A special calendar chart is presented that can be used to find out what day of the week any date falls on during the 1980s. (MP)

Three methods of proof are analyzed as a means of aiding teachers in presenting arguments for certain number concepts. These are: (1) proof by contradiction, (2) Venn diagrams, and (3) method of exhaustion. (MP)

An appeal is made for a more formal treatment of the topics of estimation and reasonableness of answers in the school mathematics curriculum. (MP)

A "flipping" clown figure can be used on a number line to help students conceptualize operations using negative numbers. (SJL)

Two studies sought to determine the developmental relationship between the child's use of counting as a notational symbol system to extract, compare, and reproduce numerical information and the development of number conservation. Subjects were four- to six-year-old children in Study 1 and seven- to nine-year-old learning disabled children in Study…

The article includes a short history of polygonal numbers, a method for finding the root of a polygonal number, and suggestions for using polygonal numbers in the classroom. (MK)

Examples of opportunities for undergraduate students to engage in mathematical research are demonstrated. All examples are partition identities. (MK)

Results of a study of children's ability to perceive grouped vs. ungrouped objects representing the numbers 1 through 9 showed that perceiving elementally grouped objects was significantly easier than nonelementally grouped objects, and elementally grouped objects in a pattern were significantly easier than non-patterned groupings. (DT)

Illustrates how many key algebraic concepts can be informally developed within the number and operations strand taught in the primary grades. Discusses expressions and equations, properties and conventions, relationships between operations, and variables from this perspective. (ASK)

Presents three number games for mathematics classrooms designed to improve the learning of number concepts. Game topics include determining products, arranging mathematical signs, and factoring. (ASK)

This constructivist teaching experiment investigated the role of whole-number knowledge in fraction learning. Two nine-year-old students worked for one year with a computer program (Copycat) and demonstrated that the development of whole-number knowledge and rational-number knowledge is interdependent. Contains 59 references. (KMC)

Presents an investigation, applicable for grades 3-6, that focuses on the concept of randomness and encourages children to conjecture and to conduct experiments which verify or contradict their intuitions. Involves using hands-on explorations, collecting data, and drawing conclusions on the basis of the information. (JRH)

Presents activities to find Pythagorean triples using the TI-83, a graphing calculator. (KHR)

Discusses several solutions--correct and incorrect--for a "Food for Thought" problem from the May 2000 issue. Emphasizes the importance of proportional reasoning. (KHR)

This study compared instruction in addition using either a minimum addend strategy or drill and practice with 84 students either with or without learning disabilities (LD). Students with LD improved significantly only in the strategy condition, whereas general education students improved in both the strategy and the drill-and-practice conditions.…