Lesson Planning
Discover how the Ancient Sumerians developed their mathematical systems. Explore the concept of a number system using a base of 60 and use Ancient Sumerian mathematics to calculate simple calculations and geometry.
Teaching Outcomes:
- To explain the development of the Ancient Sumerian number system.
- To try some calculations based on Ancient Sumerian texts and using the Sumerian number system.
Children will:
- Explain that the Ancient Sumerians number system had a base of 60.
- List the factors of sixty.
- Know how to find the area of a shape (square, triangle and circle).
- Understand that the symbols used for counting gradually developed into a cuneiform style.
- Appreciate that our mathematics is still influenced by the Ancient Sumerians.