Most people have heard the saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Many times in life simply taking action is not enough. There must be a gameplan, a set regemin and schedule that you strictly adhere to so that you can measure your progress and achieve the results you desire. While it is very important to take daily action toward educating yourself about the SAT (i.e. the whole setup and the material it tests you on), there must be additional measurements other than frequency.
The first logical step in studying for the SAT is to learn all about the test. Ask any teacher, attorney, real estate agent, insurance salesman, doctor, or any other business professional if they studied the exams required of them in their respective fields and they will unanimously tell you, “All the time!” If you walk in to any exam in the professional world without a clear understanding of what you will be tested on, the format, or the timeframe you have to work with you can be guaranteed failure.
If you do not intimately know the SAT and walk in to take the test then you are not only wasting your time and money, but you probably need to examine your priorities and get a reality check. Imagine walking in for a job interview at a company where you don’t even know what they do for business. After you are acquainted with the format of the test you will want to immediately begin reading books that stretch your comprehension on a daily basis – at least 15 minutes a day and definitely 30 minutes a day minimum for students who do not already have a 650+ verbal score. Three of the greatest books I believe any student should read are:
- As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
- The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
- The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles
www.rocketreader.com is a fantastic resource for teaching the basics of reading comprehension. They have a six minute demo that will prove to every student that he can be great at reading efficiently in a very short period of time. Reading is a decision and will impact your life in every way until the day of your passing. Integrated into your daily reading habits should be 30 minutes of mathematics study. Brush up on the math formulas, algebra, and geometry you will be required to know and make sure you can explain why they even work. www.thinkarchimedes.com also has free resources geared toward teaching you to become quick and accurate with mental arithmetic.
On a final note: there is definitely something to be said for study groups. I have found that students who regularly study together in focused groups typically will score 50 points higher than a student who does not. It is usually a good idea to have a person you can ask questions to and bounce ideas off of, and also to have someone there with the intelligence of a hockey puck. The reason is that it will ensure an open dialog and give you the opportunity to dig deep and say exactly what you mean. Find some good looking girls (or guys) who are also motivated to score well on the SAT and meet at a coffee shop once a week in the morning. It will keep you accountable, sharp, and progressive.
– Andrew Turner
Filed under: Commentaries, Education | Tags: Andrew Turner, Archimedes, fractions, math news
Should Fractions Be Confined To The Dustbin Of Math History?
Habitually I scan the top of the morning paper, “USA TODAY – THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2008 – 11D”. Scan the page, let’s see…Mayan sacrifices…amphibian extinction…fractions to the DUSTBIN?! First, what is the deal with all of these articles concerning death? And second, what branch of academic pursuit has actually brought up the question, “Should fractions be consigned to dustbin of math history?” (<–???:!)
If you have ever seen a 1/1000 scale model of a ship in a jar; if you have ever measured 3/4 of a cup of flour while baking chocolate chip cookies; if you have ever given the time saying something like, “Quarter ’til Eight;” if you have ever earned 8% on an investment; if you have ever found an average; if you have ever split anything into equal groups; then you understand the value of fractions in an educated and fast-paced world. Furthermore, if you have ever studied number theory at any level then you know that to challenge the position of the fraction at any theoretical level is to challenge one of the very four primary operators and the very foundation of numbers themselves.
Fractions are a fundamental part of the study of mathematics and absolutely a necessary component to the modern day curriculum. They allow us to compare two unrelated measurements (distance divided by time – miles/hour as an example – to understand the idea of speed). Fractions are an integral part of understanding everything from rates of change to models of growth and decay. We use them in nearly every profession whether reading and understanding your electric bill in “kilowatts PER hour” or studying the proportions of the human body to create a masterpiece like Michaelangelo’s David.
In the late 1600s Gottfried Leibniz and Sir Isaac Newton showed the world that a fraction could be challenged to the very limits of its definition. Dividing by the actual value of zero we call “Undefined” as in “there is not a way to combine words, thoughts, or ideas in such a way that the human mind can conceive.” The discovery of Calculus, without a doubt, has been one of the single greatest mathematical achievements mankind has ever accomplished and it could not have been done without the concept of a fraction.
While the idea of teaching children only the decimal system appears to be wise on the outside, it robs children of gaining an early understanding of “number”. As I count to ten I begin with one digit values (i.e. 1, 2, etc) until I get to ten and then a new digit appears to the left (the tens place). This is an illustration of what its like to work in base-10 mathematics: with every group of ten I add another increment to the next place to the left.
Fractions are one of the main ideas to working in multi-base mathematics. As an example, if I am working in terms of thirds, this is like working in a base-3 system where every time I count three more I add one more to the place immediately to the next place to the left. If I am working in 7ths (base-7 i.e. days of the week), then every time I count 7 7ths I add one more to the ones place. Simple as this might seem, it is perhaps more important than ever to ensure that the modern student understands these classic fundamentals.
Dumbing down American curriculum is not the answer to the problem. We are at a point in history where we define “technology” to a large degree in terms of programming, web aps, and database management. Historically the most technologically advanced civilizations have always had an edge in global commerce and it certainly seems as if the internet will continue to be the cutting edge of technology for years to come. It really doesn’t make sense to discourage the use of fractions, and over the next few posts I will be outlining the foundation for mathematics as we know it.
– Andrew Turner
www.thinkarchimedes.com