A cue and a protractor: both can help you win a game of pool. A pool table was installed at the Comenius College in Hilversum this week. And not in the cafeteria, but in the math classroom. Teacher Marjolein van Houten: “Pool is full of math.”
“I also have a pool table at home and I want to be better than my father,” says Balder van Rappard fanatically. He is one of the students who signed up for the special teaching program. “We’re going to calculate the right angle to hit a ball and draw lines with your protractor,” he says.
The teaching program will officially start in January, but this week the pool table was delivered to Comenius College in Hilversum. “I like playing pool and explaining math, so I really like that I can now combine this,” says maths teacher Marjolein van Houten enthusiastically. “And you’re working on math in a playful way, which is really nice,” she says.
“There are all kinds of tricks for learning how to hit the ball better” – Rachel Morssink
The course comes on top of the regular curriculum and is also taught at the very end of the day. “The lesson then lasts until 4.30 pm, yet the enthusiasm is very high,” says Van Houten. “The students had to write a motivation letter and look what a good turnout.”
“I signed up because I sometimes find math quite difficult,” says student Maartje Tiktak. “I thought: maybe it will be a bit easier if I go about it this way.” Balder has registered precisely because he wants more of a challenge. “I sometimes find math a bit too easy, so I wanted to add something extra.”
Maths on the pool table
And where exactly is that the math in the game of pool? “Everywhere,” says teacher Van Houten. “In the shape of the balls and in the numbers, but also in the lines of sight.” She draws an imaginary ball on the board, which you use to aim at. “Then you hit the real ball with the right angle,” says Van Houten.
Pool table in maths room at Comenius College Hilversum
Balder opens the game
With this card you determine the correct angle to hit a ball
Mathematics teacher Marjolein likes to play a game of pool
A so-called ‘ghost ball’ helps with aiming
First the theory
Will we be able to choose pool as a final exam subject in the near future? “That would be nice, but I don’t expect that,” says student Jasmijn de Kloet. “Then I would probably get an 8.5 or a 9,” Balder adds. (Incidentally, his blue eye, seen in the video, didn’t develop during a game of pool, but during rugby.)
The pool table at Comenius College is part of a European pilot. In the video below, Willem La Riviere, director of the Royal Dutch Billiards Association (KNBB), tells more about the project.
The director of the KNBB explains what the pilot entails – NH News