Archimedes Archimedes was born about 287 B.C in Syracuse. He was a Greek mathematician and inventor. His father was an astronomer. Archimedes invented machines. The most important of these machines was the screw pump , which uses a screw to lift water from one place to another. He explained why levers worked, and he worked on getting a more accurate number for pi. Pi is a number that is approximately equal to 3.14. It is the number you get if you divide the circumference of any circle by its diameter. It's the same for all circles. Usually in math we write “pi” with the Greek letter π, which is the letter "p" in Greek. You pronounce it "pie", like apple pie. It is called “pi” because π is the first letter of the Greek word "perimetros" or perimeter.
Transcript
Archimedes
Archimedes was born about 287 B.C in Syracuse. He was a Greek mathematician
and inventor. His father was an astronomer. Archimedes invented machines. The
most important of these machines was the screw pump, which uses a screw to lift
water from one place to another.
He explained why levers worked, and he worked on getting a more accurate
number for pi. Pi is a number that is approximately equal to 3.14. It is the number you
get if you divide the circumference of any circle by its diameter. It's the same for all
circles. Usually in math we write “pi” with the Greek letter π, which is the letter "p"
in Greek. You pronounce it "pie", like apple pie. It is called “pi” because π is the first
letter of the Greek word "perimetros" or perimeter.
The legend says that Archimedes invented a large solar mirror to set fire to
Roman ships attacking Syracuse, Sicily. He also invented the catapult.
Archimedes was interested in big numbers. One day, he he decided to find
how many grains of sand it would take to fill the universe. First, he counted how
much sand it would take to make up a poppy seed. Then, he counted how many seeds
would equal the size of a man’s finger. Next, he calculated how many fingers it would
take to fill a stadium.
Archimedes continued and found this answer:
This was not the true answer but Archimedes found an easy way to write large
numbers.
Archimedes died in 212 B.C., when the Romans were conquering Syracuse; a
Roman soldier killed him.
Answer
Where was Archimedes born?
a) In Syracuse, Italyb) In Athens, Greece
c) In Samos, Greece
d) In Macedonia, Greece
What was his job?
a) A teacherb) A mathematician and inventor
c) A soldier
d) A doctor
What did he use to set fire to the Roman ships?
a) Oilb) Petrol
c) A solar mirror
d) Matches
What is a “pi”?
a) The circle’s radiusb) A number that is approximately equal to 3.14.
c) The circle’s diameter
d) The circle’s circumference
“Pi” comes from the Greek word
a) Perimeterb) Perivoli
c) Periferia
d) Periergia
Archimedes explained why ___________work
a) Screwsb) Levers
c) Circles
d) Mirrors
Glossary
1. Inventor=inventator
2. Invent=a inventa
3. Machine=maşină(instalaţie)
4. Astronomer=astronom
5. Conquer= a cuceri
6. Soldier=soldat
7. Solar=solar(ă)
8. Set fire to=a incendia
9. Attack=atac
10. Divide= a divide
11. Circumference=circumferinţă
12. Radius=rază
13. Diameter=diametru
14. Legend=legendă
15. Screw=şurub
Vocabulary exercise
1. Someone who invents things is an _______________
2. Write the correct word
3. In this photo, Archimedes is holding a ____________mirror
4. The _____________says that Archimedes set fire to the Roman ships.
5. Pi is the number you get if you ___________the Circumference of any circle
by its diameter.
6. A ____________killed Archimedes.
7. The 3rd picture shows a ___________.
Answer
Where was Archimedes born?
e) In Syracuse, Italyf) In Athens, Greece
g) In Samos, Greece
h) In Macedonia, Greece
What was his job?
e) A teacherf) A mathematician and inventor
g) A soldier
h) A doctor
What did he use to set fire to the Roman ships?
e) Oilf) Petrol
g) A solar mirror
h) Matches
What is a “pi”?
e) The circle’s radiusf) A number that is approximately equal to 3.14.
g) The circle’s diameter
h) The circle’s circumference
“Pi” comes from the Greek word
e) Perimeterf) Perivoli
g) Periferia
h) Periergia
Archimedes explained why ___________work
e) Screwsf) Levers
g) Circles
h) Mirrors
My name:_________________________
Euclid (The father of Geometry)
Born: About 325 B.C.in Greece
Died: About 265 B.C.
