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Abacus ± mental arithmetic
Summary
Abacus is one of the oldest known device for calculation that was used in ancient
civilizations.
On it you could run mathematical operations of addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, square root and grading.
Work on the abacus was once in the
curricula for mathematics 4th grade elementary school. Students of 4th and 5th grade were
taught addition and subtraction using the abacus.
The latest curricula for mathematics is not in operation over the abacus. There is no direct application of calculation using the abacus
because children and adults use calculators for that.
Using the calculator children (and adults) do not have to think about what they do. Using the abacus they have to use both hands and in the beginning have a lot to think about, and then the process of computing becomes just thought, mechanical.
Children counting on the abacus activate work brain synapses and so this work has a direct impact on their intelligence. In some countries (such Serbia, Croatia, etc.) are organized private schools in which
children from 5 to 14 years are being trained to count on abacus. The results of this work are amazing.
Just aim of this paper is to draw attention to the importance of the results that are achieved by using these old but valuable devices.
In this paper, the author will try to explain in a simple way how to apply basic mathematical
operations on the Japanese (Soroban) and Chinese (Suan Pan) abacus could encourage some people to hold various workshops on this subject with children.
Keywords: mathematics, mental arithmetic, abacus, calculation.