PartI

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantities
Much of what you see in these first eleven chapters will look familiar.
However, you will be asked to begin understanding the mathematics of
arithmetic at a more fundamental level than you may now do. Knowing
how to compute is not sufficient for teaching; a teacher should understand
the underlying reasons we compute as we do.
An important focus of these chapters is on using numbers. We do this by
helping you develop the skill of quantitative reasoning. This reasoning is
fundamental to solving problems involving quantities (such as the speed of
a car of the price of chips). You may recognize such problems as story
problems. In Chapters1, 8, and 9 you will learn how to approach such
problems, using quantitative reasoning.
Our base ten system of numbers, introduced in Chapter 2, is the
foundation of all of the procedures we use for computing with whole
numbers. A teacher must acquire a deep understanding of the base ten
system and the arithmetic procedures, which is the focus of Chapters 3, 4,
and 5. We then turn to the study of fractions, decimals, and percents in
Chapters 6 and 7. Many people in our society do not know how to
compute with these numbers, or how these numbers are related. The
emphasis on understanding these numbers and how to operate on them
will give you a foundation to teach fractions, decimals, and percents well.
Your students will benefit if they do not develop the belief that they cannot
do fractions. Teachers who can teach arithmetic in a manner that
students understand will better prepare their students for the mathematics
yet to come.
Chapter 10 expands the type of numbers we used in previous chapters to
include negative numbers, and discusses arithmetic operations on these
numbers. Again, the focus is on understanding. Chapter 11, on number
theory, provides different ways of thinking about and using numbers.
Topics such as factors, multiples, prime numbers, and divisibility are
found in this chapter.
An underlying theme throughout these chapters is an introduction to
childrens thinking about the mathematics they do. You will be surprised
to learn the ways that children do mathematics, and we think that knowing
how children reason mathematically will convince you that you need to
know mathematics at a much deeper level than you likely do now.
Prospective teachers are often fascinated with these glimpses into the ways
children reason, particularly if they have a good foundation in their work
with numbers.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.1

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.2

Chapter 1
Reasoning About Quantities

Weencounterquantitiesofmanykindseachday.Inthischapteryouwill
beaskedtothinkaboutquantitiesandthemannerinwhichweusethemto
betterunderstandourlives.Inparticular,youwillencounterstory
problemsandlearnhowtosolvethemusingapowerfulreasoning
process,mostlikelyaidedbyadrawingofsomesort.

1.1WhatIsaQuantity?
Considerthefollowingquestions:
Howlongdohumanslive?
Howfastisthewindblowing?
Whichismorecrowded,NewYorkCityorMexicoCity?

This Word document

follows the pagination
of the student pages in
the Preliminary
Edition as closely as
possible. In some
places, however,
particularly on pages
with Learning
Exercises, the
pagination is not quite
the same.

PleasereadtheIntroductionin
theInstructorNotesfor
informationaboutthe
ReasoningaboutNumbersand
Quantitiescourse.Youwill
findithelpfulinplanningyour
course.
ThenseeINSTRUCTOR
NOTE1forChapter1,which
introducesthischapter.

Howbigisthisroom?
Howfarisitaroundtheearth?
Theanswertoeachofthesequestionsinvolvessomequantity.
Aquantityisanything(anobject,event,orqualitythereof)thatcanbe
measuredorcounted.Thevalueofaquantityisitsmeasureorthe
numberofitemsthatarecounted.Avalueofaquantityinvolvesa
numberandaunitofmeasureornumberofunits.
Forexample,thelengthofaroomisaquantity.Itcanbemeasured.
Supposethemeasurementis14feet.Notethat14isanumber,andfeetis
aunitofmeasure:14feetisthevalueofthequantity,lengthoftheroom.
Thenumberofpeopleinthebusisanotherexampleofaquantity.
Supposethecountis22people.Notethat22isanumber,andtheunit
countedispeople,so22isthevalueassociatedwiththequantitynumber
ofpeopleonthebus.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.3

Itisimportantthatstudents
understandthedifferencebetween
thevalueofaquantityandthe
quantityitself.

Apersonsage,thespeedofthewind,thepopulationdensityofNew
YorkCity,theareaofthisroom,andthedistancearoundtheearthatthe
equatorareallexamplesofquantities.
Crowdednesscould
bemeasuredby
consideringdensity,
e.g.,peoplepersquare
mile.

Otherexamplesthatare
notfeelingsarejustice,
fairness,shrewdness,
beauty,etc.

Discussion1:Identifying
QuantitiesandMeasures
1a.height
b.rateofflow
c.grossnationalproductor
incomepercapita
d.amountofdamage,
numberofcasualties,etc.
2.a.feet,meters,etc.
b.anyunitofvolumeper
anyunitoftime
c.dollarsordollarsper
person
d.numberofdollarsitcosts

Discussion 2: Easy to
Quantify? The idea of
something being quantifiable is
important to the process of
quantitative reasoning.
SEE INSTRUCTOR
NOTE 1.1A. on using the
Activities and Discussions in
this text.

ThinkAbout...Whataresomepossiblevaluesofthefivequantities

mentionedabove?Noticethatpopulationalonewillnotbesufficientto
addressthequestionofhowcrowdedacityoracountryis.Why?

Notallqualitiesofobjects,events,orpersonscanbequantified.Consider
love.Youngchildrensometimesattempttoquantifylovestretchingtheir
armsoutwidewhenasked,Howmuchdoyouloveme?,butloveisnot
aquantity.Love,anger,boredom,andinterestaresomeexamplesof
qualitiesthatarenotquantifiable.Feelings,ingeneral,arenotquantifiable
thus,theyaredifficulttoassess.
ThinkAbout...Namesomeotherthings,besidesfeelings,thatarenot
quantities.

Thefactthataquantityisnotthesameasanumbershouldbecleartoyou.
Infact,onecanthinkofaquantitywithoutknowingitsvalue.For
example,theamountofrainfallenonagivendayisaquantity,regardless
ofwhetherornotsomeonemeasuredtheactualnumberofinchesofrain
fallen.Onecanspeakoftheamountofrainfallenwithoutknowinghow
many inches fell. Likewise, one can speak of a dogs
weight, a tanks capacity,thespeedofthewind,ortheamountoftime
ittakestodoachore(allquantities)withoutknowingtheiractualvalues.
Discussion1IdentifyingQuantitiesandMeasures
1. Identifythequantityorquantitiesaddressedineachofthe
followingquestions.
a.HowtallistheEiffeltower?
b.Howfastdoeswatercomeoutofafaucet?
c.Whichcountryiswealthier,HondurasorMozambique?
d.Howmuchdamagedidtheearthquakecause?
2. Identifyanappropriateunitofmeasurethatcanbeusedto
determinethevalueofthequantitiesinvolvedinansweringthe
questionsinProblem1.Isthewealthofacountrymeasuredthe
samewayasthewealthofanindividual?Explain.
Discussion2EasyToQuantify?
1. Manyattributesorqualitiesofobjectsareeasilyquantifiable.
Othersarenotsostraightforward.Ofthefollowingitems,which
areeasytoquantifyandwhicharent?
a.Theweightofanewbornbaby
f.Infantmortalityrate
b.Thegrossnationalproduct
g.Teachingeffectiveness
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.4

c.Studentachievement
d.Bloodpressure
e.Livabilityofacity

h.Humanintelligence
i.Airquality
j.Wealthofanation

2. HowiseachiteminProblem1typicallyquantified?
3. Whatsortsofeventsandthingsdoyouthinkprimitivehumansfelt
aneedtoquantify?Makealist.Howdoyouthinkprimitive
societieskepttrackofthevaluesofthosequantities?
4. Namesomeattributesofobjects(besidesthoselistedinProblem1)
thatarenotquantifiableorthatarehardtoquantify.
5. Namesomequantitiesforwhichunitsofmeasurehavebeenonly
recentlydeveloped.
TakeAwayMessageInthisintroductorysectionyouhavelearnedtoidentify
quantitiesandtheirvaluesandtodistinguishbetweenthetwo.Thisunderstanding
isthebasisforthequantitativeanalysesinthenextsection.

5.Apgarscoresfor
measuringhealthofbabies
atbirth,numericalscores
formeasuringhealthof
gums,measuresof
proportionofbodyweight
duetofat,etc.The
discussionEasyto
Quantifycouldbeassigned
ashomework,

1.2QuantitativeAnalysis
Inthissectionyouwillusewhatyouhavelearnedaboutquantitiesin
Section1.1toanalyzeproblemsituationsintermsoftheirquantitative
structure.Suchanalysesareessentialtobeingskillfulatsolving
mathematicalproblems.

SEEINSTRUCTORNOTE
Therearenoexercisesfor
1.2A.
thisintroductorylesson.
Thislessonleadsdirectly
intoSection1.2,if
desired.

Forthepurposesofthiscourse,tounderstandaproblemsituation
meanstounderstandthequantitiesembeddedinthesituationandhow
theyarerelatedtooneanother.
Understandingaproblemsituationdrivesthesolutiontotheproblem.
Withoutsuchunderstanding,theonlyrecourseapersonhasistoguessat
thecalculationsthatneedtobeperformed.Itisimportantthatyouwork
throughthissectionwithcareandattention.Analyzingproblemsituations
quantitativelyiscentraltotheremainderofthiscourseandothercourses
thatarepartofyourpreparationtoteachschoolmathematics.
Activity1TheHotDogProblem
Albertate 2 43 hotdogsandRebaate 1 12 hotdogs.
WhatpartofallthehotdogseatendidAlberteat?
Thisfairlysimpleproblemisgivenheretoillustratetheprocessofusinga
quantitativeanalysistosolveaproblem.Wefirstanalyzethesituationin
termsofthequantitiesitinvolvesandhowthosequantitiesarerelatedto
oneanother:itsquantitativestructure.Todosoproductively,itis
extremelyimportanttobespecificaboutwhatthequantitiesare.For
example,itisnotsufficienttosaythathotdogseatenisaquantityin
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.5

Thisproblemwillbetrivial
forsomeofyourstudents,
butsurprisinglynotforall.
Aprospectiveteacher,inan
interview,spentabout30
minutesonthisproblem,
guessingatwhichoperation
wascalledfor.Notuntilhe
drewadiagramwasheable
tosolvetheproblemand
indicatethatheunderstood
thestructureoftheproblem.

thisproblemsituation.Ifyouindicatedhotdogseatenasoneofthe
quantitiesandspecifiednomore,thensomeonecouldask:Whichhot
dogs?TheonesAlbertate?TheonesRebaate?Thetotalnumberofhot
dogseaten?
(Continueonnextpage)
ContinuationofActivity1

Quantitiesandvaluesin
Activity1:HotDogProblem:
a.Numberofhotdogseaten
byAlbert2
b.Numberofhotdogseaten
byReba1
c.Numberofhotdogseaten
alltogether?
d.Portionofhotdogseaten
byAlbert?
e.Portionofhotdogseaten
byReba?

Manystudentsbelievethat
drawingapicturetorepresent
aproblemischeating.
Assurethem,overandover,
thatdrawingsareappropriate
incomingtounderstanda
problem.Noticethata
continuousdrawingisused
thoughhotdogsarediscrete
objects.TheIssuesfor
LearninginSection1.4discuss
whythisisdone.

Tounderstandthequantitativestructureofthisproblemsituation,
youcandothefollowing:
1.Nameasmanyquantitiesasyoucanthatareinvolvedinthis
situation.Beawarethatsomequantitiesmaynotbeexplicitlystated
althoughtheyareessentialtothesituation.Also,justbecausethe
valueofaquantitymaynotknownnorgiven,thisdoesnotmeanthat
thequantityisnotpartofthesituationsquantitativestructure.
2. Foreachquantity,ifthevalueisgiven,writeitintheappropriate
space.Ifthevalueisnotgiven,indicatethatthevalueisunknown,
andwritetheunityouwouldusetomeasureit.Youmayneedmore
spacethanprovidedhere.(Reminder:Thereshouldbenonumbers
appearingintheQuantitycolumn.)Compareyourlistwiththoseof
othersinyourclass.
Quantity
Value
a.NumberofhotdogseatenbyAlbert2 43
b.etc.
3.Makeadrawingthatillustratesthisproblem.Here,theouter
rectangleindicatesthetotalnumberofhotdogseaten,andtheparts
showtheportionseatenbyeachperson.(Notethatdrawingssuchas
thisoneneednotbedrawntoscale.Here,thenumberofhotdogs
eatenbyAlbertisshownonlytobemorethanthehotdogseatenby
3
Reba.)
Hot dogs eaten by Albert: 2 4
Hot dogs eaten
1

by Reba: 1 2

4.Finally,usethedrawingtosolvetheproblem.Thedrawingshows
3

thatthetotalnumberofhotdogseatenis2 4 + 1 2 or 4 4 . What
part of the total was eaten by Albert?

2 43

4 14

hot dogs, which

11
17

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE1.2A.foran
instructionalsuggestion
forbeginning
QuantitativeAnalyses.

simplifies to
of the hot dogs. This is about two-thirds of the
hotdogs, a reasonable answer to this question.
ThepurposeinActivity1toillustratehowonemustanalyzeasituationin
termsofthequantitiesandtherelationshipspresentinthesituationin
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.6

ordertogainanunderstandingthatcanleadtoameaningfulsolution.
Suchanactivityiscalledaquantitativeanalysis.Onproblemssuchas
thisone,youmayfindthatyoudontreallyneedtothinkthroughallfour
steps.However,moredifficultproblems,suchasthoseinthenexttwo
activities,aremoreeasilysolvedbyundertakingacarefulquantitative
analysis.Youwillimproveyourskillatsolvingproblemswhenyouengage
insuchanalysesbecauseyouwillcometoabetterunderstandingofthe
problem.
Activity2SistersandBrothers
Trythisproblembyundertakingaquantitativeanalysisbeforeyou
readthesolution.Thencompareyoursolutiontotheoneshownhere.
Twowomen,AlmaandBeatrice,eachhadabrother,AlfredandBenito,
respectively.Thetwowomenarguedaboutwhichwomanstoodtalleroverher
brother.ItturnedoutthatAlmawontheargumentbya17centimeterdifference.
Almawas186cmtall.Alfredwas87cmtall.Beatricewas193cmtall.Howtall
wasBenito?

First,namethequantitiesinvolvedintheproblem.
a.Almasheight
b.Beatricesheight
c.Alfredsheight
d.Benitosheight
e.ThedifferencebetweenAlmasandAlfredsheights
f.ThedifferencebetweenBeatricesandBenitosheights
g.Thedifferencebetweenthedifferencesintheheightsofthe
sisterandbrotherpairs
Next,identifythevaluesofthequantities.
a.Almasheight
186cm
b.Beatricesheight
193cm
c.Alfredsheight
87cm
d.Benitosheight
unknown
e.ThedifferencebetweenAlmasandAlfredsheights
unknown
f.ThedifferencebetweenBeatricessandBenitosheights unknown
g.Thedifferencebetweenthedifferencesintheheights
ofthesisterandbrotherpairs(acrucial
17cm
(NotethatQuantitygisagivenquantityandcrucialtosolvingthe
problem.)

