Elementary Exercise Research Articles

The Möbius strip: an elementary exercise providing hypotheses formation and perceptual proof

An invitation to speak before the fourth-grade class of one of my former students had been accepted. As an enrichment lesson, I had decided to use the Möbius strip and to relate William H. Upson's story (Fadiman 1962), “Paul Bunyan versus the Conveyor Belt,” to the class. Beyond telling the story, any attempts toward hypothesis testing or looking for patterns would depend on class reactions.

Variations on a Theorem by Archimedes

This equation was first formulated and proved by Archimedes (see [1]) by his method of exhaustion. In a recent note [2] it was shown that T 2) analogues of these results. This is not quite an elementary exercise since the quadratures involved cannot be carried out explicitly.

An Elementary Exercise in Parish Register Demography

An Elementary Exercise in Parish Register Demography

An Elementary Exercise in Parish Register Demography

An Elementary Exercise in Parish Register Demography

The Down-Structure Method of Viewing Geologic Maps

Most contact lines on geologic maps are surface traces of inclined planes. If the map is viewed down the slope of these planes, it becomes, in effect, a section, and the map patterns are seen as structures. The "down-structure" method of looking into maps rather than at them can be introduced into the most elementary exercise in geologic map interpretation; it helps the student to grasp quickly the structural significance of patterns on maps made by others and increases his sensitivity in laying down lines on his own maps in the field. Used with proper caution and an understanding of its limitations, the method is applicable to a wide range of map patterns, from those of simple monoclinal structures to those of recumbent folds.