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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Mathematics

Math

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Time As A Line: Helping Children Make Abstract Ideas Concrete, Rachel Mae Stenner Oct 2023

Time As A Line: Helping Children Make Abstract Ideas Concrete, Rachel Mae Stenner

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This is a math education project that included research, a lesson plan, and actual in the classroom work with students. Under the advisement of Dr. Rebecca Borowski, I looked into how time, an abstract idea, is taught to young children who are just starting to learn what measurement is, and examined how teachers can better teach time as a more concrete topic. This focused on the idea of turning the abstract time concepts that are thrown at children into the more abstract ideas of both circular and then linear number lines, using physical materials to help guide the process.


Quasipositive Braids And Ribbon Surfaces, Rachel Snyder Apr 2021

Quasipositive Braids And Ribbon Surfaces, Rachel Snyder

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Meant to serve as an accessible exploration of knot theory for undergraduates and those without much experience in topology, this paper will start by exploring the basics of knot theory and will work through investigating the relationships between knots and surfaces, ending with an analysis of the relationship between quasipositive braids and surfaces in 4-space. We will begin by defining a knot and introducing the ways in which we are able to manipulate them. Following that, we will explore the basics of surfaces, building up to a proof that all surfaces are homeomorphic to a series of disks and bands …