Drawapictureinvolvingthesequantities.Hereisonepossibility.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.7

186
cm

Diff
A's
(99cm) 193

87cm

SisA BroA
ht ht

Diff
B's

cm

Needtorelate
thetwodifferences
(A'sis17cmmore
thanB's):
(99
cm)

17cm
So,9917=82cm

SisB BroB
ht ht

Or,perhapsthisalternativedrawingwouldhelpclarifytheproblem.Next
toeachquantity,placeitsvalueifknown,andusethesevaluesknownto
findvaluesunknown.
Alma (186 cm)
Difference A (99 cm)
Alfred (87 cm)
Difference of differences (17 cm)
Beatrice (193 cm)
Difference B ( ???)
Benito (???)
Finally,usethedrawingand/ordiagramtosolvetheproblem.Notice
thatinthiscasethesolutionisshowninthefirstdrawing,andcan
easilybefoundintheseconddrawing.Butnotethatthequestion
askedwasBenitosheight.Accordingtothedrawings,itis193cm
82cm=111cm.
OftenstudentsbeginaproblemsuchastheoneinActivity2byasking
themselvesWhatoperationsdoIneedtoperform,withwhichnumbers,
andinwhatorder?Insteadofthesequestions,youwouldbemuchbetter
offaskingyourselfquestionssuchasthefollowing.
QuantitativeAnalysisQuestions
Thislistofquestionsis
extremelyimportant.
Wheneveryoufindyour
studentsstrugglingto
understandaproblem
situation,comebacktothis
listandmakesurethatthey
areaskingthemselvesthese
typesofquestionsand
reallytryingtomakesense
ofthesituation.

WhatdoIknowaboutthissituation?
Whatquantitiesareinvolvedhere?Whichonesarecritical?
Arethereanyquantitiesthatarerelatedtootherquantities?Ifso,
howaretheyrelated?
WhichquantitiesdoIknowthevalueof?
WhichquantitiesdoInotknowthevalueof?Aretheserelatedto
otherquantitiesinthesituation?Cantheserelationshipsenableme
tofindanyunknownvalues?
Woulddrawingadiagramoractingoutthesituationhelpme
answeranyoftheseotherquestions?
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.8

Andsoon.
Thepointisthatyouneedtobespecificwhendoingaquantitative
analysisofagivensituation.Howspecific?Itisdifficulttosayingeneral,
becauseitwilldependonthesituation.Useyourcommonsensein
analyzingthesituation.Whenyoufirstreadaproblem,avoidtryingto
thinkaboutnumbersandtheoperationsofaddition,subtraction,
multiplication,anddivision.Instead,startoutbyposingthequestionssuch
asthoselistedaboveandtrytoanswerthem.Onceyouvedonethat,you
willhaveabetterunderstandingoftheproblem,andthusyouwillbewell
onyourwaytosolvingit.Keepinmindthatunderstandingtheproblemis
themostdifficultaspectofsolvingit.Onceyouunderstandtheproblem,
whattodotosolveitoftenfollowsquiteeasily.
Activity3DowntheDrain
Hereisanotherproblemsituationonwhichtopracticequantitative
analysis.
Waterisflowingfromafaucetintoanemptytubat4.5gallonsperminute.
After4minutes,adraininthetubisopened,andthewaterbeginstoflowoutat
6.3gallonsperminute.

a.Willthetubeverfillupcompletelywithoutoverflowing?
b.Williteveremptycompletely?
c.Whatifthefaucetisturnedoffafter4minutes?
d.Whatiftheratesofflowinandoutarereversed?
e.Whatassumptionsdowehavetomakeinordertoanswerthese
questions?
Whenyoucarryoutaquantitativeanalysisofasituation,thequestions
youaskyourselfshouldbeguidedbyyourcommonsense.Asense
makingapproachtounderstandingasituationandthensolvingaproblem
ismuchmoreproductivethantryingtodeciderightawaywhich
computations,formulas,ormathematicaltechniquesyouneedinorderto
solvetheproblemathand.Usingcommonsensemayleadyoutomake
somesortofadiagram.Neverbeembarrassedtouseadiagram.Such
diagramsoftenenhanceyourunderstandingofthesituation,becausethey
helpyoutothinkmoreexplicitlyaboutthequantitiesthatareinvolved.
Decidingwhatoperationsyouneedtoperformoftenfollowsnaturally
fromagoodunderstandingofthesituation,thequantitiesinit,andhow
thosequantitiesarerelatedtooneanother.
TakeAwayMessage...Youshouldbeabletodeterminethequantitiesandtheir
relationshipswithinagivenproblemsituation,andyoushouldbeabletousethis
information,togetherwithdrawingsasneeded,tosolveproblems.Thesestepsare
oftenuseful:(1)Listthequantitiesthatareessentialtotheproblem.(2)Listknown
valuesforthesequantities.(3)Determinetherelationshipsinvolved,whichis
frequentlydonemoreeasilywithadrawing.(4)Usetheknowledgeofthese
relationshipstosolvetheproblem.Thisapproachmaynotseemeasyatfirst,butit
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.9

Activity:DowntheDrain.SEE
INSTRUCTOR
NOTE1.2Bforsuggestionson
thisactivity.
Animportantquantitytonotice
istheamountofwaterlostper
minuteaftertheinitial4min,at
whichtime18galareinthetub.
6.34.5is1.8galislostper
minute,sothat10minutesafter
thedrainisopened,18gal.are
lostandthetubisempty.
a.ThetubwillfillupIFitholds
exactly18gal.
b.ItwillemptycompletelyIFthe
faucetanddrainbothrunfor10
minutes.
c.Thetubisdrainingattherate
of6.3gal/min,with18galto
empty,soitwillbeemptyin
about2.9min.
d,After4minutestherewillbe
25.2galinthetub.Waterwill
continuetoincreaseinthetubat
1.8gal/minuntilthetub
overflows.Thisassumesthatthe
tubholds25.2ormoregallons.
e.SEEINSTRUCTORNOTE
1.2B.
Remembertobringclosureto
classactivitiesbydiscussion
theminclassorinsomeway
(suchasanoverhead
transparency)sharinganswers.
Thereareinstances,however,,
whereyoumaywantstudentsto
thinkaboutaproblemuntilthe
nextclass.

becomesapowerfultoolforunderstandingproblemsituations.Thistypeof
quantitativeanalysiscanalsobeusedwithalgebrastoryproblems,andthus,when
usedwithelementaryschoolstudents,preparesthemforalgebra.
Studentsdonothavethe

Learning Exercises for Section 1.2

answersforLE1a,1d,2b,3,5,
and8.Notethatsomeofthese
1. Someproblemsaresimpleenoughthatthequantitativestructureis
exercisesaretimeconsuming
obvious,particularlyafteradrawingismade.Thefollowingproblems
andmayneedclassdiscussion.
i
arefromafifthgradetextbook. Foreachproblemgiven,makea
Besuretodiscuss6inclass.
drawingandthenprovidetheanswertotheproblem.
Remindstudentsthatthei
abovetheperiodaftertextbook

a. ThehighestelevationinNorthAmericaisMt.McKinley,Alaska,
referstoareferenceattheend
whichis20,320feetabovesealevel.ThelowestelevationinNorth
ofthechapter.
AmericaisDeathValley,California,whichis282feetbelowsea
level.WhatisthechangeinelevationfromthetopofMt.McKinley
toDeathValley?
b.ThemostvaluableviolinintheworldistheKreutzer,createdinItalyin
1727.Itwassoldatauctionfor$1,516,000inEnglandin1998.How
oldwastheviolinwhenitwassold?
c.Twosculpturesaresimilar.Theheightofonesculptureisfourtimes
theheightoftheothersculpture.Thesmallersculptureis2.5feettall.
Howtallisthelargersculpture?
d.Aikohad$20tobuycandles.Shereturned2candlesforwhichshehad
paid$4.75each.Thenshebought3candlesfor$3.50eachand1candle
for$5.00.HowmuchmoneydidAikohavethen?
e.InTedsclass,studentswereaskedtonametheirfavoritesport.
Footballwastheresponseof 18 ofthem.If3studentssaidfootball,how
manystudentsareinTedsclass?
f. Thefirstyearofadogslifeequals15humanyears.Thesecondyear
equals10humanyears.Everyyearthereafterequals3humanyears.
Usethisformulatofinda6yearolddogsageinhumanyears.
2.Theseproblemsarefromasixthgradetextbookiifromadifferentseries.
Thistime,undertakeafullquantitativeanalysistosolveeachofthe
problems.
a.AtLoudSoundsMusicWarehouse,CDsareregularlypricedat$9.95
andtapesareregularlypricedat$6.95.Everydaythismonththestore
isofferinga10%discountonallCDsandtapes.JoshuaandJeremygo
toLoudSoundstobuyatapeandaCD.Theydonothavemuch
money,sotheyhavepooledtheirfunds.Whentheygettothestore,
theyfindthatthereisanotherdiscountplanjustforthatdayifthey
buythreeormoreitems,theycansave20%(insteadof10%)oneach
item.IftheybuyaCDandatape,howmuchmoneywilltheyspend
afterthestoreaddsa6%salestaxonthediscountedprices?
3.Thiswouldbeagood
problemtodoinclassif
youwantmoreclass
problems.Studentsdonot
haveaccesstotheanswer.

b.Kellywantstofenceinarectangularspaceinheryard,9metersby7.5
meters.Thesalespersonatthesupplystorerecommendsthatsheputup
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.10

postsevery1.5meters.Thepostscost$2.19each.Kellywillalsoneed
tobuywiremeshtostringbetweentheposts.Thewiremeshissoldby
themeterfromlargerollsandcosts$5.98ameter.Agatetofitinone
ofthespacesbetweenthepostscosts$25.89.Sevenstaplesareneeded
toattachthewiremeshtoeachpost.Staplescomeinboxesof50,and
eachboxcosts$3.99.Howmuchwillthematerialscostbeforesales
tax?
3. AllAboard!Amtrailtrainsprovideefficient,nonstoptransportation
betweenLosAngelesandSanDiego.TrainAleavesLosAngelesheaded
towardsSanDiegoatthesametimethatTrainBleavesSanDiegoheaded
forLosAngeles,travelingonparalleltracks.TrainAtravelsataconstant
speedof84milesperhour.TrainBtravelsataconstantspeedof92miles
perhour.Thetwostationsare132milesapart.Howlongaftertheyleave
theirrespectivestationsdothetrainsmeet?
4. MybrotherandIwalkthesameroutetoschooleveryday.Mybrother
takes40minutestogettoschoolandItake30minutes.Today,my
brotherleft8minutesbeforeIdid.iii
a.Howlongwillittakemetocatchupwithhim?
b.Partofsomeonesworkonthisproblemincluded 301
quantitiesdothetwofractionsin 301 represent?

.What

4.Thisproblemmay
seemdifficult,butthe
solutionisactuallyquite
intuitive.
Note:Exercise4begins
onpage8inthestudent
version..

c.Supposemybrothersheadstartis5minutesinsteadof8minutes.
Nowhowlongdoesittakeformetocatchupwithhim?
5. AtonepointinaGirlScoutcookiesalesdrive,
regionChadsold1500boxesofcookies,and
regionDhadsold1200boxesofcookies.
IfregionDtriesharder,theycansell50moreboxesofcookiesevery
daythanregionCcan.
a.HowmanydayswillittakeforregionDtocatchup?
b.Ifsalesarestoppedaftereightmoredays,canyoutellhowmany
totalboxeseachregionsold?Explain.
6.Thelastpartofonetriathlonisa10K(10kilometers,or10,000meters)
run.WhenrunnerAastartsthislastrunningpart,sheis600meters
behindrunnerBea.ButAacanrunfasterthanBea:Aacanrun(on
average)225meterseachminute,andBeacanrun(onaverage)200
meterseachminute.Whowins,AaorBea?IfAawins,whendoes
shecatchupwithBea?IfBeawins,howfarbehindisAawhenBea
finishes?
7. Researchonhowstudentssolvewordproblemscontainedthefollowing
incident.ivDana,aseventhgraderinagiftedprograminmathematics,
wasaskedtosolvethefollowingproblem:
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.11

Problem 6, the triathlon

problem, should
definitely be discussed in
class. The students have
the answer but may not
understand all of it. See
INSTRUCTOR NOTE
1.2C for information on
difficulties students have
with this problem and the
reason to avoid an
algebraic solution that can
hide a real understanding
of (and teaching) this type
of the problem.

Acarpenterhasaboard200incheslongand12incheswide.Hemakes4identical
shelvesandstillhasapieceofboard36incheslongleftover.Howlongiseach
shelf?

Danatriedtosolvetheproblemasfollows:Sheadded36and4,then
scratcheditout,andwrote200 12,butshethoughtthatwastoolarge
soshescratchedthatout.Thenshetried240036whichwasalsotoo
largeanddiscardedit.Thenshecalculated4 36andsubtractedthat
from200,getting56.Shethensubtracted12,andgot44.
DanausedaweakstrategycalledTryalloperationsandchoose.She
obviouslydidnotknowwhattodowiththisproblem,althoughshewas
verygoodatsolvingonestepproblems.
Doaquantitativeanalysisofthisproblemsituation,anduseittomake
senseoftheprobleminawaythatDanadidnot.Useyouranalysisto
solvetheproblem.
8.Theproblemslistedbelow,andinExercise9,arefromaSovietGrade3
textbookv.Solvetheproblemsandcomparetheirconditionsand
solutions:
(a)

Twopedestrianslefttwovillagessimultaneouslyand
walkedtowardseachother,meetingafter3hours.Thefirst
pedestrianwalked4kminanhour,andthesecondwalked
6km.Findthedistancebetweentheirvillages:
4 km per hour

6 km per hour

(b)

Twopedestrianslefttwovillages27kmapart
simultaneouslyandwalkedtowardseachother.Thefirst
onewalked4kmperhour,andthesecondwalked6kmper
hour.Afterhowmanyhoursdidthepedestriansmeet?
4 km per hour

6 km per hour

27 km
(c)

Twopedestrianslefttwovillages27kmapart
simultaneouslyandwalkedtowardseachother,meeting
after3hours.Thefirstpedestrianwalkedataspeedof4

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.12

kmperhour.Atwhatspeeddidthesecondpedestrian
walk?
4 km per hour

27 km

9.TwotrainssimultaneouslyleftMoscowandSverdlovsk,andtraveled
towardseachother.Thefirsttraveledat48kmperhour,andthesecond
at54kmperhour.Howfarapartwerethetwotrains12hoursafter
departureifitis1822kmfromMoscowtoSverdlovsk?

1.3ValuesofQuantities
Thevalueofaquantitymayinvolveverylargeorverysmallnumbers.
Furthermore,sincethevalueisdeterminedbycountingorotherwaysof
measuring,itcaninvolveanytypeofnumberwholenumbers,fractions,
decimals.
ThinkAboutConsiderthefollowingquantities.Whichoneswouldyou
expecttohavelargevalues?Smallvalues?
a.

Thedistancebetweentwostars

b.
c.

Thediameterofasnowflake
Theweightofanaircraftcarrier

d.
e.

Thenationaldeficit
Thethicknessofasheetofpaper

InaparticularbooktheheightofthearchinSt.Louisisreportedtobe
630feet.Inanotherbooktheheightis192meters.Whyarethenumbers
different?
ThinkAbout...Whatdeterminesthemagnitudeofthenumberthat

denotesthevalueofagivenquantity?Canwemeasurethespeedofacar
inmilesperday?Milesperyear?Milespercentury?Isitconvenienttodo
so?Explain.

