This volume is a teacher's edition in a series of books that contain open-ended exploration activities and experiments. These activities allow and encourage students to set their own goals, use their own creativity and ideas, investigate the wonders of nature, learn about the workings of real businesses, and draw conclusions from their…

This book leads students through a journey of hands-on investigations of skill-based estimation. The 30 lessons in the book are grouped into four units: Holding Hands, The Real Scoop, Container Calculations, and Estimeasurements. In each unit children work with unique, real materials intended to build an awareness of number, quantity, and…

This paper reports on a study of seventh grade students (N=4) who attend a rural K-12 school. Students participated in a 5-week teaching experiment designed to build on their existing knowledge of the unit concept and extend it to the rational number operations of multiplication and division. Data collected comes in the form of videotapes,…

This paper explores the process by which mathematical knowledge is socially constructed. Interactional analysis of a lesson on fact families shows how one third-grade mathematics class negotiated the meanings of writing a number sentence for a picture and a fact family. In the course of classroom interactions, teacher and students shifted the…

One of the major goals in mathematics education is to teach the ability to solve word problems. This study compared the word problem solving abilities of second-grade students from Taiwan (N=24) with those of American students (N=24). Two tests were used in the problem solving interviews. The comparisons between the performance of the groups on…

Stickybear's Math Splash is a CD-ROM-based software tool for teaching mathematics skills beyond simple number recognition to elementary students. The accompanying printed lesson plans are designed to complement mathematics skills with other methods and areas of emphasis including kinesthetic learning, listening skills, decision making skills, and…

Stickybear's Math Town is a CD-ROM-based software tool for teaching mathematics skills beyond simple number recognition. Accompanying printed lesson plans are designed to complement mathematics skills with other methods and areas of emphasis including kinesthetic learning, listening skills, decision making skills, and other vital tools for…

Three factors associated with arithmetical processes (sequence skills, arithmetical strategies, and information processing capacity) were measured in individual interviews with 35 first-grade pupils, aged 7.6 to 8.6, in one Finnish school. Mathematics achievement was determined from information supplied by teachers. Attitudes were assessed twice,…

This study was undertaken to gain insights into children's understanding of rational numbers as quantities; that is, the extent to which they associate a size with a fraction like 2/3. Eight children in an experimental group in DeKalb, Illinois, chosen to reflect the range from low to high ability, were observed during 30 weeks of experimental…

Completing these worksheets leads students to discover patterns in the distribution of even numbers and numbers obtained by successive additions of 9 (primary grades). Worksheets for intermediate grades involve counting the number of factorizations for integers, and addition of the first nine whole numbers. (SD)

Using these worksheets students explore patterns in numerical and geometric processes, and predict the outcomes when the processes are iterated further. (SD)

While repairing a sleeping bag, the author observed that the quilt stitching was unicursal. This led to development of a classroom activity relating the stitching patterns of quilts to the highest common factor of the numbers of "bumps" in each direction. (SD)

Figurate numbers based on seven geometric figures are discussed. The place of these numbers in Pascal's triangle is indicated. (SD)

The author describes two types of review activities: (1) counting exercises involving simple mental calculations, and (2) sets of five problems involving the same pair of numbers. (SD)

Several games involving both motor behavior and practice with mathematical skills are described. These include adaptations of musical chairs (subtraction), call ball (multiplication), and ring toss (linear measurement); other games are designed to provide practice on identifying numerals, telling time, using money, and naming fractions. (SD)