Math

Day 2, Thematic Units

Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Psalm 111:2 (ESV)

My mom described me as a precocious child. I was never satisfied with pat answers and pushed for deeper reasons. The desire to understand followed me into high school. Academics came easy for me, and I soaked up knowledge like a sponge. When teachers introduced topics, I wanted more than facts; I needed to hunt for deeper meaning. This hunger spanned into my spiritual understanding as well.

              While reading the timeline in the Old Testament of who begat who, I paused. Did Adam know Noah? Could these two men have been on earth at the same time? I found blank paper and creating a giant timeline of everyone listed from Adam to Noah. It took hours and careful calculations. Once finished, I stood back and took in my findings. Had I added correctly?

              My dad was getting ready for bed when I entered the bedroom. “Dad, do you think Adam could have known Noah?” I showed him some of the numbers I’d found and he was unsure.

              “Why don’t you call Mr. Roy and see if he can help you.”

              And that’s what I did. Mr. Roy, our pastor, lived two blocks away and he told me to come on over. He pulled out timelines and verses, commentaries and bibles. After much research and checking, we came to the conclusion that some of Adam’s family could have known Noah, but not Adam. I stayed and discussed what life was like back then and what it would have been like to live hundreds of years instead of decades. The conversation and speculation were fascinating.

              There were many days that mirrored that one as I grew older. I was always digging and asking hard questions, and I’m still digging and asking hard questions today. What I appreciate about those growing up years was I did not get dismissed. My questions were entertained and taken seriously and adults helped me find answers.

              Fast forward to the year I taught fifth grade math. We were having a lively discussion about the attributes of three-dimensional objects and what their names were. We discussed cylinders, spheres, prisms, and pyramids, then one of the deeper thinkers raised his hand. “So what do we call a three-dimensional oval? An egg?”

              I had never considered this question, and I assigned the question as extra credit homework due the next day. My inquisitive questioner zoomed around the corner the next morning with a paper in his hand, eyes filled with excitement. “It’s called an ovoid.” He thrust the paper into my hands. “Isn’t this cool?” The paper had different examples, formulas, and a plethora of information that would lead to deeper discussion.

              Math doesn’t have to be dry; it can be filled with inquisition and fun discussions. Units on measurement can lead to scavenger hunts, measuring items around the campus. Lessons on shapes, lines, and angles can take the class to the library to identify those items in picture books. Discussions on historical events can lead to charts, graphs, and timelines. Teachings about money could encourage kids to create a class store where they learn about taxes, tariffs, interest, gains, loss, supply and demand. These types of units will stick with kids a lifetime.

Do the Heart Work

1. Who was an adult who entertained your questions with patient interest? How did that impact you?

2. How can math become an exciting subject through intentional thematic units?

3. What questions do you have for God? Have you taken the time to ask him?

Digging Deeper

 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV)

              This parable reminds me that we must actively use what God has given us for his glory, whether money or gifts and abilities. He multiplies the greater effort and entrusts those who are proactive with more than the rest.

If You Get Spare Time

              Spend time looking at your gifts, abilities, interests, time, and finances. Look at how each one is being used in your life. Are you giving these to God for his use so he can multiply your efforts? Or are you burying them in the ground?