Calculus: The Musical! is a comic “review” of the concepts and history of calculus. It was born as a teaching tool in Marc’s classroom. He found that setting formulas and rules to music helped his students learn and retain tricky information. “Maxima” and “minima” is an abstract concept to a lot of us, but when sung as a rousing “Can-Can” chorus, it’s fun and easy to remember! A blend of sketch comedy, musical theatre and classroom lecture, MATHEATRE has created a performance piece to show that although calculus is used in rocket science, well…it isn’t exactly rocket science.
I just watched their performance in our theatre and it was very well done. What I also like is that they also provide everything on their website, including lyrics and audio (mp3's), but I think it would be great if you purchased a CD to help support them. You should also check out their tour calendar, as some of the performances are open to the public, or, once again, book them.
Come on, who wouldn't love these lyrics to L'Hopital (I have Calculus in the Heart) - sung to Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart:L’Hôpital
Every now and then I get a little bit of trouble when I’m taking a limit.
L’Hôpital
Every now and then I get a zero for the numerator and the denominator.
L’Hôpital
Every now and then I get a limit that’s confusing in some kind of indeterminate form.
L’Hôpital
Every now and then I get a little bit terrified but then I think of all your advice.
L’Hôpital
Guillaume François Antoine Marquis de
L’Hôpital
Guillaume François Antoine Marquis de L’Hôp!
And that's just the first verse . . .
Wow! That sounds great! It seems humorous and innovating. I teach math and the students always look for new ways to remember things and to make math more exciting. I'm going to look into their tour dates and the cities and states they are coming to. Thanks :-)
ReplyDeleteI love math but I am no good at remembering random numbers and formulas. The only way I remembered them in school was because we used them sooo many times. These days teachers focus on quality not so much quantity. The days of 50 to 100 problem homework sets are over.
ReplyDeleteusing any method to help you remember a mathematical formula is great; to make it fun for our students is sometimes the challenge.
I think that is just a great idea. I am studying to become a teacher at Illinois State University. In my classes, we have been discussing the need to get away from lecturing and trying to find new creative ways to help students learn. I think that the musical is such a great concept because it presents the material in a different way. Calculus is a feared subject by many, but maybe if the material was taught in a better way it would not be so tough for students any longer. I would really like to see this type of learning catch on in the school systems. Hopefully this idea will help spark other creative ideas to promote teaching methods other than the “standard” way. Thanks for helping to spread this type of learning on your blog.
ReplyDeleteThat's really creative. I know for students like me who aren't strong in math, this would be a welcomed supplement to the class.
ReplyDelete