Euclid was a mathematician. We know very little about his life. He was a
modest, friendly, kind and patient man.
He studied in Plato’s Academy in Athens. He taught geometry in Hellenistic
Egypt, in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I, between 305 and 285 B.C. King
Ptolemy asked Euclid to teach him geometry. After listening to Euclid explain some
of the basics of geometry, he said: “Surely, there is an easier way. I don’t have time to
learn all these”. Euclid answered: “My king, in the real world there are two roads:
One for the common people and one for the king. But in geometry there is no royal
road”.
His most famous work is “Elements”, dealing with algebra, geometry and
number theory. In the “Elements”, Euclid organized all mathematical knowledge into
a clear, orderly format.
Euclid wrote about perfect numbers in 300 B.C. A perfect number is a number
which is equal to the sum of its proper divisors. 6 is a perfect number because
1+2+3=6.
Multiple Choice
1. What is a perfect number?
a) The greatest common divisor
b) The least common multiple
c) A number which is equal to the sum of its proper divisors
d) The square root of a number
2. Where did Euclid study?
a) In Plato’s Academy
b) In Alexandria
c) In Italy
d) In Sparta
3. What is the “Elements”?
a) A mathematical equation
b) A book
c) An theorem
d) An axiom
4. Where did Euclid teach?
a) In Alexandria
b) In Sparta
c) In Athens
d) In Rome
5. What did he tell King Ptolemy I ?
a) In geometry there is no royal road
b) There is always an easier road to get the answer
c) In real life, there are easy roads
d) In real life there are difficult roads
6. What kind of man was he?
a) Impatient
b) Modest
c) Rude
d) Arrogant
Glossary
1. Modest=modest
2. Kind=blând, milos
3. Patient=răbdător
4. Reign=regim
5. Element=element
6. Common=obişnuit, banal,normal
7. Royal=regal
8. Knowledge=cunoaştere
9. Orderly=ordont(ă)
10. Format=formă
11. Divisor=divizor
12. Is equal to=egal cu
13. Write the opposites
Modest ____________
Kind ____________
Patient ____________
Common ____________
Hypatia
Born: About 370 AD
Died: About 415 AD
Hypatia is the first knowm woman mathematician. She was a Greek scholar
from Alexandria in Egypt. Her father Theon, a famous mathematician and
philosopher was her teacher. She probably wrote on mathematics, astronomy and
philosophy, including about the motions of the planets, about number theory and
about conic sections. She became a professor at the university of Alexandria and
invented scientific instruments, including an astrolabe and a hydrometer.
Hypatia was killed by a mob of fanatic Christians. They thought she was a
pagan and was teaching paganism under the cover of teaching mathematics and
science. After her death, her students fled to Athens, where the study of mathematics
flourished. When the library of Alexandria was burned by the Arab conquerors, used
as fuel for baths, the works of Hypatia were destroyed. We know her writings today
through the works of others.
Multiple Choice Quiz
1.What did Hypatia invent ?
a) An astrolabe
b) An astronomer
c) Astrophysics
d) Stars
2.Who murdered her?
a) Her father
b) Her students
c) A Christian mob
d) Pagans
3. What was her father?
a) A monk
b) A mathematician
c) A doctor
d) A priest
4. Why did her students go to Athens, afterher death?
a) Because mathematics flourished there.
b) Because they were pagans.
c) Because they were Christians.
d) Because they thought Hypatia lived there.
5. How were her works destroyed?
a) The Romans burnt them.
b) The Arabs burnt them.
c) The Christians burnt them.
d) The Greeks burnt them.
6. Which of the following Hypatia did not study:
a) Medicine
b) Astronomy
c) Conic sections
d) Number theory
My Name:_____________
Pythagoras
Born: 570 B.C. Birthplace: Samos, Greece Died: c. 500 B.C. Best Known for: the Pythagorean Theorem
Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher and mathematician. He was born in 570
B.C. on the island of Samos, in Greece. He fled to Croton, in Southern Italy, to escape
the tyranny of Polycrates. He also travelled to Egypt and Babylon. In Croton, he
founded the Brotherhood of Pythagoreans, a secret society which studied
mathematics. Their motto was "All is number."
The Pythagorians believed in the immortality of the soul and in reincarnation
(When people die, their souls go to other bodies). They were also the first vegetarians
because they did not eat meat.