Discussion3UnitsofMeasure
1. Whatdeterminestheappropriatenessoftheunitchosentoexpress
thevalueofaquantity?
2. Foreachquantityinparts(a)(e)above,nameaunitofmeasure
thatwouldbeappropriatetomeasurethequantity.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.13

SEEINSTRUCTORNOTE
1.3A.foradviceonteaching
thissection,particularly
metricunits.
Tapemeasuresorrulersare
neededinthissectionfor
bothEnglishandmetric
ThinkAbout1.Theanswers
willdependtoacertainextent
ontheunitofmeasureusedin
each,e.g.,theweightofan
aircraftcarrierinpoundshasa
muchlargernumericalvalue
thanthevalueifitisweighed
intons.
ThinkAbout2.Allare
Discussion31.Leadstoa
possible,butthenumerical
reasonablevalue;theprecision
valueswouldincrease
thatyouneed;familiarity;
dramaticallywitheachnew
culture.
unitofmeasure,andwouldbe
3.Amicrometercanmeasure
toolargetomakemuchsense.
smalllengths.Manystudents
willwanttomeasuretheheight
ofastackofpaperanddivide
bythenumberofsheets.
4.Precisionrelatestothe
specificityoftheunitof
measure,asopposedto
accuracy,whichrelatestothe
degreetowhichthegiven
measurementapproximatesthe
actualmeasurement.

3. Explainhowyouwoulddeterminethethicknessofasheetof
paper.
4. Whatdeterminestheprecisionofthevalueofaquantity?
Unlessonehassomeappreciationandunderstandingofthemagnitudeof
largenumbers,itisimpossibletomakejudgmentsaboutsuchmattersas
theimpactofapromisedfivemilliondollarsinrelieffundsaftera
catastrophicfloodorearthquake,thelevelofdangeroftravelingina
countrythathasexperiencedthreeknownterroristattacksinasingleyear,
thepersonalconsequencesofthehugenationaldebt,orthemeaningof
costlymilitarymistakes.Forexample,peopleareshockedtohearthatthe
Pentagonspent$38foreachsimplepairofpliersboughtfromacertain
defensecontractor,yettheypaylittleattentiontothecostofbuildingthe
Stealthfighterorlosingajetfighterduringtesting.

Activity4
Thisactivitydoesnothave
oneanswer.Butifyouhave
studentsworkitinclass,be
suretofollowuptheactivity
withabriefdiscussion.

Discussion4
Somestudentstendto
begindiscussingethical
issuesandtheneedto
solvetheAIDSproblem,
withoutaddressingthe
sizeofthenumbersin
termsofwhatisactually
possible.

Thisisaverybrief
introductiontothemetric
system.Itisplacedhere
becauseweusemetric
unitsinmanyproblems.A
moreextensivetreatment
isinPartIII:Reasoning
aboutShapesand
Measurement.
Ifyourstudentshavesome
familiaritywithmetric
unitsyoumaydecideto
omittheseparagraphs.

Activity4JetFighterCrashes
Inthe1990s,awestcoastnewspapercarriedabriefarticlesayingthat
a$50millionjetfightercrashedintotheoceanofftheCalifornia
coast.Howmanystudentscouldgotoyouruniversitytuitionfreefor
oneyearwith$50million?
Discussion4WhatIsWorthATrillionDollars?
Supposeyouhearapoliticiansay"Abilliondollars,atrillion
dollars,Idon'tcarewhatitcosts,wehavegottosolvetheAIDS
probleminthiscountry."Wouldyouagree?Isabilliondollars
toomuchtospendonanationalhealthcrisis?Atrilliondollars?
Howdothenumbersonebillionandonetrillioncompare?
Reminder:Valuesofquantities,like16tonsor$64,involveunitsof
measureton,dollaraswellasnumbers.
ThinkAbout...Nameseveralunitsofmeasurethatyouknowanduse.
Whatquantitiesareeachusedtomeasure?Wheredounitscomefrom?

Unitscanbearbitrary.Primaryteachershavetheirstudentsmeasure
lengthsanddistanceswithpencilsorshoelengths,ormeasureweights
withplasticcubes.Theintentoftheseactivitiesistogivethechildren
experiencewiththemeasuringprocess,sothatlatermeasurementswill
makesense.Asyouknow,therearedifferentsystemsofstandardunits,
liketheEnglishorordinarysystem(inches,pounds,etc.)andthemetric
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.14

system(meters,kilograms,etc.),moreformallyknownasSI(fromLe
SystmeInternationald'Units).
Virtuallytherestoftheworldusesthemetricsystemtodenotevaluesof
quantities,somanyaresurprisedthattheUnitedStates,alargeindustrial
nation,hasclungtotheEnglishsystemsolong.Althoughthegeneral
publichasnotrespondedfavorablytogovernmentaleffortstomandatethe
metricsystem,internationaltradeeffortsarehavingtheeffectofforcing
Discussion5.Standardunits
ustobeknowledgeableabout,andtouse,themetricsystem.Someofour
allowustounderstandand
largestindustrieshavebeenthefirsttoconverttothemetricsystemfrom
shareinformation.People
areloathtogiveupasystem
theEnglishsystem.
withwhichtheyarefamiliar.
Also,changingiscostly.

AglobaleconomyDiscussion5StandardUnits
necessitatesmuchgreater
Whyarestandardunitsdesirable?Forwhatpurposesarethey
standardization.Itisneither
economicalnorpractical
necessary?Whyhasthepublicresistedadoptingthemetric
(storage,inventory,display,
system?
etc.)tomaintaintwosystems
ofmeasurementwhenone
Scientistshavelongworkedalmostexclusivelyinmetricunits.Asa
willdo.
result,youmayhaveusedmetricunitsinyourhighschoolorcollege

scienceclasses.Partofthereasonforthisisthattherestoftheworlduses
themetricsystembecauseitisasensiblesystem.Abasicmetricunitis
carefullydefined(forthesakeofpermanenceandlaterreproducibility).
Largerunitsandsmallersubunitsarerelatedtoeachotherinaconsistent
fashion,soitiseasytoworkwithinthesystem.(Incontrast,theEnglish
systemunit,foot,mighthavebeenthelengthofanowlongdeadkings
foot,anditisrelatedtootherlengthunitsinaninconsistentmanner:1foot
=12inches;1yard=3feet;1rod=16.5feet;1mile=5280feet;1
1

furlong= mile;1fathom=6feet.Quick!howmanyrodsareina
8

mile?Acomparablequestioninthemetricsystemisjustamatterof
adjustingadecimalpoint.
Togetabetterideaofhowthemetricsystemworks,letsconsider
somethingthatwefrequentlymeasureinmetricunitslength.Lengthisa
qualityofmostobjects.Wemeasurethelengthsofboardsandpiecesof
ropeorwire.Wealsomeasuretheheightsofchildren;heightandlength
refertothesamequalitybutthedifferentwordsareusedindifferent
contexts.
ThinkAbout...Whataresomeotherwordsthatrefertothesamequality
asdolengthandheight"?

ThebasicSIunitforlength(oritssynonyms)isthemeter.(Theofficial
SIspellingismetre.YouoccasionallyseemetreinU.S.books.)The
meteristoolongtoshowwithalinesegmenthere,buttwosubunitsfit
easily,andillustrateakeyfeatureofthemetricsystem:Unitslargerand
smallerthanthebasicunitaremultiplesorsubmultiplesofpowersof10.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.15

Metricunitsaregivenattention
herebecauseweusemetric
unitsthroughout.However,a
sectiononthemetricsystemis
includedinalatersectionon
measurement,soyoumaywish
todelayithereifyourstudents
ThinkAbout:Otherwords
knowenoughaboutthemetric
forlengtharewidth,
unitstounderstandproblems
depth,girth,thickness,
inwhichmetricunitsareused.
perimeter,radius,
circumference,distance,
base,altitude,etc.
Studentsmayincorrectly
suggestareaorvolume
units.

Intheprintingprocess
theselengthsmaybe
distorted.Checkthem
foraccuracy.

0.1meter
0.01meter

Furthermore,thesesubunitshavenamesdecimeter,centimeterwhich
areformedbyputtingaprefixonthewordforthebasicunit.Theprefix
decimeansonetenth,sodecimetermeans0.1meter.Similarly,
centimeansoneonehundredth,socentimetermeans0.01meter.
Youhaveprobablyheardkilometer;theprefixkilomeans1000,so
kilometermeans1000meters.Onreversingone'sthinking,sotospeak,
thereare10decimetersin1meter,thereare100centimetersin1meter,
and1meteris0.001kilometer.
AnotherfeatureofSIisthattherearesymbolsforthebasicunitsmfor
Insomemanualsof
styleyoumaysee
meterandfortheprefixesdfordeci,cforcenti,andsoon.Byusing
thesymbolformetertogetherwiththesymbolforaprefixalength periodsfor
abbreviationsinthe
measurementcanbereportedquiteconcisely:forexample,18cmand2.3
Englishsystem,but
dm.Thesymbols,cmanddm,donothaveperiodsafterthem,nordothe
periodsarenotusein
abbreviationsintheEnglishsystem:ft,mi,etc.,exceptthatforinch(in.).
SI.
Ifyouarenewtothemetricsystem,yourfirstjobwillbetofamiliarize
yourselfwiththeprefixessoyoucanapplythemtothebasicunitsfor
otherqualities.Thetableonthenextpageshowssomeoftheothermetric
prefixes.

Combiningthesymbolkforkiloandthesymbolmformetergiveskm
forkilometer.
Studentsmayneed
areviewoftheuse
ofexponents.Have
themseethe
AppendixA
ReviewofSome
Rules.

Prefix
kilohectodekano prefix
decicentimilli-

Symbol
k
h
da
d
c
m

Meaning of Prefix
1 000
or 103
100
or 102
10
or 101
1
or 100
0.1
or 10-1
0.01 or 10-2
0.001 or 10-3

Applied to Length
km
hm
dam
m
dm
cm
mm

Activity5ItsAllintheUnit
1. Measurethewidthofyourdeskortable,indecimeters.Express
thatlengthincentimeters,millimeters,meters,andkilometers.
2. Measurethewidthofyourdeskortable,infeet.Expressthat
lengthininches,yards,andmiles.
3.Inwhichsystemareconversionseasier?Explainwhy.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.16

TakeAwayMessage:Thevalueofaquantityisexpressedusinganumberanda
unitofmeasure.Commercedependsuponhavingagreedonsetsofmeasures.
Standardunitsaccomplishthis.ThecommonsystemofmeasurementintheUnited
StatesistheEnglishsystemofmeasurement.Weusethemetricsystem,another
measurementsystem,forscienceandforinternationaltrade.Mostcountriesofthe
worlduseonlythemetricsystem.Themetricsystemisbasedonpowersoftenand
oncommonprefixes,makingthesystemaneasieronetouse.

Learning Exercises for Section 1.3

LE1.3Studentsdo
1. Nameanappropriateunitformeasuringeachgivenquantity.
nothaveanswersto1,
2c,2d,2e,3,or4.

a. theamountofmilkthatamugwillhold.
b. theheightoftheEmpireStateBuilding.

c. thedistancebetweenSanFranciscoandNewYork.
d. thecapacityofthegastankinyourcar.
e. thesafetycapacityofanelevator.
f. theamountofrainfallinoneyear.
2. a.Whatdoesitmeantosaythatacargetsgoodmileage?
2b.InEuropemileage
isoftenmeasuredin
b. WhatunitisusedtoexpressgasmileageintheUnitedStates?
liters/100km.
c. Howcouldyoudeterminethemileageyougetfromyourcar?

d. Doyoualwaysgetthesamemileagefromyourcar?Listsome
factorsthatinfluencehowmuchmileageyouget.
e. Howwouldyoumeasuregasconsumption?Isgasconsumption
relatedtomileage?Ifso,how?
3. Explainhowrainfallisquantified.Youmayneedtouseresourcessuch
asanencyclopediaortheinternet.
4. a.Calculateanapproximationoftheamountoftimeyouhavespent
sleepingsinceyouwereborn.Explainyourcalculations.Expressyour
approximationinhours,indays,inyears.
b. Whatpartofyourlifehaveyouspentsleeping?
c. Ontheaveragehowmanyhoursdoyousleepeachday?What
fractionalpartofthedayisthis?
d. Howdoesyouranswerinpart(b)comparetoyouranswerinpart
(c)?
5. Nameanitemthatcanbeusedtoestimatethefollowingmetricunits:
a.acentimeter

b.agram

c.aliter

d.ameter

e.akilometer

f.akilogram

6.TherearesomeconversionsfromEnglishtometricunitsthatare
commonlyused,particularlyforinch,mile,andquart.Whatarethey?

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.17

Exercise4canbe
treatedasaninclass
activity.Ifitisassigned
forhomework,thenit
shouldbediscussedin
class.Whatassumptions
weremade?Whyare
answersfromdifferent
peoplesodiscrepant?
Whattypeof
calculationsdidstudents
use?Werethey
surprised?Arethere
differentwaysof
approachingthis
problem?

1.4IssuesforLearning:WaysofThinkingAboutSolving
StoryProblems
Insolvingstoryproblems,howdochildrendecidewhattodo?Inonestudyvi
studentswerefoundtousethefollowingsevendifferentstrategies.Thefirst
sixstrategiesarebasedonsomethingotherthanunderstandingtheproblem.
1.

Findthenumbersintheproblemandjustdosomethingtothem,
usuallyadditionbecausethatistheeasiestoperation.

2.

Guessattheoperationtobeused,perhapsbasedonwhathasbeen
mostrecentlystudied.

3.

Letthenumberstellyouwhattodo.(Onestudentsaid,Ifits
like78andmaybe54,thenIdprobablyeitheraddormultiply.Butif
thenumbersare78and3,itlookslikeadivisionbecauseofthesizeof
thenumbers.)

4.

Tryalltheoperationsandthenchoosethemostreasonableanswer.
(Thisstrategyoftenworksforonestepproblems,butrarelydoesfor
twostepproblems.)

5.

Lookforkeywordstodecidewhatoperationtouse.For
example,alltogethermeanstoadd.(Thisstrategyworkssometimes,
butnotallthetime.Also,wordslikeofandisoftensignify
multiplicationandequals,butsomestudentsconfusethetwo.)

6.

Narrowthechoices,basedonexpectedsizeoftheanswer.(For
example,whenastudentuseddivisiononaprobleminvolving
reductioninaphotocopymachine,hesaidhedidbecauseits
reducingsomething,andthatmeanstakingitawayordividingit.)

7.

Chooseanoperationbasedonunderstandingtheproblem.[Often
studentswouldmakeadrawingwhentheyusedthisstrategy.
Unfortunately,though,fewofthechildren(sixthandeighthgraders,
ofaverageoraboveaverageabilityinmathematics)usedthis
strategy.]

