“Real People”: A Fifth-Grade Class Investigates the Lives of Mathematicians
By the end of the twentieth century, only 15 percent of the people entering the work force in the United States will be white males. Today, white and Asian males make up 95 percent of the recipients of college degrees in mathematics, science, and engineering (National Research Council 1989). Consequently, we must prepare females and minorities to fill this coming void. One way to encourage young women and minority students is to offer them role models who have been successful in mathematics. As the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989, 5) states, “Students should have numerous and varied experiences related to the cultural, historical, and scientific evolution of mathematics so that they can appreciate the role of mathematics in the development of our contemporary society.…”