Children's Television Workshop proposes to produce a fourth and fifth season of SQUARE ONE TV, a daily series on mathematics for children ages eight to twelve. Season Four will consist of 40 new half-hours for air on PBS stations beginning September 1991. Consistent with CTW's experimental mission in education, CTW also proposes to undertake a new programming approach to expand the reach of SQUARE ONE TV to a family audience by converting the daily detective serial featured in the series, MATHNET, into four one-hour specials for family viewing. These Season Four MATHNET Specials will be researched to test their effectiveness. Eleven hour-long weekly SQUARE ONE TV programs will be produced for Season Five to be aired in addition to re-broadcasts of the daily series starting January, 1993. Seasons Four and Five production will capitalize on the educational impact and appeal of prior seasons. Mathematical content will be based on research and in conjunction with the Series Advisory Committee and consultants. The additional seasons will be supported by a full range of promotion, community outreach activities, and school services, including teacher's guides.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David ConnellKeith MielkeEve HallJoel Schneider
This one-hour documentary film profile of world famous mathematician Paul Erdos is being made for eventual broadcast on the NOVA series. At age 76, the world's most prolific mathematician (1,100 papers and over 200 co-authors) still spends all of his time moving from country to country, meeting with other mathematicians to work on problems. The film will show how a prodigious mathematician, with a career of over 50 years, lives and works, how he interacts with his colleagues, and how the international community of mathematicians functions. It aims to explore the human side of a discipline in which God, Beauty and Numbers are the subjects of daily speculation. But what do mathematicians actually do? Because of his peripatetic nature and eternal curiosity, Erdos provides an ideal window on a field that has often been perceived by the public as remote and intimidating. The film will show Erdos and his colleagues at work and play. Interviews and archival materials will establish his contributions in combinatorics and in Number theory. Some more accessible problems will be illustrated with animation and computer graphics. The interplay of a warm human story with intriguing philosophical speculations and mathematical problems will show important results are arrived at in mathematics. This is expected to stimulate interest in mathematics among television viewers and students. The film is in production and only partial funding is being requested from NSF.
Children's Television Workshop (CTW) will produce two additional seasons of SQUARE ONE TV, a daily series of mathematics for children aged 8-12. The first season of 75 half-hour shows premiered on public television stations in January 1987. The second and third seasons will each consist of 65 programs to capitalize on the success of Season I and compound its educational utility. SQUARE ONE TV has three goals: to promote positive attitudes toward, and enthusiasm for, mathematics; to encourage the use and application of problem solving processes; and to present sound mathematical content in an interesting, accessible and meaningful manner. Based on preliminary research results, the series appears to be meeting these goals. The series has attracted a substantial audience from throughout the country during its initial season, and a very positive reception from mathematicians, parents, teachers, and the press. Most importantly, the target-aged children are enjoying and learning from the series. The goals and content for additional seasons will basically remain the same, with refinements made as research results are assembled and digested by in house staff in conjunction with mathematics advisors. Production plans will take advantage of the learning experiences acquired from Season I. The additional seasons of SQUARE ONE TV will be supported by a full range of promotion, community outreach activities and school services, including teacher's guides. Season II should be ready to air in September 1988. The highly skilled production team responsible for season I remains in place: Dave Connell, Vice President and Executive Producer, CTW; Dr. Keith Mielke, Vice President for Research, CTW; Dr. Joel Schneider, Content Director, SQUARE ONE TV; and Bettina Peel, Director of Research, SQUARE ONE TV. An 18 member National Advisory Board is chaired by Dr. Gerald Lesser, Bigelow Professor of Education and Developmental Psychology at Harvard, and more than 15 additional distinguished mathematicians, scientists, and educators serve as project consultants. With the addition of SQUARE ONE TV to the existing 3-2-1 Contact science series, america's children now have a full hour a day of math and science learning opportunity at home. Continued development of SQUARE ONE TV mathematics programs is essential to sustain our national commitment for improved mathematics and scientific literacy for our young. An award of an additional $3,000,000 for FY87 and $3,000,000 for FY88 is recommended.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David ConnellKeith MielkeBettina PeelJoel Schneider