols. In order to best preserve Zony culture, King Zoppo, in his wisdom, has requested that the new number symbols be different than those used on Earth. Because King Zoppo knows that Earthlings spent thousands and thousands of years developing the current U.S./European number system, he wants you to use your experience to assist him in leading his people through an efficient process, instead of leaving them to build their own number system slowly, through trial and error. There's no time to waste! In exchange for your work King Zoppo has promised to send much-needed energy resources to planet Earth. Although the mission is considered dangerous, the success of your team could bring you fame and fortune and make life better for billions of Zonies and Earthlings.

Your big questions are: Why does our number system have place value? How does place value work? By following each step listed on the "process" page you will: PREPARE FOR YOUR MISSION: While in flight on the way to planet Zonetia, you will adopt the role of a specialized math expert and use given Internet sites to research number systems, counting, and place value. BECOME A TEAM: Share your new knowledge with your group; CREATE A NEW NUMBER SYSTEM: Create a base 4 number system with your group (using original symbols and names) to launch the technological development of the Zony tribe; TEACH THE ZONIES: As a team, present your new number system to the Zony Tribal Council using your choice of visual aids: a poster, book, Power Point, or Excel spreadsheet.

Part I: Activate Prior Knowledge

Write down everything you already know about place value in the "know" column in a chart. Write a question in the "want to know" column of the chart. Feel free to add questions to this chart as you progress through the WebQuest.

Part II: Gaining New Knowledge Your teacher will assign you to a group of 3 students. As a group decide which of the 3 roles each member of your group will assume. Scroll down to your section of detailed instructions and Internet resource links.

Historian

Abacus Operator

Number Systems Analist

Historian

1. 2. 3.

Open a blank Word document with the title Historian Research Report. Click on this site Historian Research Report to get the questions you have to answer Complete the Historian Research Report as you visit the Internet sites provided below.

African Counting Method 37,000 BC Egyptian Numerals 3,500 BC Babylonian Numbers Chart, 2,000BC Mayan Number System, 400AD

Abacus Operator

1. 2. 3.

Open and save a blank Word document with the title Abacus Operator Report. Click on this site Abacus Operator Report to get the questions you have to answer Complete the Abacus Operator Report as you visit the Internet sites provided below

The Invention of the Abacus Abacus Introduction: The Art of Calculating with Beads The Abacus History Counting in various number systems

Number Systems Analyst

1.

Open and save a blank Word document with the title Number System Report.

2. 3.

Click on this site Number System Report. to get the questions you have to answer Complete the Number Systems Analyst Report as you visit the Internet sites provided below.

A Basic Review of Our Base 10 Number System What is it? Place Value to 1,000 Racing With Place Value Binary--How Does it Work?

Part III: Sharing Your New Knowledge Meet with your group and teach them what you learned from your Internet research. Discuss your response to the reflection question on your report. Post at least one thing you learned onto the chart in the "learned" column.

Part IV: Creating the New Number System Draw and name 4 new symbols which will become the digits used in the new number system. Think about how the number system will work. Make sure you use place value in designing the new number system. Will you need a symbol to represent 0? Will you need a symbol to represent 4? Make sure your symbol designs are simple enough to write quickly, because you will be using them over and over.

Part V: Presenting the New Number System

1. Make sure everyone in your group continues to participate as you prepare and present the final project. 2. Agree on a visual aid to use for presenting the new number system: a book, poster, Power Point, or Excel spreadsheet. Make sure the visual aid includes: a key with each symbol, name, English translation, and a picture of the number of objects (dots are fine) it represents. a rule to tell when you regroup. a chart showing the value of the number one symbol in each of the first 7 columns/places. The value of each place should be shown in the English number system in its expanded form and as an exponent. a counting list with the symbols and pictures (dots are fine) up to 70.

3. Have each member of your team present one part of the number system to the Zony Tribal Council. Be sure to clearly show the visual aid and the online abacus for counting. Explain why place value is an important concept in your new number system. 4. Congratulations! Your mission is complete. You are now free to return to Earth and resume using our good-old base 10 number system