Tuesday, August 11, 2020

What Covid -19 has taught us in 2020

Amid the widespread gloom and doom, Covid-19 has forced us to get rid of a few of our sticky beliefs, as also advised us to steer clear of pride and prejudice in everything we say, do, think, and preach. In these torrid times, when many of our constipated intellectuals - especially the Facebook journalists across all forms of media - are busy showcasing their Covid-enforced culinary skills and housekeeping hardships, the dreaded Corona virus has, in many ways, shattered the status quo for the better.

Many among the deprived are helping the privileged come to terms with the new way of life, mega corporations are learning from the ability and agility of startups, the developed nations have been rendered developing in many ways, and animals have, more than exposing our conditional love for pets, taught us wonderful life lessons in austerity, objectivity, earthy delight, and minimal expectations.

 Rather than peddle muddled notions rooted in convenience and connivance, we must spend quality time with our kids to help them comprehend the depth and gravity of the exponential Covid crisis.

I had the opportunity to write a module on "exponents and exponential growth" for kids of primary schools. Sharing a few pages:

 How exponents behave 

      Product rule = In case of multiplication, exponents are in a friendly mood, so they ADD up for eg. am * an = am+n

      Quotient Rule = During division, exponents are unhappy with each other, so the one at the bottom is subtracted from the one at the top  for eg. am/bn = am-n

      Power Rule = when the same base has one exponent which is in turn raised to another exponent, both decide to multiply  so (am)n = am*n

      In exponents with different base and same power, the bases decide to share the power, so am * bm becomes (a*b)m  or am/bm becomes (a/b)m

Story of a mighty demon

A mighty demon is creating havoc, thanks to a boon he received from a Rishi. Whenever he is killed in combat, he not only regains life but grows into three demons. If he is killed once every day, how many demons will be created on the fourth day?     

Answer:    34 = 81 demons

Learning Exponential growth through mosquito example