Onlythelaststrategywasconsideredamaturestrategy.Thesechildren
understoodtheproblembecausetheyhadundertakenaquantitativeanalysis
oftheproblem,eventhoughnotsoformallyasintroducedinthischapter.
Makingdrawingsormentalpicturescanplayanessentialroleincoming
tounderstandaproblem.Hereisanexcerptfromoneinterviewwithone
ofthechildreninthisstudy:
Emmy:Ijustpicturedthepost,howdeepthewaterwas...SometimesI
picturetheobjectsinmymindthatImworkingwith,ifitsahard
problem...
Interviewer:Doesthathelp?
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.18

Emmy:Yeh,ithelps.Thatsjustonewayof,kindofcheating,Iguess
youdsay.
Unfortunately,toomanystudentsseemtobelievethatmakingdrawingsis
cheating,orisjuvenile,yetmakingadrawingisavaluableproblem
solvingprocess.
Inanotherstudyvii,tworesearcherscomparedhowdrawingsareusedin
U.S.textbooksandinJapanesetextbooks.Theyfoundthatmany
elementaryschoolstudentsintheUnitedStatesarenotencouragedto
makedrawingsthatwillhelpthemunderstandastoryproblem.However,
evenjustflippingthroughthepagesofJapanesetextbooksshowsthat
drawingsareusedthroughout.Teacherssaytostudents,Ifyoucandraw
apicture,youcansolvetheproblem.
ThinkAbout...Inwhatwayshavedrawingshelpedyousofarwith
solvingtheproblemsinthisfirstchapter?

Alltoooftenadultstrytoavoidmakingadrawingbecausetheythinkthat
theneedfordrawingsischildish.Butthisisnotthecase.Theabilityto
representaproblemwithadrawingisanimportantcomponentofproblem
solving,nomatterwhattheageoftheproblemsolveris.Youngchildren
oftendrawapicturetohelpthemunderstandaproblem.Forexample,for
theproblemThereare24legsinthesheeppenwheretwomenare
shearingsheep.Howmanysheeparethere?onechildmightdraw
somethingsimilartothis:

Yetanotherchildmightrepresentthisproblemas:
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thereare,ofcourse,multiplewaysthisproblemcouldberepresented
withadrawing,buthereperhapsthefirstismoreappropriatelycalleda
picture,andthesecondwouldmoreappropriatelybecalledadiagram.
Studentswillquitenaturallyevolvefrompicturestodiagrams.A
diagramisavisualrepresentationthatdisplaysinformationinaspatial
layout.ixAlthoughdiagramsareveryusefulinunderstandingthe
structureofaproblem,studentsareoftenunabletoproduceanappropriate
diagramwithoutsomeassistance.Whetherornotapictureoradiagramis
appropriatedependsonhowwellitrepresentsthestructureofthe
problem.Adiagramismoreabstractthanapictureinthatitoftendoesnot
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.19

containextraneousinformation.Ittakeslesstimetodraw,butitcontinues
torepresenttheproblem.
Inthesheepproblem,theobjectsarediscrete,thatis,theycanbecounted.
Butnotallproblemsaboutdiscretequantitiesneedtoberepresentedby
Discussion6.For
individualobjectsbecausediagramminglargenumberscanbecomea
problem1,thestudent
chore,andpictureswouldtakefartoolongtoproduce.Thusweoftenuse
usesbothdrawingsanda
diagram.Itappearsthat
linesorboxestorepresenttheproblems,eventhoseinvolvingdiscrete
thedrawingmayhave
quantities.

beendrawnwithoutthe
markings,whichwere
Discussion6DrawingsandDiagrams
addedlater.Forthe
1.Afourthgraderwasaskedtosolvesomestoryproblemsyousawin
secondproblem,sheused
adrawing,whichcould
theLearningExercisesforSection1.2.Twoproblemsareshown
alsobethoughtofasa
here.Beforelookingatthestudentssolutions,gobackandsee
diagram.

howyousolvedtheproblems.
2.Discussthetypesofdrawingsusedbythisstudent.Howdidthey
helphervisualizetheproblemsleadingtosolutions?
Problem1.(ModifiedfromSection1.2,LearningExercise1c)
Twosculpturesaresimilar.Theheightofonesculptureistwoand
onehalftimestheheightoftheothersculpture.Thesmaller
sculptureis3feettall.Howtallisthelargersculpture?

QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Problem2.(FromSection1.2,LearningExercise7)
Acarpenterhasaboard200incheslongand12incheswide.He
makes4identicalshelvesandstillhasapieceofboard36inches
longleftover.Howlongiseachshelf?

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.20

QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Drawingdiagramstorepresentandthensolveproblemsituationsare
commoninSingaporetextbooks.Theyusediagramstheycallstrip
diagrams.S.Beckmannxhasprovidedthefollowingproblemsas
examples.
Example1isfromathirdgradetextbook:Marymade686biscuits.
Shesoldsomeofthem.If298wereleftover,howmanybiscuitsdid
shesell?(PrimaryMathematics,volume3A,p.20,Problem4)ix
686
number sold

298

Example2isfromafifthgradetextbook:RajuandSamyshare$410
betweenthem.Rajureceived$100morethanSamy.Howmuch
moneydidSamyreceive?(PrimaryMathematics,volume5A,p.
23,problem1)ix
Raju
$410

Samy
?

$100

2 units = $410 $100 = $310

1 unit = $___
Samy received $___
ThinkAbout...Canthesheepproblemberepresentedwithastrip
drawing?

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.21

Inthischapterwehaveuseddiagramsratherthanpicturestorepresent
problems.Analyzingsituationsquantitatively,whichmayincludemaking
drawings,canhelponeunderstandtheproblemsbeingsolved.
Quantitativereasoningismorethanreasoningaboutnumbers,anditis
morethanskilledcalculating.Itisaboutmakingsenseofthesituationto
whichweapplynumbersandcalculations.x
Learning Exercises for Section 1.4
LE1.4.Studentsdonot
Use a mature strategy and a strip diagram to work each of the following:
haveanswersto5,6,7,or
1. Kaliaspentaquarterofherweeklyallowanceonamovie.Themovie
8.
was$4.25.Whatisherweeklyallowance?

2. CallehadfivetimesasmanystickersasSaradid,andtwiceasmanyas
Juniper.Juniperhad25stickers.Howmanystickersdidtheyhave
altogether?
3. Nghiepgavehismotherhalfofhisweeklyearnings,andthenspenthalf
ofwhatwasleftonanewshirt.Hethenhad$32.Whatwerehis
weeklyearnings?
4. Zviassweatercosttwiceasmuchasherhat,andathirdasmuchasher
coat.Hercoatcost$114.Howmuchdidhersweatercost?
5. Onenumberis4timesaslargeasanothernumber,andtheirsumis
5285.Whatarethetwonumbers?
6.Jinfa,uponreceivinghispaycheck,spenttwothirdsofitoncarrepairs
andthenboughta$40giftforhismother.Hehad$64left.Howmuch
washispaycheck?
7. RosewoodElementarySchoolhad104studentsregisterforthefourth
grade.Afterplacing11ofthestudentsinamixedgradewithfifth
graders,theremainingstudentsweresplitevenlyinto3classrooms.
Howmanystudentswereineachofthese3classrooms?
8. Jacqui,Karen,andLynnallcollectstamps.Jacquihas12morestamps
thanKaren,andKarenhasthreetimesasmanyasLynn.Togetherthey
have124stamps.Howmanydoeseachpersonhave?
9. JoJohasdownloaded139songsonhisiPod.Ofthosesongs,36are
jazz,twicethatareR&B,andtheremainingareclassical.Howmany
classicalsongshashedownloaded?

1.5CheckYourself
Thequestionsandproblems
givenhererepresentthekey
itemsinthischapter.Ifyoudo
notcoverallsections,the
questionsmayneedtobe
modified.

Inthisfirstchapter,youhavelearnedabouttherolequantitiesplayinour
livesandthewaysweexpressquantitiesandtheirvalues.Youhave
learnedaboutdealingwithproblemsituationsbyanalyzingtheproblemin
termsofitsquantitiesandtheirrelationshipstooneanother.Quantitative
analysishelpssolveaprobleminameaningful,sensemakingway.The
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.22

samekindofanalysiscanbeappliedtoarithmeticproblemsandtoalgebra
problems.
Youalsolearnedhowquantitiesaremeasuredintermsofnumbersof
units,andhowtoexpressvaluesofquantitiesinstandardunits,including
metricunits.
Youshouldbeabletoworkproblemslikethoseassignedandtomeetthe
followingobjectives.
1. Identifythequantitiesaddressedbysuchquestionsas,Howmuch
damagedidthefloodingcause?
2. Nameattributesofobjectsthatcannotbequantified.
3. Distinguishbetweenaquantityanditsvalue.
4. Givenaproblemsituation,undertakeaquantitativeanalysisofthe
problemandusethatanalysistosolvetheproblem.
5. Determineappropriateunitstomeasurequantities.
6. Discussreasonswhythemetricsystemisusedformeasurementin
mostcountries.
7. Discusssomeincorrectwaysthatchildrensolvestoryproblems.
8. Discusstheimportanceofappropriatedrawingsinproblemsolving.
9. Makestripdiagramstorepresentsimplearithmeticandalgebraic
problems.
References for Chapter 1
i

Maletsky,E.M.,Andrews,A.G.,Burton,G.M.,Johnson,H.C.,Luckie,L.,Newman,
V.,Schultz,K.A.,Scheer,J.K.,&McLeod,J.C.(2002).HarcourtMath.Orlando,
FL:Harcourt.

ii

Lappan,G.,Fey,J.T.,Fitzgerald,W.M.,Friel,S.N.,&Phillips,E.D.(1998).
Connectedmathematics:BitsandpiecesII:Usingrationalnumbers.Teachers
Edition.MenloPark,CA:DaleSeymourPublications.

iii

Krutetskii,V.A.(1976).Thepsychologyofmathematicalabilitiesinschoolchildren(J.
Teller,Trans.).Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress.

iv

Sowder,L.(1995).Addressingthestoryproblemproblem.InJ.Sowder&B.
Schappelle(Eds.),Providingafoundationfortheteachingofmathematicsinthe
middlegrades(pp.121142).Albany,NY:SUNYPress.

RussianGrade3Mathematics.(1978).TranslatedbyUniversityofChicagoSchool
MathematicsProject.

vi

Sowder,L.(1988).Childrenssolutionsofstoryproblems.JournalOfMathematical
Behavior,7,227239.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.23

vii

Shigematsu,K.,&Sowder,L.(1994).Drawingsforstoryproblems:PracticesinJapan
andtheUnitedStates.ArithmeticTeacher,41(9),544547.

vii

Diezmann,C.,&English,L.(2001).Promotingtheuseofdiagramsastoolsfor
thinking.InA.C.Cuoco&F.R.Curcio(Eds.),Therolesofrepresentationin
schoolmathematics(pp.7789).Reston,VA:NCTM

ix

Beckmann,S.(2004).Solvingalgebraandotherstoryproblemsinsimplediagrams:a
methoddemonstratedingrade46textsusedinSingapore.TheMathematics
Educator,14,4246.

Thompson,P.(1995).Notation,convention,andquantityinelementarymathematics.In
J.Sowder&B.Schappelle(Eds.),Providingafoundationfortheteachingof
mathematicsinthemiddlegrades(pp.199221).Albany,NY:SUNYPress.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.24

(Thispageispurposelyblank.)

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter1InstructorsVersionp.25

Chapter 2
Numeration Systems

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE2foranoverview
ofthischapter,including
aninterestingquotefrom
amathematicianabout
Contrarytowhatyoumaybelieve,therearemanywaysofexpressing
teachingprimaryschool
numbers.Someofthesewaysareculturalandhistorical.Othersaremathematics.

differentwaysofthinkingaboutwhatthedigitsofourconventional
numbersystemmean.Forexample,youprobablythinkof23asmeaning
twotensandthreeones.Wethinkthiswaybecauseweuseabaseten
systemofcounting.(Howmanyfingersdoyouhave?)Butwhynotbase
SEEINSTRUCTOR
five(usingonlyfivefingers)?Whatwould23meanthen?Youareabout
NOTE2.1Aforan
tofindout.

2.1WaysofExpressingValuesofQuantities

introductiontoworking
withbasesotherthanten.

Theneedtoquantifyandexpressthevaluesofquantitiesledhumansto
inventnumerationsystems.Throughouthistory,peoplehavefoundways
toexpressvaluesofquantitiestheymeasuredinseveralways.Avarietyof
Timing: This section is
covered quickly because
wordsandspecialsymbols,callednumerals,havebeenusedto
communicatenumberideas.Howoneexpressesnumbersusingtheseits message is quite
simplethat we have
specialsymbolsmakesupanumerationsystem.OurHinduArabicmany ways of expressing
values.
systemusestendigits:0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.Virtuallyallpresentday
societiesusetheHinduArabicnumerationsystem.Withthehelpof
decimalpoints,fractionbars,andmarkslikesquarerootsigns,theseten
Think About: and e, for
example, are exceptions.
digitsallowustoexpressalmostanynumberandthereforethevalueof
Students may suggest i and
almostanyquantity.
.
Theconventionalnumerals
ThinkAbout...Whyarenumeralsusedsomuch?Whatareadvantagesof

aremuchmorecompactthan

thesespecialsymbolsoverusingjustwordstoexpressnumbers?Whatare
thewordsforthesame
someexceptionstorepresentingnumberswithdigits?
numberwouldbe.This

Activity1YouMeanPeopleDidntAlwaysCounttheWay
WeDo?
Aglimpseoftherichnessofthehistoryofnumeration
systemsliesinlookingatthevarietyofwaysinwhich
thenumbertwelvehasbeenexpressed.Inthedifferent
representationsshown,seeifyoucandeducewhateach
individualmarkrepresents.Eachrepresentation
expressesthismany:

compactnessmakesiteasier
toseethenumber
involved,andtocalculate
withit.Numeralsforvery
largeorsmallnumbersare
nonethelessalsodifficultto
seeortowrite,whichis
onereasonthatscientific
notationisusedwiththem.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.26

Ancient symbols and ours:

Some students become
very interested to learn
about other symbol
systems for numbers. In
the Egyptian numerals, the
symbol for 10 was a
heelprint; for 100, a coiled
rope; for 1000, a lotus
flower; for 104, a pointing
finger; for 105, a tadpole;
for 106, an astonished
man.

OldChineseOldGreekRomanBabylonian

ThinkAbout...Howwouldtenhavebeenwrittenineachoftheseearlier
numerationsystems?

Someancientculturesdidnotneedmanynumberwords.Forexample,
Note:Tellstudentsthatthe
i
superscriptnumber
after
theymayhaveneededwordsonlyforone,two,andmany.When
easilyandallsuperscript
largerquantitieswereencountered,theycouldbeexpressedbysomesort
Romannumeralsofthissort
ofmatchingwithpebblesorsticksorpartsofthebody,butwithoutthe
refertoreferencesprovided
useofanydistinctwordorphraseforthenumberinvolved.Forexample,
attheendofthechapter.
inarecentlydiscoveredcultureinPapuaNewGuinea,thesameword
Numbersreferringto
powers,suchaspowersof
dorowasusedfor2,3,4,19,20,and21.Butbypointingalsoto
ten,willhavelarger
differentpartsofthehands,arms,andfacewhencountingandsaying
superscriptsanduseArabic
doro,thesepeoplecouldtellwhichnumberisintendedbytheword.
numerals.
ThismethodofpointingallowsthePapuaNewGuineanstoexpress
numbersupthrough22easily.iItwasonlywhenthisculturecameinto
SEEINSTRUCTOR
contactwiththeoutsideworldandbegantradingwithotherculturesthat
NOTES2.1Bforadditional
theyneededtofindwaysofexpressinglargernumbers.
informationontheresearch
inPapuaNewGuinea.

