Reflective Piece

The blogging process was a whole new experience for me. I never blogged before or even thought about it to create a blog. I enjoyed it to create a blog about something I like and have experience about.

I liked the idea that you can create your blog and use a template that reflect your theme. Never before I did a project that is like this one. In a blog you can create posts where you can speak your mind and you also have a voice that can be heard by people around the world. 

Blogging is also a tool I can use in class when I am a teacher one day. I can use a blog to give the students extra assignments to do. It is also a way I can involve the shy learners to feel free to say how they feel.

I think blogs are a good way to put a message out there or to help other people. I would recommend a blog to anyone who is passionate about writing and communicating with other people. 

Educational Piece

The number system is classified into sets. Different types of numbers have different types of uses. You get natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, real numbers and complex numbers.

Natural numbers are the most familiar numbers. It is also called whole numbers or counting numbers. It is numbers like 0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10. The mathematical symbol for natural numbers is N.

Integers are positive and negative numbers. It can be defined as a number that produces 0 when it is added to the corresponding positive integer. For example -5 +5 = 0. A negative sign is used to indicate that the number is a negative number. The mathematical symbol for integers is Z.

-10; -9; -8; -7; -6; -5; -4; -3; -2; -1; 0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10

Rational numbers can be expressed as a fraction with an integer numerator and a positive integer denominator. Negative denominators are commonly being avoided because every rational number you get is equal to a fraction with a positive denominator. The mathematical symbol used for rational numbers is Q. 
Example: (a on b) where a and b are integers and b is not 0

Real numbers include all the measuring numbers. Usually real numbers are represented by using decimal numerals. The decimal point is placed to the right of the digit. The mathematical symbol of real numbers is R.

Complex numbers arose from trying to find closed formulas for the roots of cubic and quartic polynomials. Real numbers can be extended to the complex numbers. The mathematical symbol for complex numbers is C. 

Narrative Piece

Everyone knows that you need figures to do Maths Literacy and Maths and that it is important but not everyone knows where figure come from and how it all began.

Thousands of years ago there were no figures that have suggested the concepts of “two” or “three”. Fingers, toes, stones, sticks and even eyes where use instead to represent numbers. People also could not keep up with the time because there were not things like clocks, calendars or any similar thing to measure time with. The sun was used to distinguish between noon and late afternoon, while the stars and the moon was use to know when it was dark.

The older communities did not even have word for numbers bigger than two. They used terms like herds of sheep, heaps of grain and many people. A number system was not really needed back then. The need for a number system began when people started living together in tribes and settled in villages and other settlements. The system of barter started to develop and the need for a number system developed.  But how could a man have distinguished between five and fifty if you only have concepts like herds, heaps and many in your vocabulary? In that time there were not things like paper and pencils and they were not able to write down the numbers.

Methods have been developed to communicate numbers in writing and to educate people on how to use numbers. Symbols were also used to represent numbers like the Egyptians, the Romans used letters and the Chinese used sticks. Many number systems where use but today everyone use the modern one where all the figures are paired in tens. This number system is called the ten-system. And that is how figures arise.

Descriptive Piece

People don’t always understand the subject Maths Literacy and often wonder why it is a subject, how can you use it one day and how can it help you to do Maths if it is so easy. In school there are some learners who struggle to do Maths and that is why they get the option to choose Maths Literacy.

It is not that the subject Maths Literacy is really that easy but it’s more practical and that’s why it may seem easier than Maths. In some cases you also get learners that are excellent with Maths but they can’t do Maths Literacy because they struggle to think of a practical way to get a solution for a question.

Every subject that you get in Maths Literacy you can use in the real life. If you and your family go on a trip one day you will have to know how to work out a budget for your holiday. If you and your family are driving somewhere you will need to know how to read a map and how to work out the scale the map provides for you. You will alsol need to know how to work out the quantity of petrol you will need to ride the distance you want to and how long it will take you if you drive a certain speed. I’ve already mentioned four things you will need to work out when you and your family plans to go on a holiday and all four things you learn in Maths Literacy.

There is more things you can use Maths Literacy for, like example when you want to build something, if you want to work out rates or taxes and even if you want to know what the price per unit is of any item.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Charné and I am a 3rd year education student at CPUT. One of my subjects is Maths Literacy and I like it very much.

Not everyone always know what the subject is really about. Math literacy is more than just sums. The type of sums you get in Maths Literay you can use in real life to help you for example work out your budget every month or how to work out the area of a room.

From personal experience during my practical teaching I noticed that Maths literacy is more for children who thinks practical about thing. The subject is also very fun to give because you can use real things to help the children understand something. For example you can take Monopoly money to school when you do finances in class.

 I enjoy Maths Literacy so much and want that to rub off on other people so that they can see what the subject is really about and learn to love it just as much as I do.