Developing Number Sense on the Number Line

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 448-451
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Bay
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Rational Numbers ◽  
Number Line ◽  
School Students ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Learning Mathematics ◽  
And Algebra

One of the most important lessons that I have learned as a teacher is that seemingly boring problems on paper can come alive if I can find a way to lift them off the page. This transformation took place when the number line in my classroom became a brightly colored rope that stretched the length of the room, held by a student at each end. I first saw this idea as an approach to help young children order numbers from 1 to 10, then adapted it for middle school students. The scope of the activity eventually expanded to include explorations of large numbers, rational numbers, and algebra. As I saw improvement in students' conceptual understanding and their enjoyment of the life-sized number line, I used it more often in my classroom. I also found that the activities with the number line involved communication, reasoning, and justification— important processes in learning mathematics (NCTM 1989, 2000).

Investigating Prime Numbers and the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-76
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Wanko ◽  
Christine Hartley Venable
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Prime Number ◽  
Prime Numbers ◽  
School Students ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Mersenne Prime

Middle school students learn about patterns, formulas, and large numbers motivated by a search for the largest prime number. Activities included.

Take Time for Action: Perimeter or Area? Which Measure Is It?

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-23
Author(s):  
Michaele F. Chappell ◽  
Denisse R. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Mathematics Curriculum ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fundamental Understanding ◽  
K 12

During the past twenty years, documents have recommended that the mathematics curriculum include measurement for all grades, K–12 (NCTM 1980, 1989). Indeed, students interact daily with measurement in their physical environment, for example, by finding the distance from home to school, their height and weight, and wall space for posters. Adolescents bring to the classroom varied conceptions of measurement, which may be in the form of basic applications or general formulas. All too often, a fundamental understanding of these ideas is sacrificed while students learn general formulas. This situation is particularly true for attributes of perimeter and area. To what extent do middle school students possess a conceptual understanding of these measurement concepts?

Families Ask: The Need for Speed in Mathematics

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-217
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Number Line ◽  
School Students ◽  
Student Work

An activity in which middle school students and their parents construct a personal number line. Directions for the activity, sample student work, and a rubric are included.

Polygon Capture: A Geometry Game

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-94
Author(s):  
William M. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
School Students ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Evaluation Standards ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
School Curricula

The curriculum and evaluation standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989) calls for an increased role for geometry in the primary and middle school curricula. An important mathematical strand in its own right, geometry also provides opportunities to promote and assess mathematical communication, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. Unfortunately, many students lack the vocabulary and the conceptual understanding needed to desctibe geometric relationships. This atiicle describes a game, Capture the Polygons, that I have designed to help middle school students think about geometric properties and the relationships among them. A version of the game has been tested in firth- and sixth-grade classes as part of the field test of Fifth Grade Everyday Mathematics (Bell et al. 1995). Observations of classes playing the game, as well as feedback from their teachers, indicate that students find the game challenging but fun. Depending on the background of the students, it can be played at different levels of difficulty.

Adolescents' Interest in and Views of Destructive Themes in Rock Music

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannelore Wass ◽  
Jana L. Raup ◽  
Karen Cerullo ◽  
Linda G. Martel ◽  
Laura A. Mingione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Middle School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Rock Music ◽  
Urban High School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Music Preferences ◽  
Professional Groups

In a survey of rock music preferences and views on themes about homicide, satanism, and suicide (HSS), 694 middle and high school students were administered a questionnaire of structured and open-ended questions. Nine percent of the middle school students, 17 percent of the rural and 24 percent of the urban high school students were HSS rock fans. Three-fourths of these fans were males and nearly all were white. HSS fans more often claimed to know all the lyrics of their favorite songs than the non-HSS rock fans. HSS fans more often said young children should be permitted to listen to rock music with destructive themes and fewer of them believed that adolscents might commit murder or suicide after having listened to such songs. A large proportion of the students share the concern of adult citizens and professional groups about destructive lyrics in rock music and their effects.

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