The main feature of the site is an interactive puzzle that asks the user to break up a fraction into the sum of three Egyptian fractions (fractions where the numerator is one)
Type of Material:
Drill and Practice
Animation
Recommended Uses:
Homework, individual, in class practice.
Technical Requirements:
Requires browser with javascript enabled and popup blocker turned off. Behavior is different on Firefox and Explorer.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Learn a bit of math history and practice breaking apart fractions.
Target Student Population:
Math History Students, Liberal Arts Math Students, or students in a developmental math class.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
None
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
This activity contains 21 practice problems that ask the student to break up the given fraction into a sum or sums of distinct fractions of the form 1/n. Included are an example, a tool to use a “fraction pie” to help add the fractions, and links to sites that explain the Egyptian fraction system. Each problem is clearly rated by difficulty level. There are also links to the parent “Mathcats” site which includes a variety of explorations mainly targeted at “kids” but suitable for many others.
Concerns:
While practice in Egyptian fractions is historically interesting the site gives no clue whether the techniques have any current use in either real life or future math classes.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
This activity can be used to provide student with a historical perspective of ancient mathematics and can demonstrate the difficulty that the ancient Egyptians may have had with mathematics due to their fraction system. It is also a great practice in fractions addition. The activity show the fraction pies dynamically which will help visual learners.
Concerns:
Teaching effectiveness is compromised because it is treated purely as a historical artifact with no mention of current uses, if any.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Any student should be able to do the activity without additional explanation from an instructor. The simplicity of the site makes it easy to navigate.
Concerns:
The need for javascript and popups makes the site behavior on different browsers unpredictable.
Creative Commons:
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