Breck School - Mustang Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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As usual there is always one asleep in math class. 17

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. . . To one part water. Gee this math comes in handy. Mr. Earl Hovland, B.S.. M.A. MA THEM A TICS The texts for the Brcck School math courses in the seventh and eighth grades were prepared by the School Mathematics Study Group at Yale University. This organization operated under the auspices of the National Science Foundation. It was composed of many of the nations top mathematicians and educators who were asked by the Federal Government to write an entirely new math curriculum which could be used directly by schools or which could be incorporated into commercial texts. Brcck is using pure SMSG materials until the modem concepts and approaches are satisfactorily incorporated into standard books. One of the major changes in the new course is the early development of number theory. Arithmetic and algebra arc based entirely on the theory of numbers. Traditional courses in these areas arc concerned primarily with rules and methods for solving problems. Then, in the student’s third year of college math, he studies number theory which gives him the reasons for the rules and methods that he memorized in arithmetic and two years of high school algebra. However, at this point it is rather difhcult and time consuming to go back over all of these processes to determine the “why’s”, so it is rarely done. The SMSG approach teaches number theory from the begin-nig, on an elementary level of course, to give the student reasons for all of the mathematical processes he is taught. For example, he isn’t simply told to invert the denominator and multiply in the division of fractions; he is shown why this will work through a development of the general properties of numbers. Mr. Richard Yonkcr Is introducing the new math program this year. He will move up with the same group of boys, teaching the eighth and ninth grades next year, etc. Mr. Earl Hovland will follow him, teaching seventh grade next year. Also, present plans include the introduction of a modem math curriculum to the entire elementary school next year. 16

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SCIENCE Considering the many medical and scientific breakthroughs, it is necessary for every college-bound student to have at least a basic background in the principles of science. The Brcck course of study accomplishes more than the minimum requirement. In the eighth grade there is a required course which prepares the student for biology, chemistry, and physics. In the ninth grade all boys take an extensive course in biology, and in the junior or senior year they take a course in chem- istry. If a person is interested in organic or inorganic sciences he may take biology II and physics in his senior year. This year the P.S.S.C. (Physical Science Study Committee) course replaced the conventional type of study. Also, to keep pace with the ever-changing field of science, the chemistry department has been using some of the movies and experiments taken from the new Chcm Study, which is comparable to the P.S.S.C. 18