The research question used for this study was Can elementary classroom teachers identify "familiar" science manipulatives as well as the availability of manipulatives and percentage of time they are used in their classroom? Questions were also asked to determine factors that influence manipulative use, science units that are appropriate…

This set of 13 activities, adapted from "Mathmatters: Developing Computational Skills with Developmental Activity Sequences (by Randall Souviney, Tamara Keyser, and Alan Sarver) was designed to help teachers using the Indigenous Mathematics Project materials (in Papua New Guinea) understand the basic processes involved in computation with…

Two students (aged 10) and a teacher described their exploratory approach to problems involved in sliding blocks games. (SD)

Various ways to investigate square shapes are suggested. Ways are explored to color and cut squares, arrange them in pentominoes, cut them in half, and arrange six of them that can be folded into a box. (KM)

Homemade geostrips, "angle-fixers" (cardboard circular sectors) and brass fasteners can be used by students to explore properties of angles, triangles and other polygons. Several games and other activities are suggested. (SD)

Wooden cubes can be used with task cards and teacher-made materials to develop and reinforce learning of linear measurement, area and multiplication, volume and surface area. Students can use cubes to cover area and fill boxes; later they learn to make boxes to fit specified numbers of cubes. (SD)

The reality of classroom practices raises a question worth investigation: Are there programs that do not rely on the use of manipulatives that might provide successful mathematics instruction? This paper investigated achievement differences between students in three mathematics programs ranging from a strict manipulative focus to an abstract,…

Activities and materials are suggested for giving practice in developing the concepts of grouping and place value. Grouping by tens leads into activities involving "money." Using the metric system, these ideas can be extended to measurement. (LS)

Reports the results of a study designed to test the importance of manipulative experiences with science materials in the attainment of science process skills for kindergarten and third grade students. (JR)

Ways to select and display table toys and guide children's use of them in child care centers. (BRT)

After a discussion on planning instruction, a series of activities designed to develop pre-number and number concepts are presented. Activities are arranged by difficulty within sections devoted to classifying, comparing, ordering, measuring, organizing data, distinguishing shape and size, recognizing patterns, number awareness, and counting. (SD)

The development of number concepts from conservation through order and place value notation is discussed in the context of applications to classroom instruction. Activities designed to motivate, build, and reinforce these concepts are described, and a list of objectives is presented in the form of a suggested progress record. (SD)

Directions are presented for the construction and use of line-segment strips. Examples demonstrate activities, integrate elementary geometry and arithmetic instruction. (JP)

Acquisition of the basic concepts of mathematics such as matching, number and counting, sets and classifying, comparing, measuring, shape, space, and parts and wholes, may be followed by two types of activities. First, the child may subsequently be presented activities that allow for practice and generalization of those acquired concepts.…