arithmetic is a way of grouping and separating numbers. to show this, let us pretend you are the leader of a tribe many years ago
ADDITION
you are preparing a hunt and want to make sure there is enough food brought back for everyone. you count, the essential of addition, three different families. each family has a different amount of family member.
the first family, which you belong to, is quite large, full of warriors and strong persons, having 9 members. the second is the farming family. the famine has been tough on all of you, so they have been reduced to 5 family members. the last family is the brains and artists of the group, consisting of exactly 3 people.
QUESTION 1: how many total people are there in all the families of the tribe?
MULTIPLICATION
It is spring and a good season for hunting rabbits. everyone is quite hungry and would need to consume two rabbits each to be well nourished for the day
QUESTION: how many rabbits would need to be brought for all tribe members to be well nourished for the day?
SUBTRACTION:
right before you leave for the hunt, two of the tribe members die of dysentery. after the proper rites are conducted, you finalize your plans for the hunt with a new calculation:
QUESTION: how many people are currently alive in your tribe?
DIVISION:
You decide to bring two other tribesman for the hunt, for a total of three hunters. you would like to see how much time and effort to place into catching rabbits so you ask yourself:
QUESTION 4: on average, how many rabbits would each hunter need to catch so each surviving tribesman is well nourished?
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That‘s all there is to basic arithmetic. order of operations, fractions, and exponents have not been discussed in this lesson.
ANSWERS
question 1: 17
question 2: 34
question 3: 15
question 4: 10
