The purpose of this study is to compare the differences of four essential aspects (i.e., representational forms, contextual features, cognitive demand levels, and response types) embedded in mathematical problems within the topics of numbers and operations in mathematics textbooks used in Finland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. This…

Describes a pattern which emerged from an examination of the digits of the squares of numbers. Provides eight examples having the pattern at the units or tens digit of the number. (YP)

Four hundred and three 3rd- and 5th-grade Chinese students took the Multiplication Estimation Test or participated in the interview on it, designed to assess their computational estimation performance on whole-number multiplication. Students perform better when tasks are presented visually than orally. Third graders tend to use rounding based…

The number sense program in Texas was developed to help motivate students to learn mathematics and to literally develop "number sense." A description of the program, a 70-item exercise (with answers), and teaching tips are provided. (JN)

Presents a lesson to compute differences of positive and negative numbers using historical events of science. Describes the skills, concepts, objectives, rationale, outline, procedure, evaluation, and extensions of the lesson. Provides a list of events in the history of science. (YP)

Presented is a historical treatment of computational devices that use counters on a checkerboard. The discussion includes works of John Napier, Walter Minto, and Nicholas Saunderson. (MP)

Describes a history of magic squares from China, Holland, Rome, and Ethiopia. (MKR)

The author presents two activities for practice with numbers and calculation. The first is an arithmetic adaptation of the familiar game of "Concentration" while the second is an unusual representation of addition, subtraction, and some properties of negative numbers. (Author/MN)

Explores abundant numbers and presents a proof that abundant numbers of every order exist. Readers are encouraged to use the included computer program to explore abundant numbers for themselves, look for patterns in the output, and consider further questions. (Author/MKR)

Case studies investigating the effectiveness of procedures undertaken to develop number sense and basic computational skills in (n=12) learning disabled students in a K-1 classroom found that all students were successful in recognizing and matching the numbers 0 through 5 and adding sums to 5. (13 references) (Author/MKR)