ThinkAboutWhydoyouthinkweusetendigitsinournumber
system?Woulditmakesensetousetwenty?Whyorwhynot?
Discussion 1. The types of
quantities get more complex
Discussion1ChangingComplexityofQuantitiesOverTime
(e.g., from counting
sabretooth tigers to measuring
a
Whatquantities,andthereforewhatnumberwords,wouldyou
container of grain to
expectacavemantohavefounduseful?(Assumethatthe
measuring radiation), and
the
cavemanhadasufficientlysophisticatedlanguage.)Apersonina
sizes cover a greater range
(small whole numbers to
primitiveagriculturalsociety?Apioneer?Anordinarycitizen
using scientific notation).
Try
livingtoday?ApersononWallStreet?Anastronomer?A
to incorporate reference to a
subatomicphysicist?
ratio into the discussion--e.g.,
so many beads for each
container of corn.
TakeAwayMessageMathematicalsymbolshavechangedovertheyears,and
theymaychangeinthefuture.Symbolsusedfornumbersdependuponourneedto
determinethevalueofthequantitieswithwhichwework.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.27

Learning Exercises for Section 2.1

SEE INSTRUCTOR NOTE
1. Basedonwhatyouhaveseenoftheoldcountingsystemssuchas
2.1C for references on the
Greek,Chinese,Roman,Babylonian,Mayan,andAztec,which
history of numberation and a
systemsmakethemostsensetoyou?Explain.
possible additional credit
assignment.
2. Symbolsforfiveandfortenoftenhavehadspecialprominencein
geographicallyandchronologicallyremotesystems.Why? LE2.1Inourexperience
studentscangetboggeddown
3. Numberscanbeexpressedinafascinatingvarietyofways.Different
inthissection.Takecarethat
languages,ofcourse,usedifferentwordsanddifferentsymbolsto
theydont.TheTakeAway
representnumbers.Somecountingwordsaregivenbelow. messageisthemajorpoint
made,andtheonlyone
necessarytoremember.

English

Spanish

German

French

Japanes
e

Swahili

zero

cero

null

zero

zero

one

uno

eins

un

ichi

two

dos

zwei

deux

ni

mbili

three

tres

drei

trois

san

tatu

four

cuatro

vier

quatre

shi

nne

five

cinco

fnf

cinq

go

tano

six

seis

sechs

six

roku

sita

seven

siete

sieben

sept

shichi

saba

eight

ocho

acht

huit

hachi

nane

nine

nueve

neun

neuf

kyu

tisa

ten

diez

zehn

dix

ju

kumi

Studentsdonothaveanswers
to1,2,3,4c,5c,6c,7inthis
sifuri
setofexercises.
Besuretoassign2.

moja

Forexercises4,5,and6:
WarningDonotgetcaught
Whichtwosetsofthesecountingwordsmostresembleoneanother?
upinworkwithRoman
numerals.Studentsshould
Whydoyouthinkthatistrue?Doyouknowthesenumbersinyet
knowtheyexistbuttheyneed
anotherlanguage?
notbefluentinusingthem.

4. Romannumeralshavesurvivedtoadegree,asinmotionpicturefilm
creditsandoncornerstones.Herearethebasicsymbols:I=one,V=
five,X=ten,L=fifty,C=onehundred,D=fivehundred,andM=
onethousand.Forexample,CLXIis100+50+10+1=161.
Whatnumbersdoeseachoftheserepresent?
a.MMCXIIIb.CLXXXVc.MDVII

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.28

5. HowwouldeachofthefollowingbewritteninRomannumerals?For
example,onethousandonehundredthirtywouldbeMCXXX.
a.twothousandsixtysixb.seventyeightc.sixhundredfive

6. Othersystemswehaveseenallinvolveadditionofthevaluesofthe
symbols.Romannumeralsuseasubtractiveprincipleaswell;whena
symbolforasmallervaluecomesbeforethesymbolforalargervalue,
theformervalueissubtractedfromthelatter.Forexample,IVmeans5
1=4,orfour;XCmeans10010=90;andCD=500100=400.
Notethatnosymbolappearsmorethanthreetimestogether,because
withfoursymbolswewouldusethissubtractiveproperty.What
numberdoeseachoftheserepresent?
a.CMIII

b.XLIX

c.CDIX

7. Evenwithinthesamelanguage,thereareoftenseveralwordsfora
givennumberidea.Forexample,bothtwoshoesandapairof
shoes,refertothesamequantity.Whataresomeotherwordsforthe
ideaoftwoness?

2.2PlaceValue

Placevalueis
foundationaltoallwork
Whatdoeseach2in22,222mean?Thedifferent2srepresentdifferent
withwholenumbersand
valuesbecauseourHinduArabicnumerationsystemisaplacevalue
decimalnumbers,andthe
system.Thissystemdependsuponthepowersoftentotellusthe
lackofunderstandingof
meaningofeachdigit.Oncethissystemisunderstood,arithmetic
placevalueleadstomost
errorswhencomputing
operationsaremucheasiertolearn.Understandingofplacevalueisa
withthesenumbers.Yet
fundamentalideaunderlyingelementaryschoolmathematics.
weoftenoverlookits
importancebecause
Butfirst,whatdoesitmeantohaveaplacevaluesystem?
workingwithbasetenhas
becomesecondnatureto
us.Itoftentakestimefor
teacherstoappreciatehow
Inaplacevaluesystem,thevalueofadigitinanumeralisdetermined
importantplacevalueis
andhowtousethisbyitspositioninthenumeral.
knowledgeinteaching.

Example1:In506.7,the5isinthehundredsplace,soitrepresents
fivehundred.The0in506.7isinthetensplace,soitrepresents
zerotens,orjustzero.The6isintheonesplace,soitrepresentssix
ones,orsix.Andthe7isinthetenthsplace,soitrepresentsseven
tenths.Thecomplete506.7symbolthenrepresentsthesumofthose
values:fivehundredsixandseventenths.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.29

Noticethatwedonotsayfivehundred,zerotens,sixandseventenths,
althoughwecould.Thisissymptomaticoftherelativelylateappearance,
historically,ofasymbolforzero.Theadvantageofhavingasymbolto
saythatnothingisthereisapparentlyadifficultidea,buttheideaisvital
toaplacevaluesystem.Would506.7meanthesamenumberifwe
omittedthe0toget56.7?The0mayhaveevolvedfromsometypeof
roundmarkwritteninclaybytheBabylonianstoshowthattherearezero
groupsofaparticularplacevalueneeded.
ThinkAbout...IntheHinduArabicplacevaluesystem,howmany
differentplaces(positions)canyounameandwritenumerically?(Dont
forgetplacestotherightofthedecimalpoint.)

Beforetheuseofnumeralsbecamewidespread,muchcalculationwas
donewithmarkersonlinesfordifferentplacevalues.Thelinescouldbe
onpaper,orjustdrawninsand,withsmallstonesusedasmarkers.(Our
wordcalculatecomesfromtheLatinwordforstones.)Onedevice
thatnodoubtwasinspiredbythesemethodsofcalculatingistheabacus,
whichcontinuestobeusedinsomepartsoftheworld.

A Chinese Abacus
Noticethatwehaveoftenusedwordstodiscussthenumbers
insteadoftheusualnumerals.Thereasonisthatthesymbol
12isautomaticallyassociatedwithtwelveinourminds
becauseofourfamiliaritywiththeusualnumerationsystem.
Wewillfindthatthenumeral12couldmeanfiveorsix,
however,inothersystems!(Ifnobaseisindicated,assumethe
familiarbasetenisintended.)

Theabacusshownisthe
Chineseversion.Eachofthe
twocountersabovethebar
represents5;theonesbelow,
1.TheJapaneseabacus
(soroban)hasonly1counter
abovethebarand4below.
Discussinghownumbersare
shownontheseis
worthwhile.Eventodaythe
abacusisusedinAsian
countries,andJapanese
parentsmaysendtheir
childrentospecialclassesat
nighttolearnabacus
calculation.

Inourbasetennumerationsystem,thewholenumberplacevaluesresult
fromgroupsoftentenones,tentens,tenhundreds,etc.Thedigits0,1,
2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9workfineuntilwehavetenofsomething.Butthereis
nosingledigitthatmeansten.Whenwehavetenones,wethinkofthem
asonegroupoften,withoutanyleftoverones,andwetakeadvantageof
placevaluetowrite10,onetenandzeroleftoverones.Similarly,two
placevaluesaresufficientthroughninetensandnineones,butwhenwe
havetentens,wethenusethenextplacevalueandwrite100.Itislike
replacingtenpennieswithonedime,andtradingtendimesforadollar.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.30

Example2
IfIwanttofindthenumberoftendollarbillsIcouldgetfor$365,
theanswerisnotjust6,itis36.
IfIwanttoknowhowmanydollarsbillsIcouldgetfrom$365,the
answeris365.
IfIwanttoknowthenumberofdimesIcouldgetfrom$365,the
answeris3650.
ButifIwanttoknowhowmanytensarein365,Icouldsayeither
36or36.5,dependingonthecontext.
IfIhave365barsofsoapandIwanttoknowhowmanyfullboxes
of10Icouldpack,theanswerwouldbe36.
IfIambuying365individualbarsofsoappricedat$6per10bars,
thenIwouldhavetopay36.5times$6.
Withagoodunderstandingofplacevalue,theproblemslikethosein
Example2canbeeasilysolvedwithoutundertakinglongdivisionor
multiplicationby10orpowersof10.Childrenwhodonotunderstand
placevaluewilloftentrytosolvetheproblemofhowmanytensarein
365byusinglongdivisiontodivideby10,ratherthanobservingthatthe
answerisobviousfromthenumber.

Discussion 2.
This might be a good
discussion in pairs.
Students are not used to
considering digits other
Discussion2MoneyandPlaceValue
than the one named. That
is, for 2., they answer 5Explainyouranswerstoeachofthefollowing:
rather than 65.
1.Howmanytendollarbillsdoesthe6in$657represent?The5?
1. 60, 5
2. 65
2. Howmanytensarein657?
3. 539
3.Howmanyonehundreddollarbillscanyougetfor$53,908?
4. 539 or 539.08
5. 34700, 3470, 347 4. Howmanyonehundredsarein53,908?
6. 347, 34 or 34.7
(#6 does not follow the 5.Howmanypenniescanyougetfor$347?For$34.70?For$3.47?
pattern. Ask why.)
6. Howmanyonesarein347?In34.70?In3.47

Thedecimalpointindicatesthatwearebeginningtobreakuptheunitone
intotenths,hundredths,thousandths,etc.Butthenumberone,notthe
decimalpoint,isthefocalpointofthissystem.So0.642is642
SEEINSTRUCTOR
thousandthsofone.Putanotherway,0.6issixtenthsofone,while6issix
NOTE2.2Aaboutan
importantstudentones,and60issixtens,or60ones.Butjustas0.6issixtenthsofone,6is
sixtenthsof10,60issixtenthsofonehundred,andsoonuptheline.Or
misconceptionabout
decimalnumbers. startingwithsmallernumbers,0.006issixtenthsof0.01,while0.06issix
tenthsof0.1.Likewise,6000is60hundreds,600is60tens,60is60ones,
6is60tenths,0.6is60hundredths,0.06is60thousandths,andsoon.ii
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.31

Afewofyourstudentsare
likelytoneedtothink
throughtheseexamples.
However,dontbelabor
theexamples.

Whilethisatfirstmightseemconfusing,itbecomeslesssowithpractice
andthought.
TakeAwayMessageOurbasetenplacevaluenumerationsystemisadequatefor
expressingallwholenumbersandmanydecimalnumbers.Thevalueofeachdigit
inanumeralisdeterminedbythepositionofthedigitinthenumeral.Digitsin
differentplaceshavedifferentvalues.Finally,thenumber1,notthedecimalpoint,
servesasthefocalpointofdecimalnumbers.
LE2.2Studentsdonot
haveanswersfor1b,d,f,
j,k,l,3a,5,and8.
Besuretoassign2,6,and
9,anddiscuss2.

Learning Exercises for Section 2.2

1. a.Howmanytensarein357?Howmanywholetens?
b.Howmanyhundredsarein4362?Howmanywholehundreds?
c. Howmanytensarein4362?Howmanywholetens?
d. Howmanythousandsarein456,654?Howmanywholethousands?
e. Howmanyhundredsarein456,654?Howmanywholehundreds?

Someanswersfor
Exercise1if
discussedinclass
g. Howmanytenthsarein23.47?Howmanywholetenths?
1c.436.2,436
h. Howmanythousandthsarein23.47?Howmanywholethousandths?
1g.234.7,234
1h. 23470, 23470
i.Howmanyonesarein23.47?Howmanywholeones?
1j. 2347, 2347
1k. 23470, 23470
j.Howmanyhundredthsarein23.47?Howmanywholehundredths?

f. Howmanytensarein456,654?Howmanywholetens?

k.Howmanytenthsarein2347?Howmanywholetenths?
l.Howmanytenthsarein234.7?Howmanywholetenths?
2. In123.456,thehundredsplaceisinthethirdplacetotheleftofthe
decimalpoint;isthehundredthsplaceinthethirdplacetotherightof
thedecimalpoint?Inalongnumerallike333331.333333,what
separatesthenumberintotwopartsthatmatchinthewayhundredsand
hundredthsdo?
3. a.IsthestatementForasetofwholenumbers,thelongestnumeral
willbelongtothelargestnumbertrueorfalse?Why?
b.IsthestatementForasetofdecimals,thelongestnumeralwill
belongtothelargestnumbertrueorfalse?Why?
4. Pronounce3200intwodifferentways.Dothetwopronunciations
havethesamevalue?
5.Writeinwordsthewayyouwouldpronounceeach:
a.407.053b.30.04
c.0.34d.200.067e.0.276
6.Eachofthefollowingrepresentsworkofstudentswhodidnot
understandplacevalue.Findtheerrorsmadebythesestudents,and
explaintheirreasoning.
Besuretoassignthis
exercise.Understandingthe
studenterrors,allofwhich
15
55
418
stemfromlackof
+ 95
+ 48
26
understandingofplace
value,willmotivateworkon
placevaluebothinbaseten
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.32
andinotherbases.

a.

b.

c.

1010
d.

913

11

e.
36
7 43

36
x 8

42
2448
22
21
7. Inbaseten,1635isexactly________ones,isexactly_________tens,
isexactly_________hundreds,isexactly_________thousands;itis
alsoexactly__________tenths,orexactly_________hundredths.
8.Inbaseten,73.5isexactly________ones,isexactly_________tens,
isexactly_________hundreds,isexactly_________thousands;itis
alsoexactly__________tenths,orexactly_________hundredths.
9.Doyouchangethevalueofawholenumberbyplacingzerostothe
rightofthenumber?Totheleftofthenumber?

2.3BasesOtherThanTen
SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE2.3Ainformation
Toooftenchildrenlearntooperateonnumberswithouthavingadeep
onteachingbasesother
understandingofplacevalue,thelackofwhichleadsthemtomakemany
thanten,andtheamount
oftimeyoushouldspend
computationalerrors.Thepurposeofthissectionistoprovideexperiences
onthissectionlessthan
withbasenumerationsystemsotherthantensoyouunderstandthe
whatstudentswant.
underlyingstructureofthebasetensystemofnumeration.Youarenot
expectedtobecomefluentinabaseotherthanten.Rather,youshouldbe
abletocalculateindifferentbasestotheextentthatisneededto
understandtheroleofplacevalueincalculations.

