Describes two sets of activities designed to stimulate thinking skills and to bring some topological aspects into the mathematics curriculum. One set explores Mobius strips; the other set deals with tori. The activities are suitable for students in fourth through eighth grades. (JN)

Topics discussed include: reasons for strategies; the use of a hierarchy of spaces from topological to Euclidean in teaching; structural strategies; pedagogical strategies; and mathematical strategies. (MP)

The author takes exception to Piaget and Inhelder's conclusion that a child's first conceptualization of space is topological. (JP)

The value and technique of pre-geometry and geometry instruction in the primary grades are discussed. Geometric concepts such as open and closed figures, connectedness, similarity, congruence, straightness, and angle are presented through suggested activities, lesson plans, and evaluation procedures. (SD)

This study was designed to determine if a group of five- and eight-year-old students' understanding of selected geometric ideas paralleled Piaget's topological, projective, and Euclidean thesis. Additional purposes were to investigate which geometric ideas the group learned easiest, and to examine the relationships between geometric understanding…

Introduces elastic geometry, or topology, into the elementary classroom through the study of connecting the intuitive, visual, and spatial components of storyknifing as well as other everyday and ethnomathematical activities. (ASK)

The author's experience in leading activities related to the Mobius strip to a fourth-grade class is discussed. (SD)

The letters of the alphabet can be classified according to their geometric and topological characteristics on these worksheets. An additional worksheet provides for tallying the frequency of usage of the letters in three sentences. (SD)

Research designed to determine whether the phenomena observed by Piaget were task specific was performed. The results did not confirm Piaget's notion that topological concepts develop prior to the concepts of Euclidean geometry. (SD)

This 19-page workbook presents the elementary student with topological concepts through sequences of pictures with related questions. Generally the questions ask, "How are the pictures different?" and "How are they the same?" Several topological concepts are presented in this manner: connectivity, number of holes, closed and open curves, networks,…

The notions of topological equivalence for one-, two-, and three-dimensional figures, as well as for graphs and networks, are developed for classroom use with children between the ages of three and ten. Properties of open and closed curves are also examined. This manual, addressed to the teacher, describes several activities related to each…

The "geometry of distortion" and some prestidigitation show kids that lines, surfaces, and planes are not always what they seem. (Editor)

A review of work related to the topological primacy thesis and a critique of some aspects of it are presented. On the basis of the psychological research, it is concluded that topological concepts ought to be taught. (MP)

The investigation reported pursued the possibility of cross-cultural differences between American and Swiss children in terms of how they perceive and conceptualize spatial figures. There was statistical evidence that the preferences of American and Swiss children were different when compared as a whole or by sex and test version. (MK)

This experiment investigated the effect of children's successive encounters with a large scale environment on their subsequent reconstructions of that environment. Twenty children (10 boys, 10 girls) at each of three grade levels (kindergarten, two, and five) reconstructed from memory the spatial layout of buildings in a large model town. All…