astronomy

Teri Perl

Teri Perl is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Teri Perl rather than just read about it. In short: Teri Perl (born November 19, 1926) is an American mathematics educator, author of mathematics resource books, and a co-founder of The Learning Company. Education and career Perl was born in New York City, New York.

Key takeaways

Teri Perl belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Teri Perl to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Teri Perl from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Teri Perl (born November 19, 1926) is an American mathematics educator, author of mathematics resource books, and a co-founder of The Learning Company.

Education and career Perl was born in New York City, New York. In 1947, she received a bachelor's degree in economics from Brooklyn College in New York. She did post-baccalaureate work at San Jose State University in California and earned a secondary mathematics teaching credential there in 1969. While doing substitute teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area, Perl discovered that there weren't adequate resources for substitute teachers. She began a long-distance collaboration with Miriam K. Freedman to produce A Sourcebook for Substitutes and Other Teachers. Freedman developed the material for teachers of English, foreign languages, and social science and Perl for teachers of mathematics and science. Perl was a mathematics consultant and resource teacher at Ventura Elementary School in Palo Alto, California in the 1970s. After her youngest child was in high school, Perl attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, California and obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics education in 1979. The title of her dissertation was "Discriminating Factors and Sex Differences in Electing Mathematics". From 1971 to 1979, while working on her doctorate at Stanford, Perl taught part-time at San Francisco State University. In 1980, Perl, Ann McCormick, Leslie Grimm, and Warren Robinett founded The Learning Company (TLC), an educational software company that developed grade-based learning software, as well as edutainment games and productivity tools. Perl was the content designer for TLC's Math Rabbit. She was responsible for writing users'/teachers' guides to accompany several software packages produced by TLC. In 1995, TLC was taken over by SoftKey, who changed their name to The Learning Company. After several sales, The Learning Company brand was used by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through 2018. In 1974, Perl, together with a group of San Francisco Bay area women, founded the Math/Science Network to encourage and inspire middle and high school girls to pursue careers in STEM. The network was rebranded as the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Network in 1982 when EYH obtained nonprofit status. The MSN/EYH developed a one-day workshop for middle and high school girls with hands-on workshops and interactions with women in STEM careers. Perl served as president of the EYH Network from 1999 to 2007. EYH has run over 80 Career Days, with up to 25,000 girls participating each year. In 2010, the EYH Network was honored by the National Science Board with their Public Service Award "for its decades-long commitment to the early development of interest in mathematics and science among young women, making significant strides toward its goal to develop a pool of qualified women to undertake careers in mathematics, science and engineering." In March 1979, Perl's book Math Equals: Biographies of Women Mathematicians + Related Activities received a very positive review by the American Library Association's publication Choice.

"An excellent, documented historical account of contributions made by somen interested in mathematics presented in a most unusual and readable format. The attention of a reader in mathematics is captivated immediately..."

In 2005, GirlSource honored Perl with its WAVE (Women of Achievement, Vision and Excellence) award. In 2022 she became a fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics, "For amazing and tireless efforts over five decades to promote women in mathematics and related fields; particularly, for co-founding what we now know as Expanding Your Horizons, her biographies of women mathematicians, and her influential role in The Learning Company, which have together inspired generations of women and girls."

Selected publications Perl, Teri (February 1978). Math Equals: Biographies of Women Mathematicians + Related Activities. Addison Wesley Innovative Series. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley. p. 250. ISBN 978-0201057096. Morrow, Charlene; Perl, Teri, eds. (May 30, 1998). Notable Women in Mathematics: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood. p. 320. ISBN 978-0313291319. Book review: Forgasz, Helen (1999). "The Lives and Contributions of Women Mathematicians and Educators". Mathematics Education Research Journal. 11 (2): 154–155. Bibcode:1999MEdRJ..11..154F. doi:10.1007/BF03217068. S2CID 178797322. Retrieved 14 March 2021. Freedman, Miriam K.; Perl, Teri (1974). A Sourcebook for Substitutes and Other Teachers. Parsippany, NJ: Dale Seymour Publications/Pearson Learning. ISBN 978-0201057867. Perl, Teri Hoch (1979). "The Ladies' Diary or Woman's Almanack". Historia Mathematica. 6 (1): 36–53. doi:10.1016/0315-0860(79)90103-4. MR 0518839.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Teri Perl

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Teri Perl claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Teri Perl before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Teri Perl ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Teri Perl

In research: Teri Perl appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Teri Perl in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Teri Perl is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1926 births, 20th-century American educators, 20th-century American women educators, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Teri Perl outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Teri Perl in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Teri Perl means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Teri Perl out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Teri Perl in simple terms?

Teri Perl (born November 19, 1926) is an American mathematics educator, author of mathematics resource books, and a co-founder of The Learning Company. Education and career Perl was born in New York City, New York.

Why does Teri Perl matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Teri Perl?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Teri Perl.