Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 101): Matthew Wilder

Let B(x) be the proposition “x breaks my stride,” and let S(y) be the proposition “y slows me down.” Translate the logical statement

\forall x (\lnot B(x)) \land \forall y (\lnot S(y)),

where the domain for x is all things and the domain for y is all people.

This approximately matches the first part of the chorus of this hit from 1983.

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 100): Toto

Let L(t) be the proposition “Love is on time at time t.” Translate the logical statement

\lnot \forall t L(t).

This matches part of the chorus of this hit song of the 1970s.

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 99): R.E.M.

Let W(t) be the proposition “The world exists at time t.” Translate the logical statement

(\forall t<0 W(t)) \land (\forall t \ge 0 \lnot W(t)).

This approximately matches the title of one of R.E.M.’s greatest hits.

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 98): Carly Rae Jepsen

Let T(x,y) be the proposition “I’d trade x for y,” let L(x) be the proposition “x was looking for this,” and let W(x) be the proposition “x is now in my way.” Translate the logical statement

T(\hbox{my soul}, \hbox{a wish}) \land T(\hbox{pennies and dimes}, \hbox{a kiss}) \land \lnot L(\hbox{I}) \land W(\hbox{you}).

This matches some of the opening lines from the summer hit of 2012.

And I can’t resist also sharing this incredible mashup:

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 97): U2

Let L(x) be the proposition “I am looking for x,” and let F(x) be the proposition “I have found x.” Translate the logical statement

\forall x (L(x) \Rightarrow \lnot F(x)).

This is a wonderful song by U2.

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 96): Roy Orbison

Let K(x) be the proposition “x knows the way I feel tonight,” let L(x) be the proposition “x is lonely.” Translate the logical statement

\forall x (K(x) \Rightarrow L(x)).

This matches the opening line from this classic from 1960.

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 95): The Police

Let B(t) be the proposition “You take a breath at time t,” let M(t) be the proposition “You make a move at time t,” let N(t) be the proposition “You break a bond at time t,” let S(t) be the proposition “You take a step at time t,” and let W(t) be the proposition “I watch you at time t.” Translate the logical statement

\forall t ((B(t) \lor M(t) \lor N(t) \lor W(t)) \Rightarrow W(t)).

This matches the opening lines of this iconic song by The Police.

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 94): Sweeney Todd

Let $p$ be the proposition “I am around you,” and let H(x) be the proposition “x will harm you.” Translate the logical statement

p \Rightarrow \lnot \exists x H(x).

This matches the opening lines of this wonderful song from the musical Sweeney Todd.

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Predicate Logic and Popular Culture (Part 93): Annie Get Your Gun

Let B(x) be the proposition “x is a business,” and let L(x,y) be the proposition “x is like y.” Translate the logical statement

\lnot \exists x (B(x) \land x \ne \hbox{show business} \land L(x, \hbox{show business})).

This matches the showstopper from Annie Get Your Gun:

 

green line

Context: This semester, I taught discrete mathematics for the first time. Part of the discrete mathematics course includes an introduction to predicate and propositional logic for our math majors. As you can probably guess from their names, students tend to think these concepts are dry and uninteresting even though they’re very important for their development as math majors.

In an effort to making these topics more appealing, I spent a few days mining the depths of popular culture in a (likely futile) attempt to make these ideas more interesting to my students. In this series, I’d like to share what I found. Naturally, the sources that I found have varying levels of complexity, which is appropriate for students who are first learning prepositional and predicate logic.

When I actually presented these in class, I either presented the logical statement and had my class guess the statement in actual English, or I gave my students the famous quote and them translate it into predicate logic. However, for the purposes of this series, I’ll just present the statement in predicate logic first.

Engaging students: The quadratic formula

In my capstone class for future secondary math teachers, I ask my students to come up with ideas for engaging their students with different topics in the secondary mathematics curriculum. In other words, the point of the assignment was not to devise a full-blown lesson plan on this topic. Instead, I asked my students to think about three different ways of getting their students interested in the topic in the first place.

I plan to share some of the best of these ideas on this blog (after asking my students’ permission, of course).

This student submission again comes from my former student Storm Boykin. Her topic, from Algebra II: the quadratic formula.

green line

How could you as a teacher create an activity or project that involves your topic?

Learning the Quadratic Formula can be quite a tedious process for students. They have to learn the why and how, but still need to be able to recall the Quadratic Formula fairly quickly. Students cannot use it as a tool to solve quadratic equations if they cannot remember it. The chart below is to be a card sort from a mnemonic device that was passed down by a former teacher. The idea is that the students will have these cards mixed up, and then they will have to match the story with its’ mathematical counterpart. Then, using the mnemonic device, the student can put the story in order, and will have the quadratic formula before their eyes.

 

The negative boy -b
couldn’t decide ±
if he wanted to go to the radical party  √
but the boy was square b^2
and missed out on four awesome chicks -4ac
it was all over by two am /2a

 

green line

What interesting things can you say about the people who contributed to the discovery and/or the development of this topic?

Quadratics began to come about around 2000 BCE because mathematicians needed a way to make “architectural floor and wall plans.” Quadratics have been worked on by various cultures since then. While working on quadratics, Pythagorus found that the square root of a number did not have to be an integer. However, he didn’t believe that imaginary numbers existed, and had one of his associates killed for even suggesting to the public that “non- integers” existed. They idea of a quadratic formula was touched on by hindu and islamic mathematicians, but did not come into form as our modern day formula until 1637, when Rene Descartes published it in his geometric works.

https://musingsonmath.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/history-quadratic-formula.pdf

 

green line

How can this topic be used in your students’ future courses in mathematics or science?

All algebra and calculus courses will have quadratic equations in them. Students will have a much easier Physics experience if they have the equation at their disposal. Quadratics are used to calculate velocity and height of objects in the air. Real world examples involving velocity and height are the perfect blend of physics and science! Students will also need the quadratic formula for the SAT and PSAT.