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Educators - Science - General Why do we count using the decimal system - that is to the base 10. . That's an easy one. We each have ten fingers and ten toes. So that's a natural. But why when measuring time do we use the numbers 12 and 60 as important units of measure. Why is a circle 360 degrees. Why do we have 12 months in the year. The answers to these questions relate to astronomy and the Egyptians. After all, if you lived in a place where the land was flat and the sky was crystal clear all year, observing the moon and the stars would be natural. As a simple and ready reference, I recommend SCIENCE IN ANCIENT EGYPT by Geraldine Woods ($8.95). This is one of a series dealing with science in early civilizations. It is written at the grammar school level so that we can explain it to the children. Where do our numbers come from? The answer is from the Arab culture. To fully understand the importance of this "invention", have your 4th or 5th grader try arithmetic operations using Roman numerals. Then do the same with Arabic numbers. SCIENCE IN EARLY ISLAMIC CULTURES by George Beshore ($8.95) will assist you on this subject. Quite clearly, this series enables everyone to grasp simple number
concepts and interesting historical facts about science and mathematics so
that children will perceive the subject as interesting from the very
beginning. The other books in the series are: In addition, I always recommend E.D.Hirsch's series What Every Child Should Know in the ___Grade. There are 7 books - Kindergarten through Grade 6. These books provide an excellent point of reference not only for science but for the entire curriculum. |
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