IMPORTANT:
Notethatbasematerials
ThinkAboutWeuseabasetensystemofcountingbecausewehaveten
areusedinthissection.
fingers.Othercultureshaveusedotherbases.Forexample,someEskimos
Haveyourstudents werefoundtocountusingbasefive.Whywouldthatbe?Whatotherbases
bringthecutoutsofbase
mighthavebeenusedforcounting?
materialsfoundin
AppendixD.
Cartooncharactersoftenhavethreefingersandathumboneachhand,a

totalofeightfingers(countingthumbs)insteadoften.Supposethatwe
liveinthiscartoonlandandinsteadofhavingtendigitsinourcounting
Countinginotherbases
system(0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9)wehaveonlyeightdigits(0,1,2,3,4,5,
isverynewtomostif
6,7).Usingthisnewcountingsystemwewritethenumbereightas
notallofyourstudents.
Spendtimeinclass
10eight,meaning1groupofeightand0ones.Thus,wewouldwriteaswe
countingwiththemin
countinbaseeight:
differentbases,
explainingwhy10
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,20,21,...
meansdifferentamounts
indifferentbases.The
humpscomeat20and
100,andunderstandingReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.33
whatthesenumerals
mean.

Wereadthislistofnumbersas:one,two,three,...,onezero,oneone,
onetwo,...,twozero..

Activity2PlaceValueinCartoonLand
Activity2:PlaceValue...Be
sureyouworkoutthisora
similarexampleinclass.

1.Showthevalueofeachplaceinbaseeightbycompletingthis
pattern:
. . . _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
85
84
83
82
81
80

???sixtyfourseights ones
2.Whatwouldfollow77inbaseeight?
3.Whatwouldeachdigitindicateinthenumeral743inbaseeight?
Noticethatthebaseeightnumerationsystemhaseightdigits,07.
Writing6072inbaseeightwouldrequiretheuseofthefirstfourplacesto
theleftofthedecimalpointandrepresents2ones(80),7eights(81),0sets
ofeightsquared(82),and6setsofeightcubed(83).Thedigits6,0,7,and
2wouldbeplacedintheActivitypatterninthefourplacestotheleftof
thedecimalpoint.Wecallthisnumbersixzeroseventwo,baseeight
andwriteitas6072eight.
ThinkAbout...Ifyouhad602eightchairsinanauditorium,howmany
chairswouldyouhave,writteninbaseten?

ThinkAbout:386

Discussion3PlaceValueinBaseThree
Whataretheplacevaluesinabasethreesystem?Whatare
thedigits,andhowmanydoweneed?(Ratherthaninvent
newsymbolsfordigits,let'susewhicheverofthestandard
symbolsweneed.)Studythechartbelow.Whatshouldbe
inplaceofthequestionmarks?
Items

Amajordifficultyis
breakingawayfromthe
identificationofastringof
digitsasalwayshavingits
basetenmeaning,soweuse
thefamiliarwordnameto
indicatethenumber.

Name in base ten Name in base three Base three

symbol

zero

zero

0three

one

one

1three

two

two

???

???

three

2three

Namingthreeinbasethreeisakeystepinunderstandingbasethree.Since
therearethreesingleboxesabove,theywillbegroupedtomakeone
groupofthree,andthebasethreesymbolis10!Noticethatinbasethree
10doesnotsymbolizetenaswethinkaboutten.Inbasethree,10
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.34

meansonegroupofthreeandzeroleftover.Sinceitdoesnotmeanten,
weshouldnotpronouncethenumeralasten.Therecommended
pronunciationisonezero,basethree,sayingjustthenameforeachdigit
andforthebase.Noticehowthischartdiffersfromtheoneabove.

Items

zero

Name in base ten Name in base three Base three symbol

zero

zero

0three

one

one

1three

two

two

2three

three

one-

10three
four

one-one

11three

Iftherearefourboxes,asinthelastlineofthistable,wecanmakeone
groupofthree,andthentherewillbeoneleftoverbox,soinbasethree,
fouriswritten11.Becausewehavethestronglinkbetweenthemarks
11andelevenfromallofourbasetenexperience,thenotation11threeis
oftenusedforclaritytoshowthatthesymbolsshouldbeinterpretedin
basethree.Recallthat11threeshouldbepronouncedoneone,basethree,
andnotaseleven.

Activity3CountinBaseThreeandinBaseFour
Continuetodrawmoreboxesandtowritebasethreesymbols.What
doyouwriteforfiveboxes?(Nowyouseewhythesymbol12might
meanfive.)Six?Seven?Eight?And,atanotherdramatic
Discussion4.Working...
point,nine?Didyouwrite100threefornine?What
1.Thirtyeight(inbaseten)
would1000threemean?
wouldbeexpressedas123in
basefive.

2.Digitsfor0,1,2,...,b1are
needed.
3.Eighteenwouldbe
expressedas10010inbase
two.Simplistically,twostate
systemsoff/on,magnetized/
notfitbasetwo.

Checkyourcountingskillsbyfollowingalongwith
countinginbasefour:1,2,3,10,11,12,13,20,21,
22,23,30,31,32,33,100,101,102,103,110,111,112,
113,120,121,122,123,130,131,132,133,200...
Whatdoes1000four mean?
Discussion4WorkingwithDifferentBases

4.Digitswouldbeneededto
expresstenandeleven.Tand
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.35
Ecanbeusedhereasneeded.

Continuinginbase
three,12ispronounced
onetwo,basethree,
andthenextnumberis
20,ortwozero,base
three.

1. Whataretheplacevaluesinbasefive?Whatdigitsareneeded?
Howwouldthirtyeight(inbaseten)beexpressedinbasefive?
Recordthefirstfifteencountingnumbersinbasefive:1,2,...
2. Whataretheplacevaluesinabasebplacevaluesystem?What
digitsareneeded?
3. Whataretheplacevaluesinabasetwoplacevaluesystem?How
wouldeighteen(inbaseten)bewritteninbasetwo?Theinner
workingsofcomputersusebasetwo;doyouseeanyreasonfor
thisfact?
4. Perhapssurprisingly,thereisaDuodecimalSociety,which
promotestheadoptionofabasetwelvenumerationsystem.What
aretheplacevaluesinabasetwelvesystem?Whatnewdigits
wouldhavetobeinvented?

Withseveralnumerationsystemspossible,therecanbemany
translationsamongthesymbols.Forexample,givenabasetennumeral
(ortheusualword),findthebasesix(orfourortwelve)numeralforthe
samenumber,andviceversa,givenanumeralinsomeotherbase,findits
basetennumeral(ortheusualword).Ineachcase,thekeyisknowing,
andprobablywritingdown,theplacevaluesintheunfamiliarsystem.
(Recallthatanynonzeronumbertothe0poweris1.Example:50=1.)
Example3:
Changingfromanontenbasetobaseten:Whatdoes2103four
representinbaseten?

Solution:
1.2103fourhasfourdigits.Thefirstfourplacevaluesinbasefourare
writtenhere,andthegivendigitsputintheirplaces:
____2_____

____1 ____

of four sixteens,
or sixty-four, or 43

of four fours, or
sixteen, or 42

____0 ___

___3___

of four ones, or
ones, or
40
Materialsfordifferentbases,
1
four, or 4
likeblocksorsoftware
onlinearehighly
2.Whatdoesthe2tellus?The2standsfortwoof43whichis
recommended.Many

2 64=128inbaseten.
studentsneedtomanipulate
things(blocksofwood,
2
3.Whatdoesthe1tellus?The1standsforone4 whichis
representationsonascreen)
1 16=16inbaseten.
tofullyunderstandthese
exercises.Emphasizethe
1
4.Whatdoesthe0tellus?The0standsforzeroof4 whichis
importanceoftheplace
0 4=0inbaseten.
values.Twodimensional
blockscanbefoundin
AppendixD,andare
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.36
introducedinthischapter.

5.Whatdoesthe3tellus?The3indicates40isusedthreetimes,
3 1=3inbaseten.
6.Thus2103four=(128+16+0+3)ten=147ten
thatis,2103four=147ten.
Example4
Supposeinsteadwewanttochangeanumberwritteninbaseten,
say236,toanumberwritteninanotherbase,saybasefive.We
knowthattheplacesinbasefivearethefollowing:

...___________
onehundred
twentyfives(53)

___________

twentyfives(52)

___________
fives(51)

__________
ones(50)

Solution:(Youmayfindthesestepseasiertofollowbydroppingthe
tensubscriptfornow,fornumbersinbaseten.)
1.Lookforthehighestpowerof5inthebasetennumber;hereitis
53because54is625tenand625tenislargerthan236ten.Are
3

thereany5 sin236ten?Yes,justone5 because5 =125,and

thereisonlyone125in236.Placea1inthefirstplaceaboveto
indicateone53.Nowyouhaveusedup125,sosubtract:
236ten125ten=111ten.
2.Thenextplacevalueoffiveis52.Arethereanytwentyfivesin
111ten?Thereare4,soplacea4above52.Nowfourtwenty
fives,or100,havebeenused,"and111ten100ten=11ten.

3.Thenextplacevalueis51whichis5.Howmanyfivesarein11ten?
Ithastwofives,soplace2above51.Thereis1oneleft,soplacea
1above50.Thus236ten=1421five.

Workingwithdifferentbasescanbeeasierwhenonecanphysicallymove
piecesthatrepresentdifferentvaluesinabasesystem.Often,afterdoing
physicalmanipulation,onecanmentallypicturethe
MultibaseBlocksfor
manipulationandworkwithoutphysicalobjects.Multibase
students:Anappendix
containsMultibaseBlocks blocksaremanipulativesthathaveproventobeextremely
withsmallblocks,thelongs, usefulincomingtounderstandanybasesystem,butprimarily
andtheflatsintwo
baseteninelementaryschool.Multibaseblocksarewoodenor
dimensions,inbasestwo,
plasticblocksthatcanbeusedtodemonstrateoperationsin
four,five,andten.Thereare
differentbases.Forbaseten,acentimetercubecanbeusedto
twopagesforbasefive.They
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.37
canbeprintedoncardstock
forstudentstocutoutand
use.

Section2.5
discussestheuseof
basestounderstand
placevalue.You
maywanttoassign
ittobereadnow.

representaunitorone;alongblockonecentimeterbyonecentimeterby
tencentimeters(oftenmarkedinones)wouldthenrepresentten;tenlongs
togetherformaflatthatisonecmbytencmbytencmandthatrepresents
onehundred,tenflatsformatencmbytencmbytencmcubethat
representsthousands.Ifthelongisusedfortheunit,thenthesmallcube
wouldrepresentonetenth,theflatwouldrepresentten,andsoon.The
multibaseblockscanbeusedtostrengthenplacevalueunderstanding.

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE2.3B.on
MultibaseBlocks.

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE2.3Cforagame
thatcanbeusedto
assessplacevalue
understanding.

Ifthemultibaseblocksarenotavailable,thentheycaneasilybesketched
asshownbelow:

Thematerialsareoftencalledsmallcube,long,flat,bigcube.Anysize
ofthemultibaseblockscanbeusedtorepresentoneunit.Familiarize
yourselfwiththemultibaseblocksbydoingthissection'sLearning
Exercisesandmakingupmoreproblemsuntilyoufeelyouarefamiliar
withtheblocksandtheirrelationships.

Example5
Thesketchbelowrepresentsnumberswithbaseslargerthanfive
becausetherearefiveflats.Ifthelittlecuberepresentstheunitone,
thenumberhereis520foranybaselargerthanfive.Ifthelong
representsone,thenthenumberrepresentedhereis52inanybase
largerthanfive.Iftheflatrepresentsone,thenthenumber
representedhereis5.2inanybaselargerthanfive.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.38

Discussion5RepresentingNumberswithMultibaseDrawings
1.Hereisarepresentationofanumber:
Whichbasescouldusethisrepresentationifitisinthefinal
form,withnomoretradespossible?Why?Whataresome
possiblenumbersthatcanberepresentedbythisdrawing?
2.Inbaseeight,howmanysmallcubesareinalong?Howmany
inaflat?Howmanyinalargecube?Howmanylongsinaflat?
Howmanyflatsinalargecube?Answerthesamequestionsfor
baseten;forbasetwo.
Onecanalsorepresentdecimalnumberswithbasetenblocksordrawings.
Youmustfirstdecidewhichblockrepresentstheunit.Iftheunitisthe
long,thenthesmallblockisonetenth,theflatisten,andthelargeblock
is100.Thus2.3inbasetencouldberepresentedas:

Discussion 5.
Possible answers include-In base ten: If the flat is one
unit then the number
represented is 2.52. If the long
is the unit, then the number
represented is 25.2
In base six: If the small cube is
one unit then the number
represented is 252six. If the
long is the unit, then the
number represented is 25.2six.
This drawing cannot represent
a number in a base less than
six.

Activity4RepresentingNumberswithMultibaseBlocks
Fortheseproblems,useyourcutoutblocks(fromtheappendix)oruse
drawingssuchasshownabove.Notethatthedrawingsdonotshow
themarkingsofthebasethatappearsinthepictureoftheblocks,and
thusdonotclearlyindicatethebaseinthewaythatmultibaseblocks
do.
1.Represent2.3inbasetenusingthelongasoneunit.Represent2.3
usinganothersizeofblockastheunit.Compareyour
representationwithaneighbor.
2.Usethebasefiveblockstorepresent2.41fiveintwodifferentways.
Besuretoindicatewhichpiecerepresentstheunitineachcase.
TakeAwayMessageWecouldjustaseasilyhavebasedournumbersystemon
somethingotherthanten,buttenisanaturalnumbertousebecausewehaveten
fingers.Byworkinginbasesotherthanten,youhaveprobablygainedanew
perspectiveonthestructureandcomplexityofourplacevaluesystem,particularly
LE2.3:
theimportanceofthevalueofeachplace.Thisunderstandingunderliesallofthe
Studentsdonothave
answersfortheseproceduresweuseincalculatingwithnumbersinbaseten.Asteachers,youwill
needthisknowledgetohelpstudentsunderstandcomputationalprocedures.
exercises:3c,d,e,f,g;
5c,6d,e,f,7,8,9d,e,f,
Learning Exercises for Section 2.3
10,13b,14b,15c,d,e,16f,
g,h,17e,18c,d,e,f,21.
1. Ifyouhaveaccesstotheinternet,gotohttp://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/

andfindVirtualLibrary,thenNumbersandOperations,then35,then

Besuretoassign5,7,and
toBaseBlocks.Youcannotchoosenumberstorepresent,butyoucan
13.

setthebaseandyoucansetthenumberofdecimalpoints.Practice
Exercise1willprovide
doingthiswiththefollowing:
excellentpracticewith
a.wholenumbersinbaseten,
bases,butstudentsmust
haveaccesstotheinternet
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.39
forthisexercise.

Preparing for Activity 4.

Have your students bring to
class the cutouts of base
materials in the appendix.
The markings on them assist
the student in understanding
this activity better than the
drawings.

