i think changing the base number to 12 would be a bad decition. it is easier to learn with 10 being the base number becasue both numbers in 10 are simple and 0 holds a place in other numbers

While it was interesting to hear the argument behind why a base 12 system would be beneficial, including the use of coding, I have seen firsthand why a base 10 system is much more beneficial in terms of learning to count and understand the basic idea of numbers. As students first learn to count, they go to using their fingers almost every single time because of the 10 fingers that correspond with base 10. It represents a visual that they will have with them wherever they go. While it is an interesting point made in the video how 10's are less fraction/decimal friendly, I think the hurdle of learning the basics of counting outside of a base 10 system would be much greater than working with fractions and decimals inside a base 10 system.

I think it would be very confusing if we changed our base 10 to base 12 seeing as how long we have used base 10 for. I know a huge benefit for counting with my younger students is using our fingers and at every base 10 they stop if we use 12 they would have to add on the extra fingers and I think it would be easier for them to miscount. I see it often when we introduce numbers bigger than 10. I do see how using base 12 could be beneficial, because I did not realize how often we use base 12 in our lives. From the months in the year, to a dozen, and having it be easy in fractions does make me like thought of it.

I believe base 10 is the better choice. Since I have previously taught kindergarten, I have been able to see firsthand how students use their fingers when they begin to count. This makes it easier for students to begin visualizing the amount associated with the symbol and begin adding/subtracting. When expanding to larger addition and subtraction problems, it became easiest to incorporate base 10 blocks and base 10 frames to help students understand since they were already familiar with the idea. Children are able to expand on ideas better when they can connect prior knowledge which is exactly what base 10 does for students. While I firmly believe the base 10 is the better option, I can see the advantage of using 12 instead. Twelve can be divided by more numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12), whereas 10 cannot be broken down as much. Even with this advantage, I still believe base 10 is the better option as it is in the beginning framework for math and is ultimately easier to use.

I believe that using ten as a base is the better system. To begin, base ten is widely used and understood, as it is the common numerical system across the world. It is easy to learn as most humans have ten fingers, and can use their fingers as a tool while learning to count, add, and subtract. Calculating within tens is overall easy, as percentages, decimals, and even monetary values are frequently computed using groups of tens. The disadvantages of using base ten is that it is not as fraction-friendly for representation, and it is not applicable when counting in dozens. Base twelve would be a much steeper learning curve and does not serve as practical for every day use.

I believe that base 10 is a superior system when it comes to counting. Much of this belief comes from my experience with teaching pre-school and kindergarten-aged students about number sense and counting. When learning to count, it is easy for students to learn to count to 10. After learning how to count everyday objects and make groups of 10, students will often use their 10 fingers as a resource to help them when learning more challenging mathematical concepts. We teach young students different strategies to compose larger numbers by first making a group of ten and then continuing to count on. Counting by 10s is also a shortcut that students become familiar with when they are learning to count to 100, which a skill that young students need to master. I had never really thought about using base 12 before, but I can see that it would be very beneficial for learning to represent fractions, as it can be divided by many more small numbers.

I think that base-10 is a much better system especially when thinking about elementary students and those that are learning to count and understand numbers. Elementary aged students often use their fingers when counting or adding and subtracting numbers. I also think 10 is an overall easy to use number for math. In elementary levels, base 10 blocks are used as a great visual for students to learn adding and subtracting. Base 10 is also a numeral system familiar to us, and we can make any number we need. Although base 10 seems like the obvious choice and the system I think is best, there would be benefits to a base 12 numeral system. One major benefit would be dealing with common fractions. Since 12 can be divided by 2,3,4, and 6 it is very easy to represent those common fractions. Base 12 also makes patterns in a multiplication table easier to learn. Just like learning base 10, I do think it would be possible to learn base 12 and it be just as easy after practice.

10 is a much better system. It’s the basis of our years, decade, century, millennium, etc. the currency around the world is in multiples of 10, for the most part. Mathematics is based off of our understanding of 10s and the decimal, such as significant figures in physics or the construct of e, being used to show extremely large numbers instead in decimal form. The dozenal system is revered from medieval times, though, because it comes from the amount of finger bones starting in the thumb, so it was used for counting in the bartering system, much like how the “foot” came about, which happens to be 12 inches, or a yard, which is 36 inches. There are two sets of 12 hours per day. Every zodiac calendar has 12 zodiacs, be it 12 years in the Chinese Zodiac or 12 signs in the astrological zodiac. While both have shaped the different cultures of the world for millennia, our world is primarily set up to use the base of 10 system.

in response to Selena Heyer Show comment

One factor I'd like to add that I heard James Grime say is that cultures use base-12 by counting on the segments of their fingers.

I think that base 10 is the most common because with this you are not repeating any numbers, and the numbers in base 10 make up every rational number, but a downfall is that there are only 2 factors to a base 10. For a base 12 I think advantages would be that there are more factors so when working with fractions it would be easier to have a base of 12, but then you get into the problem where you are starting to repeat numbers.