They might be sitting still as they imagine all of this walking back and forth along their path; but they are reliving, at least in their imagination, the movement of their feet.
Researchers are studying how our everyday physical experiences in the world contribute to our understanding of mathematical concepts. ( ① )
The experience of walking along a path, for example, can be a metaphor for thinking about arithmetic. ( ② )
The path starts at some point 0 and as children walk along, every step takes them 1 unit further from the starting point;
they can even take half steps or skip along two steps at a time. ( ③ )
If they want to imagine what it might mean to add 5 and 9, they could think of first walking 9 steps and then walking 5 more. ( ④ )
But that also helps them think about what 14－3
might mean because they can imagine walking backwards. ( ⑤ )
If they close their eyes, they might even imagine the shape of the path, the smell of the trees, and the sound that is made when they step on the dried leaves. * arithmetic: 산수
