Math Patrol
Encyclopedia
Math Patrol was a children's educational television
show produced by TVOntario
in 1977 and aired by the public broadcaster
in the late 1970s and the early 1980s.
The series starred John Kozak as "Sydney" – a "math
detective
" who repeatedly went undercover
as a kangaroo
("the only disguise Math Patrol had that would fit him"). Other cast members included Carl Banas
, Jessica Booker, Luba Goy
and Nikki Tilroe
.
The program was designed to teach basic math skills and terminology
in an entertaining fashion to children between approximately 8 and 10 years of age. In each 15-minute episode, Math Patrols unseen (silhouette
d) boss "Mr. Big" would send the detective on a case or charge him with a task which could only be solved through mathematic deduction.
Over the course of 20 episodes, Math Patrol provided introductory math lessons on topics including addition
, subtraction
, multiplication
, division
, area
, fractions, length
, shape
s, geometry
and symmetry
.
Because of its highly educational nature, Math Patrol was often shown to groups of primary school
students during class
time.
Educational television
Educational television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that is often associated with cable television in the United States as Public, educational, and government access ...
show produced by TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
in 1977 and aired by the public broadcaster
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
in the late 1970s and the early 1980s.
The series starred John Kozak as "Sydney" – a "math
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
" who repeatedly went undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
as a kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
("the only disguise Math Patrol had that would fit him"). Other cast members included Carl Banas
Carl Banas
Carl Banas is a Toronto born radio personality and actor. As a TV actor he appeared in the series Wojeck as police detective Byron James, and provided voices for numerous TV series and features. He was also known as a radio personality on Toronto radio station CKFM-FM, later and more famouly known...
, Jessica Booker, Luba Goy
Luba Goy
-Life and career:Goy was born in Haltern, Germany to Ukrainian parents and raised in Ottawa. They emigrated to Canada in 1951. She is a graduate of the Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, and later graduated from Canada's National Theatre School, before acting in theatre productions in...
and Nikki Tilroe
Nikki Tilroe
Nikki Tilroe was an Emmy Award-winning American puppeteer. She is best known for her work as the "Mime Lady" on the children's television series Today's Special...
.
The program was designed to teach basic math skills and terminology
Terminology
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other...
in an entertaining fashion to children between approximately 8 and 10 years of age. In each 15-minute episode, Math Patrols unseen (silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
d) boss "Mr. Big" would send the detective on a case or charge him with a task which could only be solved through mathematic deduction.
Over the course of 20 episodes, Math Patrol provided introductory math lessons on topics including addition
Addition
Addition is a mathematical operation that represents combining collections of objects together into a larger collection. It is signified by the plus sign . For example, in the picture on the right, there are 3 + 2 apples—meaning three apples and two other apples—which is the same as five apples....
, subtraction
Subtraction
In arithmetic, subtraction is one of the four basic binary operations; it is the inverse of addition, meaning that if we start with any number and add any number and then subtract the same number we added, we return to the number we started with...
, multiplication
Multiplication
Multiplication is the mathematical operation of scaling one number by another. It is one of the four basic operations in elementary arithmetic ....
, division
Division (mathematics)
right|thumb|200px|20 \div 4=5In mathematics, especially in elementary arithmetic, division is an arithmetic operation.Specifically, if c times b equals a, written:c \times b = a\,...
, area
Area
Area is a quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional surface or shape in the plane. Area can be understood as the amount of material with a given thickness that would be necessary to fashion a model of the shape, or the amount of paint necessary to cover the surface with a single coat...
, fractions, length
Length
In geometric measurements, length most commonly refers to the longest dimension of an object.In certain contexts, the term "length" is reserved for a certain dimension of an object along which the length is measured. For example it is possible to cut a length of a wire which is shorter than wire...
, shape
Shape
The shape of an object located in some space is a geometrical description of the part of that space occupied by the object, as determined by its external boundary – abstracting from location and orientation in space, size, and other properties such as colour, content, and material...
s, geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
and symmetry
Symmetry
Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...
.
Because of its highly educational nature, Math Patrol was often shown to groups of primary school
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
students during class
Class (education)
A class in education has a variety of related meanings.It can be the group of students which attends a specific course or lesson at a university, school or other educational institution, see Form ....
time.