How can fischertechnik models explain mathematics? Prof. Thomas Püttmann answered this question in a multifaceted and exciting lecture on May 5, 2023. Using different models, learning at different levels - assembly, testing, explanation - was vividly illustrated. With a calculating frog, a sextant, a binary calculator or a rope computer, students of all grade levels are addressed. The models are also intended to enable school subjects to be viewed from different angles. The replica of Schickard's calculating machines allowed a look into the history of calculating machines. A special model is the factorizer. The electromechanical model was used to successfully factorize the number 8,616,460,799 into two prime numbers, a task set by economist and logician William Stanley Jevons in 1874.
In addition to the application of the models, there were many practical tips for use in the mathematics classroom. After the lecture, the participants took the opportunity to experiment with the fischertechnik models. From Prof. Püttmann, the collection of mathematical instruments at the department received a new collection item: a compass trolley made of fischertechnik.
