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Re: Classification of quadrilaterals
Posted:
Dec 17, 1994 8:37 AM
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I would like to thank John Conway for providing an example of meaningful
classification, where there is real mathematical content. The rough idea
is that the more "regularity" there is in a shape, the more symmetries it
has, e.g. the square has more symmetries than the rectangle. "What has
more symmetries?" then gives rise to a meaningful hierarchy which can
extend in many directions (e.g. where's the circle in such a hierarchy?).
This is exactly the sort of thing that is missing from much of our teacher
education materials. We sell our future teachers short by asking too
little real cognition of them.
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Judy Roitman, Mathematics Department
Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66049
roitman@math.ukans.edu
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