Lesson Plan III—Roman Numerals and Glyphs
Florence, as stated earlier, was noted for introducing arabic numerals to make the accounting that was necessary in its commercial enterprises easier. Students might enjoy learning roman numerals from I to C or D and then working in two teams—arabic vs. roman—to write numbers and to compute simple math problems. Follow up discussions can center around which method is easier to use. It would be interesting for them to brainstorm all the places they can think of where roman numerals are used today.
Along with this, students can be introduced to the counting symbols used by the Aztecs. As mentioned earlier, theirs was a system based on twenty with a dot or finger for one, a flag for twenty, a feather for 400 and a pouch for 8000.
(figure available in print form)
Students can be broken into groups to try writing different numbers with these glyphs. For example, 101 would be five flags and one dot or finger. Since these symbols were usually counting something they were attached to a pictograph. Students could develop their own symbols for objects (common items found in the classroom?) to be numbered using the Aztec glyphs and shared with their classmates.
(figure available in print form)
Sankore Mosque
Timbuktu
(figure available in print form)
Brunelleschi’s Cupola
Florence
(figure available in print form)
Shrine of Huitzilopochtli
Tenochtitlan
(figure available in print form)