LearningExercisesfor
2.3:
Studentsdonothave
answersforthese
exercises:3c,d,e,f,g;
5c,6d,e,f,7,8,9d,e,f,
10,13b,14b,15c,d,e,16f,
g,h,17e,18c,d,e,f,21.
Besuretoassign5,7,and
13.
Exercise1willprovide
excellentpracticewith
bases,butstudentsmust
haveaccesstotheinternet
forthisexercise.

b.decimalnumbersinbaseten,
c.wholenumbersinbasefive,
d.basimalnumbersinbasefive.
2. Writeten(thismany:)ineachgivensystem.
a.basefour

b.basefive

c.baseeight

3. Writeeachofthese.
InExercise3,we
continue(from
Exercises1)theuse
oftheterm
basimals,thebaseb
analoguetodecimals
inbaseten.Theterm
isagainusedin
Exercise13.

a.fourinbasefour

b.eightinbaseeight

c.twentyinbasetwenty

d.binbaseb

e.b2inbaseb

f.b3+b2inbaseb

g.29teninbasethree

h.115teninbasefive

i.69ten,inbasetwo

j.1728ten,inbasetwelve

4. Writethenumeralsforcountinginbasetwo,fromonethroughtwenty.
5. Howdoyouknowthatthereisanerrorineachstatement?
a.ten=24threeb.fiftysix=107seven
c.thirteenandthreefourths=25.3four
6. Writeeachoftheseasabasetennumeralwiththeusualbaseten
words.Forexample,111two=(122)+(12)+(11)=7tenand
31.2four=(34)+(11)+ 24 =12+1+ 105 =13.5,orthirteenand
fivetenths.
a.37twelve

b.37nine

c.207.0024ten

d.1000two

e.1,000,000two

f.221.2three

7. Foragivennumber,whichbasetwoortwelvewillusuallyhavea
numeralwithmoredigits?Whataretheexceptions?
8. Inwhatbaseswould4025bbealegitimatenumeral?
9. Comparethesepairsofnumbersbyplacing<or>or=ineachbox.
a.34five34six

b.4five4six

d.100five18nine e.111two7ten

c.43five25six
f.23six23five

10.Ononeofyourspacevoyages,youuncoveranaliendocumentin
whichsomeone,two,...countingisdone:obi,fin,mus,obina,obi
obi,obifin,obimus.Whatbasedoesthisaliencivilizationapparently
use?Continuecountingthroughtwentyinthatsystem.
11.Hintsoftheinfluenceofotherbasesremaininsomelanguages.What
basecouldhaveledtoeachofthese?
a. Frenchforeightyisquatrevingt.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.40

b. TheGettysburgAddress,Fourscoreandsevenyearsago...
c. Agrossisadozendozen.
d. Aminutehas60seconds,andanhourhas60minutes.
12.Whatdoes34.2fivemean?Whatisthisnumberwritteninbaseten?
13.Ineachnumber,writethebasimalplacevaluesandthentheusual
basetenfractionormixednumber.
Example:10.111two=(2+0+ 12 + 14 + 18 )ten=2 78 (Recall:4=22
and8=23.)
a.21.23four

b.34.3twelve

14.Writeeachoftheseinbasimalnotation.
Example:threefourthsinbaseteniswhatinbasetwo?
( 43 )ten=( 12 + 14 )ten=0.11two
a.onefourth,inbasetwelve

b.threefourths,inbasetwelve

c.onefourth,inbaseeight
15.Givethebasetennumeralforeachgivennumber.
a.101010two

b.912twelve

d.41.5eight

e.1341five

c.425six

16.Writethismanyineachgivenbase.(Note
thatthereare12tendiamonds.)
a.nineb.eightc.sevend.sixe.fivef.fourg.threeh.two
17.Write100tenineachgivenbase.
a. seven

b. five

c. eleven

d. two

e. thirty-one

18.Completewiththeproperdigits.
a. 57ten = ____five

b. 86nine = _____ ten

c. 312four = ______ ten d. 237ten = ____eight

e. 2101three = _____ ten f. 0.111two = ______ ten
19.Represent34inbaseten,withthesmallblockastheunit;withthe
longastheunit.
20.a.Represent234fivewiththesmallcubeastheunit.(Noticethat234
doesnotmeantwohundredthirtyfourhere.)
b.Represent234sixwiththesmallcubeastheunit.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.41

Weusetheword
basimalinplaceof
decimalinproblems
withfractionalparts
becausedecirefersto
thenumber10.Thus
basimalcanreferto
anybase.

(Ifyouhaveonlybasetenblocksavailable,thensketchdrawingsfor
theseexercises.)
21.Inbasesix,5413is_________ones,is_________sixes,is
_________six2s;is__________six3s.
22.Represent2.34inbasetenwiththeflatastheunit.
23.Decideonarepresentationwithbasetenblocksforeachnumber.
a.3542

b.0.741

c.11.11

24.Represent5.4and5.21withbasetenblocks,usingthesameblockas
theunit.(Whatwillyouusetorepresentone?)Manyschoolchildren
saythat5.21islargerthan5.4because21islargerthan4.Howwould
youtrytocorrectthiserrorusingbasetenblocks?
25.Someonesaid,Anumbercanbewritteninmanyways.Explainthat
statement.

2.4OperationsinDifferentBases

Algorithms: Some
students may not know
what algorithm means:
A step-by-step procedure
for solving a problem in a
finite number of steps.
Both procedures used here
are algorithms: The first is
the standard algorithm, the
second is an expanded
algorithm that more
clearly indicates the
reasoning, and which can
eventually lead to
understanding the standard
algorithm.

Justaswecanadd,subtract,multiply,anddivideinbaseten,socanwe
performthesearithmeticoperationsinotherbases.Thestandardalgorithm
foraddition,depictedfirstbelow,iscommonlyusedandisprobably
knowntoallofyou.Theexpandedalgorithmsmaketheprocesseseasier
tounderstand.Onceitiswellunderstood,anexpandedalgorithmiseasily
adaptedtobecomethestandardalgorithm.Notallstandardalgorithmsin
thiscountryareusedinothercountries,sothewordstandardisa
relativeone.
Inbasetenwecouldadd256and475inthesetwoways,asshownhere.
(Thereareotherways,ofcourse.)Thefirstwayiscalledanexpanded
algorithm,andthesecond,calledthestandardalgorithm,isprobablythe
oneyouweretaught.
11
256
256
+ 475
+475
731
11 (thinking 6 + 5)
120 (thinking 50 + 70)
600 (thinking 200 + 400)
731
Theexpandedalgorithmisnowbeingtaughtinsomeschoolsasa
preparationforthestandardalgorithm.Notehowplacevalueisattended
tointheexpandedalgorithm:addtheones6+5,thenaddthetens50+
70,thenaddthehundreds,200+400,thenaddtheresultingsums,11+
120+500.Inthestandardalgorithm,eachcolumnistreatedthesame:6
+5inthecolumnontheright,5+7+1inthemiddlecolumn,and2+4
+1inthecolumntotheleft.Althoughthestandardalgorithmleadstothe
correctanswer,studentsfrequentlydonotknowwhyeachstepistaken.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.42

Butwhentheexpandedalgorithmisunderstood,itcanbecondensedinto
thestandardalgorithmasshownabove.
Wecanalsouseeithermethodforaddinginotherbases,buttheexpanded
algorithmissometimeseasiertofollowuntiladdinginanotherbaseis
wellunderstood.
Example6Hereisanexampleusingboththestandardandexpanded
algorithmstoaddthesametwonumbersinbasetenandbaseeight.
Makesureyoucanunderstandeachwayineachgivenbase.
1

351ten
+250ten
601ten

351ten
+250ten
1ten thinking (1 + 0)
100ten thinking (50 + 50)
500ten thinking (300 + 200)
601tenthinking(1+100+500)

351eight
+250eight
621eight

351eight
+ 250eight
1eight thinking (1 + 0)eight
120eight thinking (50 + 50)eight
500eight thinking (300 + 200)eight
621eightthinking(1+20+100+500)eight

Activity5AddinginBaseFour
Addthesetwonumbersinbasefourinbothexpandedandstandard
algorithms:311fourand231four.(Drawingsofbasefourpiecesmay
behelpful.)
Ifwecanaddindifferentbases,weshouldbeabletosubtractindifferent
bases.Hereisanexampleofhowtodothis.
Example7
Find321five132five.
Onewaytothinkaboutthisproblemistoregroupinbasefivejust
aswedoinbaseten,thenusethestandardwayofsubtractingin
baseten.
Solution:

321
- 132

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.43

Activity:Adding...
Answer:1202four.

Step1:Wecannotremove2onesfrom1one,soweneedtotake
oneofthefivesfrom321fiveandtradeitforfiveones:
321five300five+20five+1five300five+10five+11five
Step2:Wecannowtake2onesfrom11ones(inbasefive)
leaving4ones.(Noticehow321haschangedwith3five
squared,then1five,then11ones,fromStep1.)

3 2 11five means 3 (five squared) + 1 five + 11 ones as in Step 1.

-1 3 2five
4five
Step3:Inthefivesplace:Wecannotsubtract3fivesfrom1five,
sowemustchangeonefivesquaredtofivesetsoffive.
This,togetherwiththeonefivealreadyinplace,givesus
11fives(orsixfives).
Thatis:300five+10five200five+110five,so
2 11

3 2 11five
1 3 2five
1 3 4five

is 1 five134five.

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE2.4Aforan
exampleofhowto
subtractusingblocks:
12465inbaseten.

means 11 fives, not 11 ones, so the 11 stands for 110

and 11 fives minus 3 fives is 3 fives, or 110 30 is 30)

We now have 2 (five squared) from which 1 (five squared)

is subtracted, leaving 1 (five squared). The answer
squared plus 3 fives plus 4 ones which is

Activity6SubtractinginBaseFour
Subtract231fourfrom311fourinbasefour.
Subtractinginbasefourissimilartoaddinginbasefour.However,for
bothoperationswecanusebasematerialstohelpvisualizeaddingand
subtractinginotherbases.Wewilldothatnext.Youcancutoutanduse
materialsfromanappendixonbases.Asyouusethebasematerials,notice
howtheysupportthesymbolicworkyoudidearlierinthissection.
Example8Supposewewanttoadd231fourand311fourusingbase
fourblocks,usingthesmallblockastheunit.Wecouldfirst
expresstheproblemas

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.44

Wehavetoomanylongs(inbasefour),sotradefourlongsfora
flat.Nowwehavetoomanyflats(eachrepresentingfoursquared).
Tradefourflatsforalargecube(whichrepresentsfourcubed).
The answer is here represented:
1202four. The blocks represent one
four cubed, two four squared, and
two ones.

Example9

Supposewewanttosubtract23fourfrom3four.Thistimeletususe
thelongastheunit.32fourisrepresented:

Icannotremove3longs(ones)untilIchangeaflattofourlongs
(whichmeanschangeonefourintofourones).
Remove two flats; three longs

Totakeaway23fourwemustremovethreelongs(threeones),and
2flats(2fours),andweareleftwith3fourasthedifference.
ThinkAboutIfwehadusedthesmallblockastheunitintheabove
subtractionexample,wouldthenumericalanswerbedifferent?Tryit.

Activity7SubtractinginBaseFour
Onceagain,subtract231fourfrom311fourinbasefour,thistimeusing
drawings.
Wecanalsomultiplyanddivideindifferentbases.However,theintent
hereistointroduceyoutodifferentbasessothatyouhaveabetter
understandingofourownbasetensystem,andthatyouunderstandwhy
childrenneedtimetolearntooperateinbaseten.Thusthereareno
examplesorexercisesprovidedhereformultiplicationanddivisionin
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.45

differentbases,althoughitiscertainlypossibletocarryoutthese
operations.

LE2.4:Studentsdonot
haveanswersfor:3c,d.
4c,d;7c;8d.
Again,#3provides
excellentpracticewith
basesandshouldbe
assignedifstudentshave
accesstotheinternet.
Blockdrawingsarenot
providedintheanswers
exceptfor4a.

TakeAwayMessageArithmeticoperationsinotherbasesareundertakeninthe
samewayasinbaseten.However,becausewehavelessfamiliaritywithotherbases,
arithmeticoperationsinthosebasestakeuslongerthanoperationsinbaseten.For
childrennotyetentirelyfamiliarwithbaseten,timeneededtocompletearithmetic
operationstakeslongerthanitdoesforus.

Learning Exercises for Section 2.4

1. Add1111threeand2102threewithoutdrawingsandthenwithdrawings
inthewaysillustratedabove.Whichwaydidyoufinditeasier?
2. Dotheseexercisesinthedesignatedbases,usingthecardboardcutouts
inanappendix,orwithdrawings.
a.341five

b.101two

c.321four

d.296ten

+220five

+110two

123four

28ten

3.Gotohttp://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/ontheinternetandfindVirtual
Library,thenNumbersandOperations,then35.GotoBaseBlocks
Decimals.Youcannotchoosenumberstoaddandsubtract,butyoucan
setthebaseandyoucansetthenumberofdecimalpoints.Dothe
following:
a.Practiceaddingandsubtractingnumbersinbasetenusingwhole
numbers.
b.Practiceaddingandsubtractingnumbersusingonedecimalplace.
c.Practiceaddingandsubtractingnumbersinbasefourusingwhole
numbers.
d.Practiceaddingandsubtractingnumbersinbasefourusingone
decimalplace.
4. Addthefollowingintheappropriatebases,withoutblocksunlessyou
needthem.
a.2431fiveb.351nine

c.643seven

d.99eleven

+223five

+134seven

+88eleven

+250nine

5. Subtractindifferentbases,withoutblocksunlessyouneedthem.
a.351nine

b.643seven

c.2431five

d.772eleven

250nine

134seven

223five

249eleven

6. Doyouthinkmultiplyinganddividingindifferentbaseswouldbe
difficult?Whyorwhynot?

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.46

7. Usethecutoutsfromtheappendixforthedifferentbasestoactoutthe
following.Asyouacteachout,recordwhatwouldtakeplaceinthe
correspondingnumericalwork.
a.232four
13four
113four

b. 232five
13 five
+ 113 five

c. 232eight
13 eight
+113 eight

d. 101two
11 two
+111 two

8. Usethecutoutsfromanappendixforthedifferentbasestoactoutthe
following.Asyouacteachout,recordwhatwouldtakeplaceinthe
correspondingnumericalwork.
a. 200four b. 200five
13four 13five

c. 200eight
13eight

d. 100two
11two

9. Describehowcutoutsforbasesixwouldlook.Forbasetwelve.

2.5IssuesforLearning:UnderstandingPlaceValue
Thenotionthattenonesandonetengivethesamenumberisvitalto
understandingtheusualnumerationsystem,asarethelaterrethinkingof
tentensasonehundred,tenhundredsasonethousand,etc.Understanding
placevalueisconsideredtobefoundationaltoelementaryschool
mathematics.

Thesenotesreflecta
greatdealofresearchon
theimportanttopicof
placevalue.

