The authors discuss mass as one of the three fundamental measurements (the others being length and time), noting that estimation of mass is little taught and assessed in primary schools. This article briefly explores the reasons for this in terms of culture, practice, and the difficulty of assessing estimation of mass. An activity using the…

This study examined the outcomes of a competing activities intervention to decrease skin picking exhibited by a 9-year-old student with comorbid diagnoses. Results of an ABCBAB design revealed that the use of student-selected manipulatives resulted in reduced skin picking. (Contains 1 figure.)

Classical physics has a long history of using demonstrations and experiments to develop ideas in introductory courses. The purpose of this exploration is to examine the effectiveness of a desk-top activity for helping students develop abstract reasoning. In the pilot exploration, students in three laboratory sections of a single physics course…

"Progress in Mathematics[C] 2006" is a new core curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade 6. "Progress in Mathematics[C] 2006" differs substantively from "Progress in Mathematics[C] 2000" in both content and assessment material. "Progress in Mathematics[C] 2006" uses a sequence of systematic…

The number of school age children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) has increased over the past decade to 10-20% of the elementary school population and is expected to continue to grow. The need to understand these children and effectively teach them is obvious. This paper examines the research literature to determine the best and most current…

In these two companion papers, a learning activity is introduced that teaches students how mathematics works through the visual aid of picture grids. The picture grids are composed of 60 different acrylic stained-glass window overlays. Each fractional part is represented by a different color: fifths are green, quarters are yellow, etc. The square…

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)