An article describing the Primitives idea is available to read on the ATM website.
Click on the images to see a larger image in a new window.
To be kept informed of developments in the Primitives software and idea, then subscribe to the Primitives Mailing List.
About
Primitives is an original Flash project that offers an unusual insight into the structure of numbers, in terms of their prime factors. Numbers are presented as nested sets of small black dots. Three is presented as a blue circle enclosing three dots; a 'set of three'. Six is presented as a set of three sets of two dots, or as a set of two sets of three dots.
When a number has many different prime factors, such as 30 = 3·2·5, the factors can be rearranged to offer different images of the same number.
Primitives is tailored for classroom use and perfectly suited for use with an interactive whiteboard. Hopefully older primary students and secondary students will find this application interesting.
Primitives is companion software to an article published in March 2008's Mathematics Teacher Magazine. You can read the article online.
Recent Comments
nicola batey (Mar 10) wrote
"Hi
As a secondary maths teacher I was wondering if it was possible to buy the primitives grid poster anywhere?
Thanks"
Paul Stephenson (Mar 10) wrote
"A stunningly simple idea, beautifully realised."
View all comments, or leave your own here...
Coming Soon: Grid Primities Poster
I am currently looking into publishing these posters, and will do so if there is sufficient demand. If you are interested in purchasing these posters, then
please encourage me to have them printed, or subscribe to the
Primitives Mailing List
to keep updated with any developments.
Grid primitives combines the 'Primitive' visualisations with the Sieve of Eratosthenes. The Primitive visualisations of the first 42 numbers are arranged into a six column grid that is often used when finding prime numbers by elimination using the Sieve of Eratosthenes algorithm. Click on the image or here for a larger image.
The visualisations are reduced in size to conform to the size of the grid, and behind them the pattern of multiples of 2, 3, 5 and 7 are each highlighted in the colour corresponding to the respective prime number. The prime numbers are particularly highlighted by an 11-pointed star behind each one.
The choice of a six column structure may lead students to question why after the bottom row, primes only appear in the first and fifth columns, or to put it mathematically, why all primes other than 2 and 3 are in the pattern 6n±1, where n is a positive integer, but that not all such numbers are prime. In each column, 25 and 35 disrupt the apparent pattern of primes. Studying this may lead students to futher questions about prime numbers for further study.
Flash
Primitives was developed in Flash and is available by clicking on the Flash icon above or to the left. You will need to have Flash 9 Player installed. Visiting the page should trigger an installation if required.
Please note that Flash has security restrictions in place which mean that you cannot use the keyboard in full-screen mode. As the idea develops I will consider publishing a downloadable version which removes these issues.
The Flash file will run in the browser once loaded, but you can choose to display it full-screen by clicking on this full-screen icon. It may take a second or two to initialise, depending upon your internet browser. To cancel full-screen click it again or press the escape
key. You cannot use keyboard input when running in full-screen mode.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 UK: Scotland License.