Numbers help us grasp the greatness of God and the many angels who serve him and protect us. Max Lucado in Come Thirsty (2004) shares the passage below. The numbers in it could be used to practice multiplication or estimate how many angels would fill a local stadium near your school. 5.NBT.B.5
Thousands of angels awaited the call of Christ on the day of the cross: "Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matt. 26:53 NASB). One legion equates to six thousand soldiers. Quickmath reveals that seventy-two thousand hosts of heaven (enough to fill Los Angeles's Angel Stadium more than one and a half times) stood poised to rescue their Master. The book of Revelation, brimming as it is with glimpses into the soon-to-be world, refers to angels around the heavenly throne, "and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands" (Rev. 5:11 NKJV).
o When you look at art, you learn about the artist, what do you learn about God’s character when you do math?
o Being able to do mathematics is a gift that God gives us to help worship.
o Using consistent measures such as the standard and metric system help us be fair. 5.MD
Mathematics is a gift that allows us to express ourselves
Through expressions 5.OA.A.2
Through graphs 5.G.A.2
“God wrote the world in the language of mathematics” Galileo
How does rounding help communicate succinctly? 5.NBT.A.4
How do you anticipate using mathematics in the future?
Ask your class if they think the girls or boys have heavier backpacks in the class. Weigh each backpack to the nearest pound and plot on a graph. 5.MD.B
Add the total of the backpacks for each gender. How does the total pounds for the girls compared to the guys? Is it helpful to give the total? What would be a better way to answer the question?
How is place value a reflection of how communities develop and work together? 5.NBT.A
Place value works because of the orderliness that God has built in creation, but a decimal (base ten) system was chosen by man because of our 10 fingers.
What other bases have cultures used to perform mathematics besides base 10?
How does place value contribute to a just and orderly society?
What if some people used base 10 and others used base 2?
Different kinds of numbers are helpful in different parts of creation 5.NBT.A.3
Decimals help describe very small measurements and give accuracy
For example, the length of dandelion petals
How can numerical expressions describe patterns and relationships in creation?
The number of leaves per clover, the number of legs per cow, peas per pod, rotations of the earth per months in a year 5.OA
How do patterns and relationships reflect the intricacies and order in creation? 5.OA.B
How do these patterns within mathematics reflect the interconnectedness of a cohesive creation?
Allow students to demonstrate alternate solutions.
The different ways that students solve problems represents the diversity in our community and creation.
These differences are beautiful and represent the creativity in mathematics.
The amazing structure in mathematics allows different ways of solving problems to still produce the same solution.
Establish a classroom climate that allows each individual perspective to be shared. (Some students need to be encouraged to participate, while others need to allow others a chance to share.)