Measuring a Giant: Instructional Activities on Scale in Math and Science
Summary:
We present a series of historical discussions and tractable experiments that explore scale in math and science. In particular, we trace the historical debate over one of Legendre’s proposed proofs of Euclid’s fifth postulate in which he, amazingly, uses arguments of dimensional analysis to prove the existence of similar triangles—triangles of the same shape but different scale. Building off of an earlier discussion of scale in science by Galileo, we propose experiments that allow student to explore the role of scale in nature. The experiments are designed so that they can be accomplished as classroom activities in a GeT course as well as in high school classrooms.
Registration Closed
Duration: 60 minutes
Format: Online seminar via Zoom web meeting software with questions and discussion. Detailed instructions for joining the seminar will be emailed to registered participants.
Presenter:
Patrick Shipman is Professor of Mathematics and Associate Head for Undergraduate Programs in the Department of Mathematics and Graduate Interdisciplinary Degree Program in Applied Mathematics at The University of Arizona. At Arizona, as previously while a faculty member at Colorado State University for 15 years until 2023, he directs the Laboratory of Mathematics in the Sciences, a wetlab that combines experiments and mathematical modeling in research, education, and K-12 outreach. His research encompasses applications in chemistry, biology (growth in biological systems, invasive species and related models of epidemics, pigmentation in plants), and physics.