| Every great item that has ever made its mark in | | | | taught in schools hire private tutors. |
| history has all started from somewhere. As tiny as | | | | Quite the contrary to popular belief, there is more to |
| they are, you would think that beads wouldn't have | | | | the abacus than it just being something nice to look at |
| that much of an important backstory, right? Wrong! Did | | | | as a visual teaching aide. Another reason why it is |
| you forget about the abacus? It's only known as one | | | | used and so effective is because of its tact. Blind |
| of history's FIRST mathematical tools...and it's | | | | people use Cramner abacus' because of the special |
| completely made out of beads! Some people refer to | | | | bicone beads it is made of. What makes this abacus |
| it as "the first calculator," since it was created LONG | | | | so special, you ask? It is special for quite a few |
| before the technology age came along. | | | | reasons. First of all, it teaches blind students how to |
| HISTORY | | | | count through hearing. Next, it doesn't just stop at |
| It's been documented by several sources that the very | | | | teaching addition and subtraction. The Cramner abacus |
| first use of an abacus dates back to the days of | | | | teaches cubic root, division, square root, and even |
| 2400 BC. Supposedly, it was made with sand and | | | | multiplication! |
| pebbles. The Babylonians used it. Surprisingly, they | | | | MODERN ABACUS |
| weren't the only ones who used the abacus. China | | | | Believe it or not, the abacus is still used by store and |
| and India useds abacus' with beads in the first century. | | | | business owners in different parts of the world. This is |
| An exact date hasn't been pinpointed just yet, but it's | | | | especially true for places like Africa, Japan, China, and |
| been said that the abacus was used with beads by | | | | Russia. Wooded beads are usually what make up |
| these two countries at some point only two times in a | | | | your average abacus today. However, in places like |
| three year period. Depending on who you ask, there | | | | Japan, bicone beads are still used because they're |
| are many estimations regarding approximately where | | | | considered to move more easier. |
| these abacus' were first useds. Some researchers | | | | In China, they refer to an abacus as a "Suanpan." |
| have been known to say Ancient Egypt or | | | | These can be used for more than just counting. Like |
| Mesopotamia. However, others have disagreed, saying | | | | the Cramner abacus, these also can be used for |
| it was used in Rome or Greece around approximately | | | | multiplication, addition, division, subtraction, and even |
| 300 BC. | | | | cube and square roots in a fast amount of time. |
| PURPOSE | | | | You would think that since the abacus has been |
| There's one major benefit to children of any age when | | | | around for hundreds of centuries, it has to be outdated |
| they use an abacus. When they use it to learn how to | | | | and useless, right? Wrong! It's hardly what you would |
| count and do addition, students learn how to work with | | | | consider old-fashioned. To prove this, a contest was |
| groups of 10. As we all know, that's an extremely | | | | held back in November 1946 in Tokyo. A man by the |
| important number factor in math. Thanks to an abacus, | | | | name of Kiyoshi Matsuazaki used a regular Japanese |
| children can easily count to 100. | | | | soroban. The other man, a US military man by the |
| In Japan, the use of an abacus has its own word, | | | | name of Nathan Wood, used a regular electric |
| known as "Soroban." It is even taught as a subject in | | | | calculator. For the contest, both instruments were |
| school to students, believe it or not! The reason for this | | | | tested to see how fast and accurate they each would |
| is because decimals can be taught to students in | | | | be at performing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and |
| Japan better with the use of pictures and visual aids, | | | | division. Lastly, a final test would include a problem that |
| as opposed to the US, where working everything out | | | | combined all four. The winner was the soroban, |
| on paper is encouraged. Also, instead of teaching | | | | beating the calculator 4 times out of 5. The only thing |
| Soroban by using books or paper, teachers sing to the | | | | the electric calculator beat the abacus at was in |
| students! Pretty unique way of teaching, isn't it? Some | | | | multiplying. |
| parents who consider Soroban to be too difficult to be | | | | |