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Mnemonics &Memory AidsAuthor(s): Resham SinghSource: Mathematics in School, Vol. 36, No. 5 (Nov., 2007), pp. 28-29Published by: The Mathematical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30216077 .
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M.N.E.M.O.N+IC.S & M.E.M.O.R.Y A+I.D.S
by Resham Singh
This article uses the idea of using mnemonics to help students to learn ideas in mathematics. By creating their own mnemonic they need to show a good understanding of the rule or formula that they are using. When I first talk about a Mnemonic, I often get asked how to spell it. I reply, "Mary never ever missed one night in class."
Now the whole class can spell the word.
Using mnemonics to learn more effectively
When you are creating a mnemonic, e.g. an image or story to remember a telephone number, the following things can be used to make the mnemonic more memorable: " Use positive, pleasant images. The brain often blocks out
unpleasant ones. " Exaggerate the size of important parts of the image. * Use humour (perhaps linked with point 2)! Funny or
peculiar things are easier to remember than normal ones. * Similarly rude or sexual rhymes are very difficult to
forget! " Symbols (e.g. red traffic lights, pointing fingers, etc.) can
be used in mnemonics. " Vivid, colourful images are easier to remember than drab
ones. * Use all the senses to code information or dress up an
image. Remember that your mnemonic can contain sounds, smells, tastes, touch, movements and feelings as well as pictures.
3.14159 265358979 323628462643344
1693993751058209-74 94459230781640628620899 8628034825342117-0679821480865 132823066470938,4460955058223172535-940,
28 Mathematics in School, November 2007 The MA web site www.m-a.org.uk
The important thing is that the mnemonic should clearly relate to the thing being remembered and that it should be vivid enough to be remembered clearly whenever you think about it.
14 March 2007 was national n day in the United States. I thought I would develop some thoughts on how to 'liven up' my lesson on Circles using this famous number. For a starter, I tried the following as a competition. The pupils were asked to calculate the value of TE to as many decimal places as they could, in three minutes. As a follow up, they were given the opportunity to create a mnemonic to help them remember this famous number and then to design a poster to illustrate the mnemonic.
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Here is one of my favourite posters from my students.
Here were some of my pupils' favourites that are probably well known:
How I love a white Christmas. How I like a cuddle. How I wish I could recollect pi easily today.
However, my favourite has to be:
How, I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics!
Regarding the formulae for the circumference and area of the circle, we have the following:
Cod Pie.
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Write the letters C O D, then insert'=' between the letters C and O followed by, ? inside the letter O. Then we end up with:
C = fI*D.
Square Rhubarb Pie. A = H*R2 (I'll let you work this one out!)
Other interesting mnemonics or memory aids are:
TERRI/Y Translation, Enlargement, Reflection, Rotation. TRANSFORMATIONS.
VAL. Volume = Area x Length. VOLUME OF PRISMS.
BIDMAS. Brackets, Index, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. ORDER OF EXPRESSIONS.
Kippers Hardly Dare Move During Cold Months. Kilo (1000) Hecto (100) Deca (10) Metric (1)
Deci () 1
Centi (1) 100
Milli ( I) 1000
PREFIXES.
FOIL. First, Outer, Inner, Last. (a+b)*(c+d)=ac(First) + ad(Outer) + bc(Inner) + bd(Last).
You Go Brown Before Plotting Black. Yellow, Green, Blue, Brown, Purple, Black. SNOOKER.
One Ancient Teacher Of History Swore At His Class. TRIGONOMETRY FORMULAE.
Spring Forward Fall (Autumn) Back. CLOCKS.
Port (Left) Starboard (Right). Port has same number of letters as Left. SAILING DIRECTIONS.
SPA (Bath). Socrates, Pluto, Aristotle. Order of their influence.
Hopefully, I have given you some ideas to try out in your lessons. If readers have other gems, please let me know!
Acknowledgement The author would like to thank the editor for his helpful suggestions.
Keywords: Mnemonics; Pi.
Author Resham Singh, Garendon High School, Thorpe Hill, Loughborough LE11 4SQ. e-mail: [email protected]
TECHN
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Historical Perspective: the lives of statisticians and history of statistics
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Research Report: accessible reports on research in statistical education
Standard Errors: exposing and correcting common 'howlers'
Statistics at Work: accounts of what statisticians do in the real world
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Mathematics in School, September 2007 The MA web site www.m-a.org.uk 29
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