The present study seeks to explore the mathematical connections that 13-14-year-old secondary school students establish when solving area tasks. Emphasis is placed on different mathematical objects, and the connections between them, that allow students to successfully solve the tasks. The study follows a mixed methodology using qualitative and…

Error analysis consumes much of the focus in introductory physics labs. Catastrophic cancellation is a spike in error that occurs when subtracting two measurements of roughly equal magnitude. Often termed "loss of significance" or "subtractive cancellation," this effect can easily relegate experimental results to utter…

A key topic throughout school geometry is measurement--namely, distance, area, and volume. This article focuses on one key idea for finding and justifying the area of two-dimensional (2D) shapes: area-preserving transformations. Although especially pertinent to geometry teachers, this article highlights a vertical connection of ideas progressing…

In this work, we have developed an alternative device composed by an Arduino board and an INA219 sensor to experimentally obtain the mathematical formulas describing the charge and discharge of the capacitor for educational proposes. We have obtained excellent agreement between theoretical prediction and experimental measurements. The INA219 DC…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a novice primary teacher's mathematical knowledge in teaching on area measurement. Data were collected from a novice primary teacher of fourteen students in a primary school located in Ankara, Turkey using field notes, video recordings of lessons, and audio recordings of interviews before and after her…

In this article, the author looks at some key considerations which have proven to be very useful in the teaching of measurement in the primary classroom. Five ideas that can form the basis of focusing on measurement to access other strands of the mathematics curriculum are then examined.

Within the "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" the Understanding proficiency strand states, "Students build understanding when they connect related ideas, when they represent concepts in different ways, when they identify commonalities and differences between aspects of content, when they describe their thinking mathematically and…

This study investigated children's understanding of area measurement, including the concept of area and the area formula of a rectangle, as well as their strategic knowledge for solving area measurement problems. Twenty-two fourth-graders from three classes of a public elementary school in Taipei, Taiwan, participated in a one-on-one interview.…

When asked to calculate the area of a particular shape, one student responded by asking, "Is that the outside or the inside?" while another student replied, "I think it's the one where you put a little 2 next to it." Both of these responses indicate a lack of conceptual understanding of area and reinforce the research findings…

Describes how to use homemade tiles, sketches, and the box method to reach a broader group of students for successful algebra learning. Provides a list of concepts appropriate for such an approach. (KHR)

Children need more than activities to help them see that the relationship expressed in a formula is true. Giving them the underlying principles will contribute to better comprehension, retention, and transfer. (MNS)

Classroom ideas for teaching area and perimeter concepts are presented. Squares, circles and other shapes are examined. Further explorations are suggested. (PK)

Flow diagrams developing cube roots and formulas for the square, sphere, cube, circle and sector, oblong, and cylinder are presented. Some comments on their use, along with calculators, are included. (MNS)

Presents three teaching ideas involving (1) results of participation in the annual American Statistical Association's poster contest for students in grades K-12; (2) a variation on an annuity problem in which the contribution each year is increased by a given percentage; and (3) concrete activities to help students understand the meaning of radian…

Presents three stories from mathematics history that can be integrated into classroom teaching: (1) the account of how Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the earth to discuss the concept of units in measurement, (2) ideas from Archimedes, Vite, and Descartes to introduce pi, and (3) the discovery of the Cardanic formula as an example of…