Pythagoras died in exile in Megapontium, in South East Italy.
He is known for the Pythagorean Theorem: “the sum of the squares of the two
legs of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse”.
Answer
Where was Pythagoras born?
a) In Samos, Greece
b) In Megapontium, Italy
c) In Croton, Italy
d) In Egypt
Where did Pythagoras die?
a) In Samos, Greece
b) In Megapontium, Italy
c) In Croton, Italy
d) In Egypt
What was Pythagoras’s motto?
a) All is number
b) All is love
c) All is life
d) All is death
Pythagoras founded a secret brotherhood in
a) Egypt
b) Babylonia
c) Italy
d) Greece
Pythagoras believed that when people die
a) Their souls die, too
b) Their souls go to heaven
c) Their souls go to other bodies
d) Their souls go to the people they love
What do you think?
a) The Pythagorians respected the animals
b) The Pythagorians killed animals
c) The Pythagorians used animals for food
d) The Pythagorians were carnivorous
Glossary
a) Escape=evadare,
b) Found=găsit
c) Brotherhood=frăţie
d) Soul=suflet
e) Immortality=nemurire
f) Square=pătrat
Vocabulary exercise
a) A mathematician studies ........................
b) A philosopher studies.......................
c) A vegetarian eats ..............
d) In reincarnation, the soul goes to.....................
e) A motto is ..............
f) When you are in exile, you do not live in your...............
g) Pythagoras ..............a secret society in Croton, Italy.
h) People have bodies and ......................
i) Polycrates was a ...................
j) A poet writes ................
k) The Pythagorean Theorem is...........
l) What is the hypotenuse in this triangle? (paint it)
m) What are the legs? (paint them in a different colour)
n) Which angle is 90 degrees? (paint it in a different colour)
My Name:__________________
Thales of Miletus
Born: About 624 BC in Miletus (Asia Minor)
Died: About 547 BC in Miletus (Asia Minor)
Thales was an astronomer and mathematician. He predicted the eclipse of the
sun in 585 BC. He believed that the Earth was a flat disc, floating on an infinite
ocean. He loved travelling. When he went to Egypt, he wanted to know the height of
the Great Pyramid. Nobody knew the answer. Thales decided to discover the height of
the pyramid by measuring its shadow. But he had a problem. When the Sun was near
the horizon, the pyramid's shadow was long. It became short when the sun rose the
sky. So what was the right time to measure the shadow?
Thales used a stick to give the answer. He pushed it partway into the ground
so that it stood up straight, and he measured the height of the stick. He thought that
when the length of the stick's shadow equaled the height of the stick, the height of the
pyramid would equal the length of its shadow.
Thales waited until the stick's shadow was as long as the stick was tall. At that
special time, Thales measured the pyramid's shadow. And he found the answer to his
question.
Once he was asked what was difficult and answered: “To know myself”.
Asked what was very easy, he answered: “To give advice”. To the question what/who
is God, he said: “The infinite”. Asked how men could have better lives, he said: “If
we never do ourselves what we blame in others”.
Thales died watching a gymnastic contest, being worn out with heat, thirst and
weakness, because he was very old.
Glossary
1. Predict= a prezice
2. Length=lungime
3. Height=înălţime
4. Shadow=umbră
5. Blame=a învinui
6. Advice=sfat
7. Be worn out=foarte slăbit
8. Heat=căldură
9. Thirst=sete
10. Rise-rose-risen=a se înălţa
11. Float=a pluti
12. Give the noun
1. Feedfood
2. high___________
3. long___________
4. believe___________
5. thirsty___________
6. hot___________
7. advise___________
8. measure ___________
9. blame ___________
Multiple Choice Quiz
1.What was Thales?
a) A teacher
b) A mathematician and astronomer
c) A doctor
d) A politician
2.What did he predict?
a) An earthquake
b) The eclipse of the sun
c) A war
d) The Pythagorean Theorem
3. He believed that the Earth was
a) round
b) flat
c) elliptical
d) square
4. What did Thales use to measure the height of the Great Pyramid?
a) A stick
b) Callipers
c) A ruler
d) A protractor
5. How did Thales die?
a) Watching a drama performance
b) Watching a football match
c) Watching a lecture
d) Watching a gymnastic contest
6. What is the easiest thing, according to Thales?
