Age: 8-10

Students will invent their own number systems after playfully engaging with various number systems. Explorations will include numerals (Chinese Rod, Navajo, Egyptian, and Roman), Lego function machines, the Caesar Cipher, Exploding Dots, Backgammon, and the four-color theorem (map coloring). This course is inspired by Rochelle Gutierrez’s work on rehumanizing mathematics. Underlying mathematical concepts include place value, the meaning of zero, number operations, cryptology, functions, and graph theory.