OER Commons - Browse: Keyword: Number Sense

Mingle & Count: A Game of Number Sense

2013-02-26T15:47:02

San Diego teacher Barbara McCormick demonstrates a fun, interactive way to help kindergarteners practice their counting skills. She begins by asking students about the rules for the game "Mingle and Count". Students then walk around the classroom saying "mingle, mingle, mingle" until Barbara calls out a number. Once the number is called, students quickly sort themselves into groups of the stated number.She scaffolds by having students count with her and uses the grouping game to foreshadow multiplication. When the number of students in the class cannot be made into an equal number of groups, she engages the students who are "remainders" by having them do something fun and silly like flapping their wings and quacking like a duck.

Fractions with Borrowing

Beverly Gonalez — 2012-11-02T15:42:44

Beverly Gonzalez uses paper pizzas to give her students a practical application for subtracting fractions. She fully engages the class with her "cowboy math" technique, white boards, peer coaching, and the "bull pen" (where students go for extra instruction before "the game").

Third Grade Mental Math

2012-11-01T12:47:10

Jen Saul combines think time, partner discussions, and an emphasis on students' personal strategies to build confidence through mental math. Students use and discuss the strategies of "decomposing," "splitting," and "jumps of ten."

The Decimal Point Slide

Big Ideas in Beta DIY Toolkit Team — 2012-10-02T15:02:04

Students will use a combination of writing and using their bodies to represent numbers at different place values from 1000 down to 1/1000. They will multiply and divide by powers of 10, adding and removing zeros as appropriate.

Exploring Place Value - Race the Clock for Third Grade!

Big Ideas in Beta DIY Toolkit Team — 2012-09-29T15:22:57

Students will explore the concepts of place value using their bodies as tools. They will time themselves performing various kinesthetic tasks like jumping jacks and sit ups and use the numbers that they record from these activities in their exploration. Working in groups, they will practice adding and subtracting and comparing numbers. They will also come up with creative ways to represent numbers using the properties of operation and the rules of place value.

Exploring Place Value -- Race the Clock!

Big Ideas in Beta DIY Toolkit Team — 2012-09-26T13:38:08

Ones & Tens: Dinosaurs Stomp, Alligators Chomp

Big Ideas in Beta DIY Toolkit Team — 2012-09-26T13:24:50

Students will explore the concept of two-digit numbers by moving their bodies to represent either the tens or ones place. They will use their bodies to compare 2 two-digit numbers, using the symbols <,=,> to compare different values.

Count on Math: Making Your First Million

2012-09-07T13:53:36

Do middle grades students have a good grasp of the size of one million? In this activity for grades 4-6, they develop a better sense of one million by working with blocks of 10 or 100, and then expanding the idea until a million is reached. To help them relate to such a large quantity, they try to answer such questions as, “Have you been alive a million days? Hours? Minutes? Seconds?”

The Factor Game (i-Math Investigations)

2012-09-07T13:53:35

An online, interactive, multimedia math investigation. The Factor Game engages students in a friendly contest in which winning strategies involve distinguishing between numbers with many factors and numbers with few factors. Students are then guided through an analysis of game strategies and introduced to the definitions of prime and composite numbers.

Too Big or Too Small?

2012-09-07T13:53:34

This lesson features three activities to promote number sense with large numbers, fractions, and decimal operations. In the first activity, students use proportional reasoning to determine whether $1 million in $1 bills would fit in a suitcase and how much it would weigh. In the second activity, students use circular regions to develop their sense of the relative sizes of fractions between 0 and 1. In the third activity, students play a game that develops their sense of the effect that operations with decimal numbers have on the size of the answer.

Exploring Place Value – Number Architects and Demolition Crews!

Big Ideas in Beta DIY Toolkit Team — 2012-09-07T10:03:57

Students will explore the concepts of place value, moving their bodies in a variety of ways to represent the tens and ones places. They will express place value with unifix cubes and drawings as they compose and decompose two-digit numbers

Middle School Math - Grade 6 (Teacher's Edition)

2012-06-02T23:43:00

Provides teaching tips, information on common errors, differentiated instruction, enrichment, and problem solving for teachers to use with the CK-12 Middle School Math - Grade 6, Student Edition.

The Flaws of Averages

Daniel Livengood — 2012-06-02T14:10:04

This learning video presents an introduction to the Flaws of Averages using three exciting examples: the ''crossing of the river'' example, the ''cookie'' example, and the ''dance class'' example. Averages are often worthwhile representations of a set of data by a single descriptive number. The objective of this module, however, is to simply point out a few pitfalls that could arise if one is not attentive to details when calculating and interpreting averages. The essential prerequisite knowledge for this video lesson is the ability to calculate an average from a set of numbers. During this video lesson, students will learn about three flaws of averages: (1) The average is not always a good description of the actual situation, (2) The function of the average is not always the same as the average of the function, and (3) The average depends on your perspective. To convey these concepts, the students are presented with the three real world examples mentioned above.

Saturn Educator Guide

2009-10-15T02:24:24

This educators guide uses NASA's mission to Saturn (Cassini-Huygens) as real-world motivational context for learning fundamental, standards-based concepts in science. It includes six constructivist lessons, an FAQ, and a variety of connections to art, literature, and mythology.

Looking for a Top Quark Game

2009-04-17T02:18:27

Graphing is an important tool used by scientists to interpret data. Students can practice their graphing skills while playing this game.

A Different Way of Measuring

2009-04-17T02:18:27

In this experiment, students measure the area of a dime using methods similar to those used by scientists to measure the size of atoms. When working with atoms, scientists sometimes have to invent new ways of doing simple things. For instance, scientists can't use a ruler to measure the size of an atom's nucleus. This activity shows how ratios can be used to calculate the area covered by an object.

Cold Stuff

2009-04-17T02:18:27

What kind of coat will keep you the warmest, one made from cotton, steel wool or air? In this experiment, students test three materials to determine which one is the best insulator.

Design and Engineering

2009-04-17T02:18:27

How should you build a boat so that it carries the most cargo? In this experiment, students form teams to solve an engineering problem.

Magnets and Electromagnets

2009-04-17T02:18:27

Scientists use electromagnets to steer Jefferson Lab's electron beam around the accelerator. In this experiment, students learn what affects the strength of an electromagnet. Detailed instructions for building the electromagnet used in this experiment can be found in the Questions and Answers section of this site.

Human Accelerator

2009-04-17T02:18:27

Jefferson Lab's accelerator only works if all of its thousands of components work together. In this experiment, students work together to move 'electrons' down their 'accelerator'.