Equivalent, but not equal.

Math 1510... BLOG 2:
It's fascinating to see how students in younger grades learn how things have values. This is something most of us take for granted... but can you imagine what life would be like if we were never taught that 1 equals one thing (whether it is an apple or a dog... we know there is only one if we say 1 dog). I have included a video below to give an idea of what is meant by equivalency.

So it is pretty clear to see how important it is to learn at a young age relationships of items and numbers. This relationship can be explained through the use of equivalency. Most of us use equivalent relationships on a daily basis without even knowing it! When we compare lists of things, picking the cheapest or the best item out of a group of items (whether cost related or quality related), comparing a collection of books, dvd's, cd's, etc. to our friends to see what we or they are missing from the collection, even just looking at a calendar and associating what day it is with what number.

If anyone is out there checking out this blog- I would love it if you would write a little note about what you think the world would be like if your teacher would have never taught you values and equivalencies... what if you would have never learned that an apple could be represented by the number 1 or more than one apple with the numbers 2 or more? There is also a little survey on the right side of this blog to go with this topic.