Today I posed two big questions: What is History? and Does History Change?
A student's initial response was, ". . .but this is math class." I assured the child that math has a history. Unlike trees, math didn't just grow, but instead was invented (Though some trees were invented too through the manipulation of seeds.)
Amazingly students grasped the notion that math has history and that history does change dependent on clues, perspective, and evidence. They understood that what we always thought as true, might change if new discoveries or analyses are made.
We watched a great story about the history of zero, then we talked about zero's many names and properties. We also talked about what zero isn't--properties that don't belong to zero.
Tomorrow we'll continue this study of the history of zero, and we'll also remain open minded to new information and ideas because history can change over time.