Y5 h/w:'Research a famous mathematician': poster/powerpoint/article- 2 hrs work.. Who?

[ampere]

Can any of you clever lot come up with a suitable mathematician DS can research? He could only think of Isaac Newton, which is OK, but can you think of any others?

Things are not necessarily (or even generally) "for" individual subjects. DS's school does most of their learning in topic-based form and any individual piece of work generally feeds into a whole host of "subjects", narrowly defined. Generally something he does will have aspects of English, Art, and one or more of History, Geography, Maths or Science.

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Gosh, there is no ceiling on reading levels by Year 5, Hiyamaya. And as for understanding - are you confusing Year 5 with 5 year olds?

ColdComfortFarm I said my Y2s did the research on Friday I didn't say it was homework sweetie

"Well, it depends what subject it is supposed to be homework FOR." The meaning of 'subject' in this sentence is entirely clear to anyone with any understanding of grammar. It isn't remotely tricky.

You didn't 'merely post what subject it was for', CCF, you said "what is this homework supposed to teach the children? It won't teach them maths. I'd ask what is supposed to be the advantage to the children, frankly" and then poured scorn on any teacher's reasonable explanation of why it was valid.

You come across like someone picking a fight. I'm amazed you don't realise that.

HOW TO RESEARCH A SUBJECT ON THE INTERNET

Feenie, I think you can see from my first post (which I have just posted) that I did ask EXACTLY that question. i was met with huge rudeness, including calling me stupid. It is NOT unreasonable to ask what the benefit the children will derive from the homework, particularly when academic research shows that homework at primary school is of no benefit and can harm children. I think it's a bloody shame that any parent who points that out is 'picking a fight'.

CCF - homework appropriateness for primary aged children is something youneed to take up with the head of your children's school...not a bunch of teachers on t'internet...

I think there is a huge irony in the fact that spome teachers expect nine year olds to be academic researchers, while showing they haven't done any research into the (lack of )value of homework for those same children. Ah well.

This kind of thread makes me really worry about dd starting primary school and at 10 months she has a while to go before that happens!

I just about manage to feed her, bath her, get her to bed and mark the homeworks I've set in the evening. I will never have time to do her homework for her help her research mathematicians or whatever (God, I haven't even heard of half of the people mentioned above )

And it wasn't a teacher who started this thread, it was a parent. I think it is VERY vaild to suggest parents challenge inappropriate homework - and all homework, where there is no evidence it helps.

ColdComfortFarm has one teacher on this thread actually said they set homework for their classes?

Partial, of course you haven't heard of half of these people. There's a lot of hasty googling followed by a lot of showing off! The epidemic of parents doing homework shows no sign of abating, eh?

Mrz if you know about the damage it can do, then why not say so, and take a stand about it, instead of accusing me of being stupid?

my Y4 DD has been researching stuff and producing powerpoints for a good couple of years, so it's not an especially difficult piece of homework, and broadly in line with a lot of HW these days which is open ended enough for both extremes of ability.

I just thought I might mention that, as a secondary school science teacher, my experience is that kids in year 7 would have no problem doing this homework...just two years older.

In fact, sometimes I think we tend to 'de-skill' KS3 students who come in with frankly excellent research skills from KS2

In this world of information overload, teaching kids from a young age to find and filter information into a presentable format is an essential skill.

You still haven't answered my question

Actually I'd say your question about the benefit the children would get was answered pretty comprehensively, and politely, by three different people within five minutes of you asking it....

ColdComfortFarm Tue 26-Oct-10 19:36:07
what is this homework supposed to teach the children? It won't teach them maths. I'd ask what is supposed to be the advantage to the children, frankly

mrz Tue 26-Oct-10 19:38:11
I think the homework is actually the skill of researching something and using it to feedback to others - either in a poster or power point or article.
not maths

Goblinchild Tue 26-Oct-10 19:38:41
Cross-curricular ICT, History in researching a significant figure, independent research into an individual choice (within a limited field)
I can probably think of a few more reasons, if that's not enough, CCF

Feenie Tue 26-Oct-10 19:40:09
Presenting - ICT/Speaking and Listening

tbh, I don't think any primary school teacher woudl be expecting rigorous academic research for a "find out stuff about a topic and present it in a particular way" piece fo homework, I'd've said it was designed to make them think about the topic and find out some stuff about it in a slightly more interesting way that "5 facts about....".

DD3 did a "write a page of a diary of a famous person" the other week - no she didn't delve into the social history of the Victorian era blah blah blah, she wrote about how Queen Victoria didn't liek newborns and called it the frog stage. Not what she'd have done if I'd actually helped her mind . But a valid bit of homework which helped reinforce writing styles, the need to be sure of your facts ("are you sure thats' actually what she thought DD3? You haven't just made that up?"), the discipline of thinking about and producing a piece of work within stated guidelines.

ColdComfortFarm Tue 26-Oct-10 20:43:05 Mrz if you know about the damage it can do, then why not say so, and take a stand about it, instead of accusing me of being stupid?

How exactly does it help the OP if I shout the odds about homework on an internet forum?

I said ages ago, CCF, in my post of 20:04:25:

'I am not at all a fan of homework, but this one is actually interesting, and incorporates much of the curriculum in many subjects.'

but you chose not to answer. So I doubt that mrz saying the same would have changed aything about your responses.

If you are looking for a woman (though she is dead!), how about Philippa Fawcett - great role model for academic girls.

Feenie. No I know what yr5 is. I don't think my yr 7 could do justice to this homework. Sure he could cut and paste some information from wikipedia to fill up some powepoint slides. But he wouldn't really understand the significance of a particular mathmatician or his work. So what is the point? how can he analyse or find meaning. Its not really research, it's going through the motions.

...and don't get me started on word searches!