The As I Was Going to St Ives math problem is quite the riddle. The rhyme relays the story of a man going to St. Ives who had seven wives with seven sacks and those sacks had seven things in them. There are many different people who wish to use the riddle to teach children math, and they will have quite a lot of fun digging through the formulas that may be done with your class. There are a number of different things that you may do with your class once you begin the lessons based on this rhyme.
#1: How Many Things Were In The Story?
The story that you find in this tale is one where the man has been confronted with women who have many sacks, many kittens inside the sacks and so on. These women are a part of a much bigger story that is interesting to behold because you may share it with the children while you ask them to learn how much is actually in the song. This is quite advanced, but it may be fun for your whole class to come together and learn what the true answer is.
#2: The Scheme
You may teach the children the scheme of the song so that they will know how it was composed. They will be quite happy to learn how they may build a song like this, and they will learn that this song has been around for some time because St. Ive’s itself has been around for some time. This is a part of history that your children may learn about, and you may branch out quite a lot as you teach them what happened in the story. You need not add words because this song is long enough, has many features, and gives your children an idea of what it must be like for a mathematician to do their work.
#3: How Much?
The answer to the problem is 2,801, and that is how man things you will find in total in this tale. You must do quite a lot of work to come to this conclusion, but you may work backwards to find the answer, show your kids how it was made, and how you will make a formula that helps you come to this answer. Your kids will feel quite accomplished, and they will learn something that helps them feel as though they know how to do something that is very advanced. Your children are in class for the most basic things, but they learn much more if they have been given the chance to learn something that is far beyond their years. They will carry this answer with them for many years, and they will use it in the future with their own children. There are many reasons to use this song in class, and you will notice that it works just as well in your high school class because the kids love to find the answers.