Family Math provides an opportunity for grade school children and their families to have fun together while learning about a math topic. The topic for this session was the Pythagorean Theorem. Participants used a rope with equally spaced knots to see how the ancient Egyptians constructed right triangles in order to build the pyramids. Participants also explored several proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. Finally, students discussed the amazing fact that the Pythagorean Theorem does not just apply to squares built on the legs and hypotenuse of a right triangle, but also applies to the areas of any similar figures analagously constructed.
Date: Nov 15, 2009
Notre Dame Community Building
