CLASS ACTIVITIES
One very simple, but exciting activity is the activity of the apple. The apple? Yes, the apple! Usually, at least once a month, breakfast includes an apple in the New Haven School System. Well, we take advantage of this apple. Let’s assume, that this particular apple embodies, or rather is embodied in a sphere. To be geometrical, the belly of the apple could be inscribed in a circle. Because of this we could also say that the apple has 360 degrees around its widest part. Shall we say, its equator? Now let’s take a trip to History and let’s take Geography along. It is a wonderful drama. And in the center of it is Columbus and his vision.
The apple is on the table. Belly-up, waiting to be slashed. Don’t be alarmed!! Slashed with a pencil. From top to bottom, with a single line. That line, already juicy, would represent the meridian of Greenwich: London. This line crosses France, Spain and Northern Africa. At this point we must realize that we are using several skills and disciplines: math, geometry, geography, history. And, because of this, we should be using a language rich in its roots, its affixes, its etymology. Needless to say, we should be using maps, compasses, protractors, common sense and sheer fun!
(figure available in print form)
Using estimates, another skill necessary to master in math, we go from 0 degrees in Greenwich towards Cuba (Cipango of Columbus, modern Japan), 80 degrees west longitude, and we draw another line, that piece of the apple is what Columbus and his crew navigated. Now, going in the direction that the Portuguese went, east, 135 degrees, we find ourselves in Japan. That piece of the apple, from Cuba to Japan, is the part that Columbus didn’t know about. We did this in class already, at Vincent E. Mauro, and students loved it.