Tag Archives: area

Manipulatives: Use With Caution!

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

Math manipulatives are concrete objects used as props in math education. As mere objects, they are, in and of themselves, not a bad thing. What is terrible is how they are often used in instruction.

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Areas and Brownies

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

Recently at Girls’ Angle, we brought in a brownie and told the girls that nobody could have any until they figured out a way to dissect it so that everyone gets an equal share. I’ve done this activity before, but … Continue reading →

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3D Trapezoids

Posted on October 5, 2011 by

A few days ago, I was discussing the area formula for a trapezoid with students who had just derived it for themselves. The discussion led to a neat generalization of the trapezoid to higher dimensions different from the one that envisions the 3D … Continue reading →

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