6-8
In this lesson, students will integrate science and math, exploring how neutralization reactions can help us understand that the sum of any number and its additive inverse is zero.
6-8
In this lesson, expressions representing area of a rectangle are used to enhance understanding of the distributive property. The concept of area of a rectangle can provide a visual tool for students to factor monomials from expressions.
6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students will adapt expressions that add or subtract two signed integers.
6-8, 9-12
Students will use vertical movement of an elevator to evaluate signed number expressions.
The idea behind the method of adding and subtracting signed integers offered in this lesson and the next is that the number of rules that students have to memorize and the amount of understanding are minimal, while the underlying concepts are not trivialized.
6-8
In this lesson, students look at patterns in calendars to determine the day of the week for a particular date. Students also use division to explain why those patterns occur, and then relate them to modular arithmetic. The final assessment is for students to find the day of their birth.
6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students purchase the common items used in their mathematics classroom such as desks, chairs, calculators, manipulatives, etc. They are given a budget that they must work within plus coupons that they must use when making their purchases. The lesson lets students have fun while applying the concepts of discount and percent. Since students use a purchase register to track their purchases, it also serves as a review of integer operations.
6-8
In this lesson, a string will be stretched across the classroom and various points will be marked for 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. This classroom number line will be used to show that all proper fractions are grouped between 0 and 1, and that improper fractions or mixed numbers are all grouped above 1. Students clip index cards with various proper fractions, improper fractions, and mixed numbers on the clothesline to visually see groupings. Students then play an estimation game with groups using the same principle. Encouraging students to look at fractions in various ways will help foster their conceptual fraction sense.
6-8, 9-12
Students will be introduced to modular arithmetic by first examining a five-hour analog clock and its mathematical properties. Then students will investigate patterns and relationships that exist in 12-hour addition and multiplication clock tables.
6-8
In this lesson, students experience beginning-algebra concepts through
discussion, exploration, and videotaping. The concept of multiplication
of integers is presented in a format which encourages understanding,
not simply rote memorization of facts. This lesson plan is adapted from
the article, "A Videotaping Project to Explore the Multiplication of
Integers", by Marcia B. Cooke, which appeared in Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 41, No. 3 (November 1993) pp. 170-171.
6-8
Positive and negative numbers become more than marks on paper when students play this variation of the card game, Rummy. Engaged in a game involving both strategy and luck, students build understanding of additive inverses, adding integers, and absolute value.