Projects for Multicultural Mathematics

Project 1
due Wednesday, September 29th, 2004

Projects should be about 5 pages typewritten or neatly handwritten, including diagrams. You may do the projects in groups of 3 or 4. Ninety percent of your grade will be the overall grade I give the project; ten percent will be based on a peer evaluation. Students who do not participate in the project will receive a zero for the assignment. Projects will be graded on completeness, mathematical content, and creativity.

Fantasy Math. Create your own number system, as J.R.R. Tolkein did in the Lord of the Rings. You'll need

spoken names for your numbers
a positional written system for your numbers
a multiplication table for 1x 1 through 12 x 12 (that is, however you write 12_ten in your system), plus comments on interesting patterns in the table
a translation of the numbers 100, 157, 517, and 1000 into your number system
a sketch or model of a mathematical ``artifact'' produced by your fictional culture
a history for your number system, including a description of the (fictional) culture that produced it and the reason why the base was chosen

The only restriction is that your system can't be base 10, 12, 5, or 20, since we've already studied examples like these. I recommend that you use a base smaller than 12.

IMPORTANT: Do not split the project up into pieces, with each person doing only one piece. It is imperative that everyone in the group is familiar with the number system. I will give you some class time to work on the project; however, you should also schedule meetings outside of class.