Butbasetenforchildrenmightbeasmysteriousasbasebmayhavebeen
foryou.(Admittedly,yourextensiveexperiencewithbasetenalsogetsin
theway!)Byworkingwithotherbases,youhavehadtheopportunityto
explorewhatitmeanstohaveaplacevaluesystemwhereeachdigithasa
particularmeaning,andthuscometoabetterunderstandingofourbase
tensystemofwritingnumbersandcalculatingwithnumbers.
Oneactivitycenteredprimaryprogramincorporatesmanyactivities
involvinggroupingbytwos,bythrees,andsoon,evenbeforeextensive
workwithbasetengroupings,toaccustomthechildrentocountingnot
justoneobjectatatime,butgroupseachmadeupofseveralobjects.
Ungroupingneedstobeincludedalso.Thatis,132couldberegardedas
oneonehundred,threetens,and2ones.Or,itcouldberegardedasone
onehundredand32ones.Here,the3tensareunbundledtomake30
ones.Regardingagroupmadeupofseveralobjectsasonethingisa
majorstepthatneedsinstructionalattention.
Themannerinwhichwevocalizenumberscansometimescauseproblems
forstudents.Forexample,someyoungU.S.childrenwillwrite81for
eighteen,whereasscarcelyanyHispanicchildren(diezyocho=eighteen)
orJapanesechildren(juhachi=eighteen)doso.(Somewishfullythink
weshouldsayonetyeightforeighteeninEnglish.)Whatothernumbers
cancausethesamesortofproblemthateighteendoes?

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.47

Theteennumbers:The
wordsforourteen
numbersaresomewhat
backwardandputsour
studentsatadisadvantage
comparedtostudentsin
cultureswherethemannerin
whichtheteensarespoken
expressesthetennessfirst
(e.g.,Spanish:16=diezy
seis,17=diezysiete,18=
diezyocho,19=diezy
nueve[thefirstfewteensare
irregularinSpanish:once
(11),doce,trece,catorce,
quince];Japaneseis
completelyregular:juichi,
juni,jusan,jushi,etc.).

Placevalueinstructioninschoolsisoftensuperficialandlimitedto
studyingonlytheplacementofdigits.Thus,childrenaretaughtthatthe7
in7200isinthethousandsplace,the2isinthehundredsplace,a0isin
thetensplace,anda0isintheonesplace.Butwhenaskedhowmany
hundreddollarbillscouldbeobtainedfromabankaccountwith$7200in
it,orhowmanyboxesoftengolfballscouldbepackedfromacontainer
with7200balls,childrenalmostalwaysdolongdivision,dividingby100
orby10.Theydonotreadthenumberas7200ones,or720tens,or72
hundreds,andcertainlynotas7.2thousands.Butwhynot?Theseareall
namesforthesamenumber,andtheabilitytorenameinthiswayprovides
agreatdealofflexibilityandinsightwhenworkingwiththenumber.(Itis
interestingthatwelaterexpectstudentstounderstandnewspaperfigures
suchas$3.2billion.Whatdoes.2billionmeanhere?)
Overtheyearsmanydifferentmethodshavebeenusedtoteachplace
value.Anabacuswithninebeadsoneachstringisonetypeofdeviceused
torepresentplacevalue.TheBaseTenBlockspicturedinSection2.3
havebeenextensivelyusedtointroduceplacevalueandoperationson
wholenumbersanddecimalnumbers.Oneproblemwiththese
representations,however,isthatstudentsdonotalwaysmakethe
connectionsbetweenwhatisshownwiththemanipulativedevicesand
whattheywriteonpaper.
Ourplacevaluesystemofnumerationextendstonumberslessthan1also.
Thenamingofdecimalnumbersneedsspecialattention.Theplacevalue
namefor0.642issixhundredfortytwothousandths.Comparethisto
reading642,wherewesimplysaysixhundredfortytwo,not642ones.
Thisisasourceofconfusionthatiscompoundedbytheuseofthetenths
orhundredthswithdecimalnumbers,theuseoftenorhundredwithwhole
numbers,andtheadditionaldigitsinthewholenumberwithasimilar
name.Thenumber0.642isread642thousandths,meaning642
thousandthsofone,while642,000isread642thousand,meaning642
thousandones.Thattensandtenths,hundredsandhundredths,etc.,sound
somuchalikenodoubtcausessomechildrentolosesensemakingwhenit
comestodecimals.Someteachersresorttoadigitbydigitpronunciation
twopointonefivefor2.15butthatremovesanysenseforthe
number;itjustdescribesthenumeral.Plantogiveanartificialemphasisto
thethsoundwhenyouarediscussingdecimalswithchildren.(Youcan
alsosaydecimalnumeraltwoandthreetenthsandmixednumeraltwo
andthreetenthstodistinguish2.3and2 103 .)
Tocompare0.45and0.6,studentsareoftentoldtoaddazerosothe
numbersarethesamesize.(Tryfiguringoutwhatthismightmeantoa
studentwhodoesnotunderstanddecimalnumbersinthefirstplace!)The
strategyworks,inthesensethatthestudentcanthen(usually)choosethe
largernumber,butsinceitrequiresnoknowledgeofthesizeofthe
decimalnumbers,itdoesnotdevelopunderstandingofnumbersize.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.48

Insteadofannexingzeros,couldn'tweexpectstudentstorecognizethat
sixtenthsismorethanfortyfivehundredthsbecause45hundredthshas
only4tenthsandwhatisleftislessthananothertenth?Butforstudentsto
dothisnaturally,theymusthavebeenprovidedwithnumerous
opportunitiestoexploreandthinkaboutplacevalue.Comparingand
operatingondecimals,ifpresentedinanonruleorientedfashion,can
providetheseopportunities.Ifteacherspostponeworkwithoperationson
decimalsuntilstudentsconceptuallyunderstandthesenumbers,students
willbemuchmoresuccessfulthanifteachersattempttoteach
computationtooearly.Someresearchersiiihaveshownthatoncestudents
havelearnedroterulesforcalculatingwithdecimals,itisextremely
difficultforthemtorelearnhowtocalculatewithdecimalsmeaningfully.

2.6CheckYourself
Inthischapteryouhaveexploredthewaysweexpressnumbers.
Historically,manynumerationsystemswereusedtoexpressnumbersin
differentways.Aplacevaluenumerationsystemsuchasthemodernworld
nowusesprovidesafarmoreefficientwaytoexpressnumbersthanancient
systems,suchastheRomannumeralsystem.Ouruseofbasetenis
probablyduetothefactthatwehavetenfingers.Otherbasescouldbe
used.Becausewearesofamiliarwithbaseten,however,workingwith
otherbasesisusefulinappreciatingthedifficultieschildrenhavein
learningtousebaseten,particularlywhenlearningtooperatewith
numbersinbaseten.
Understandingplacevalueanditsroleintheelementaryschool
mathematicscurriculumiscrucial.Toomanyteachersthinkthatteaching
placevalueissimplyamatterofnotingwhichdigitisintheonesplace,
whichisinthetensplace,etc.Butitisonlywhenstudentshaveadeep
understandingofplacevaluethattheycanmakesenseofnumberslarger
than10andsmallerthan1,andunderstandhowtooperateonthese
numbers.Mostarithmeticerrors(beyondcarelesserrors)areduetoalack
ofunderstandingofplacevalue.Unfortunately,thealgorithmsweteach
usuallytreatdigitsincolumnswithoutattendingtotheirvalues,and
studentswholearnthesealgorithmswithoutunderstandingtheplacevalue
ofeachdigitarefarmorelikelytomakecomputationalerrors.
Youshouldbeabletoworkproblemslikethoseassignedandtomeetthe
followingobjectives.
1. Discusstheadvantagesofaplacevaluesystemoverotherancient
numerationsystems.
2. Explainhowtheplacementofdigitsdeterminesthevalueofa
numberinbaseten,onbothsidesofthedecimalpoint.
3. Explainhowtheplacementofdigitsdeterminesthevalueofa
numberinanybase,suchasbasefiveorbasetwelveandanswer
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.49

Thequestionsand
problemsgivenhere
representthekeyitems
inthischapter.Ifyoudo
notcoverallsections,
thequestionsmayneed
tobemodified.

questionssuchas:Whatdoes346.3meaninbasetwelve?Convert
thatnumbertobaseten.
4. Givenaparticularbase,writenumbersinthatsystembeginningwith
one.
5. Makeadrawingwithbasematerialsthatdemonstratesaparticular
additionorsubtractionproblem,e.g.,35.7+24.7or35.724.7in
baseten.
6. Writebasetennumbersinanotherbase,suchas9inbasenine,or33
inbasetwo.
7. Addandsubtractindifferentbases.
8. Understandtheroleoftheunit,one,inreadingandunderstanding
decimalnumbers.
9. Discussproblemsthatchildrenwhodonothaveagood
understandingofplacevaluemighthavewhentheydocomputation
problems.

References for Chapter 2

i

Saxe,G.B.(1981).Bodypartsasnumerals:Adevelopmentalanalysisofnumeration
amongtheOksapmininPapauNewGuinea.ChildDevelopment,52,306316.

ii

Sowder,J.T.(1997).Placevalueasthekeytoteachingdecimaloperations.Teaching
ChildrenMathematics,3(8),448453.

iii

Hiebert,J.&Wearne,D.(1986).Proceduresoverconcepts:Theacquisitionofdecimal
numberknowledge.InJ.Hiebert(Ed.),Conceptualandproceduralknowledge:The
caseofmathematics(pp.199223).Hillsdale,NJ:Erlbaum.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter2InstructorsVersionp.50

Chapter 3

Understanding Whole Number Operations

Therearetwomajorideasinterspersedinthischapter.Thefirstisthatan
arithmeticoperationsuchassubtractioncanbemodeledbymanydifferent
situations.Teachersneedtoknowwhatthesesituationsareinorderto
understandandextendchildrensuseoftheoperations.Thesecondisthat
thekindofproceduresthatchildrencandevelopforcomputing,whenthey
havenotyetbeentaughttheusualstandardalgorithms,candemonstratea
deepconceptualunderstandingthatmightbelostifstandardalgorithms
areintroducedtoosoon.Theexamplesofstudentworkgiveninthis
sectionarealltakenfrompublishedresearch,althoughinsomecasesthe
numbershavebeenchanged.Mostoftheexamplesofnonstandard
algorithmscomefromstudentswhohavebeeninclassroomswherethere
isastrongemphasisonbuildingonintuitiveknowledgeandonplace
valueunderstanding.Thestudentsdemonstratethattheyareableto
computewithease.Someoftheexamplesarefromclassroomswherethe
studentshavecalculatorsalwaysavailable.However,theytendnottouse
calculatorsiftheycandothecalculationeasilythemselvesusingpaper
andpenciland/ormentalcomputation.Theuseofcalculatorsintroduced
thesestudentstonewwaysofusingnumbers,including,insomecases,
usingnegativenumberstohelpthemintheircomputation.

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE3FORAN
OVERVIEWOFTHIS
CHAPTER.

Afterthestudyofadditive
combinationsand
comparisons,student
methodsforadditionand
subtractionareexamined.
Thesemethodsareoften
surprisingtoteachers,but
arewellliked.Prospective
andpracticingteachers
haveoftennotseenhow
studentscanoperateon
numberswhentheyhave
beenprovided
opportunitiestocometoa
deepunderstandingof
placevalueandhavenot
beenrequiredtolearn
standardalgorithmsbefore
theyunderstandplace
value.

3.1AdditiveCombinationsandComparisons
Whendoesaproblemsituationcallforadding?Whendoesitcallfor
subtracting?Bothtypesofsituationsareconsideredinthissection.At
times,knowingwhenandwhattoaddorsubtractisnotatalleasy.To
solvemoredifficultproblems,weturnonceagaintoundertaking
quantitativeanalysesofproblems.
Activity1Applefest
Considerthefollowingproblemsituation:

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.51

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE3.1Afor
informationabout
addititivecombinations
andcomparisonsand
foranappropriatae(but
notunique)drawingand
solutionfortheApplefest
activity.

Tom,Fred,andRhodacombinedtheirapplesforafruitstand.Fredand
Rhodatogetherhad97moreapplesthanTom.Rhodahad17apples.
Tomhad25apples.i

Encouragestudentsto
makeadiagram
representingthe
quantitativerelationships,
anddiscusstheresults.
Thediagramshowshow
twolinesegmentsjoined
togethercouldrepresent
TomandRhodasapples
combined.

Performaquantitativeanalysisofthisproblemsituationwiththesefour
steps.
1. Identifyasmanyquantitiesasyoucaninthissituation,including
thoseforwhichyouarenotgivenavalue.Canyoumakea
drawing?
2. Whatdoesthe97standforinthissituation?
3. HowmanyapplesdidFredandRhodahavetogether?Howmany
applesdidallthreeofthemhavecombined?
4. HowmanyapplesdidFredhave?
NoteintheaboveproblemthatwhenFredandRhodacombinedtheir
apples,theyhad97moreapplesthanTom.The97applesdoesnotreferto
FredandRhodascombinedtotal,ratheritreferstothedifferencebetween
theircombinedtotalandTomsnumberofapples.
Considerthefollowingdrawingthatrepresentstheapplefestproblem.
Rhoda17apples

Fred??apples

Tom25applesdifferenceof97apples

Theuseofadditivelyhere
maysoundredundant.
Combiningtwoquantities
isgenerallyunderstoodin
theadditivesensenot
multiplicatively.Laterwe
willdistinguishbetween
additiveandmultiplicative
combinations.
Inthenextsectionwe
describemissingaddend
subtraction,whichmustbe
distinguishedfromcases
whereaddendsareknown
andcanbecombined
throughaddition.

Quantitiesareoftencombinedadditively(puttogether)andthenew
quantityhasthevaluerepresentedbythesumofthevaluesofthe
quantitiesbeingcombined.ThesumofthenumberofRhodasapplesand
thenumberofFredsapplesisthevalueofthenumberofapples
belongingtothetwo.Quantitiescanalsobecomparedadditively.Inthe
applefestproblem,thequantitiesconsistingofthevalueofthequantity
representedbyRhodasandFredscombinedapplesiscomparedtothe
valueofthequantityrepresentedbyTomsapples.

Whenquantitiesarecombinedadditively,theyarejoinedtogether,so
theappropriatearithmeticoperationontheirvaluesisusuallyaddition.
Thisoperationiscalledanadditivecombination.Theresultofan
additivecombinationisasumofthevaluescombined.Anytimewe
comparetwoquantitiestodeterminehowmuchgreaterorlessoneis
thantheother,wemakeanadditivecomparison.Thedifferenceoftwo
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.52

quantitiesisthequantitybywhichoneofthemexceedsorfallsshortof
theother.Theappropriatearithmeticoperationontheirvaluesis
usuallysubtraction.

Thereasonthiscomparisoninthisproblemiscalledadditiveisthattwo
quantitiescanalsobecomparedmultiplicatively.Wewillstudy
multiplicativecomparisonsinalatersection.
Typically,subtractionisthemathematicaloperationusedtofindthe
differencebetweentheknownvaluesoftwoquantities.Wecanthinkof
thedifferenceastheamountthathastobeaddedtothelesserofthetwoto
makeitequalinvaluetothegreaterofthetwo.Thus,ratherthanuse
additive/subtractivecomparisonweusetheshorteradditivecomparison.
Thefollowingdiagramsillustratehowonemightthinkofasituationas
eitheradifferenceoftwoquantitiesorasacombinationoftwoquantities
(evenwhen,inthelattercase,thevalueofoneofthequantitiesbeing
combinedisunknown).
Example1
Julianwantstobuyabicycle.Thebikecosts$143.95.Julianhasa
totalof$83.48incashandsavings.Howmuchmoredoesheneed?

Two ways to conceive the situation

Thedrawingshelpinseeinghowthequantitiesarerelatedinthis
situation.

Althoughtypicallysubtractionistheoperationusedtofindadifference,
thisisnotalwaysthecase.Considerthefollowingexample.

Example2
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.53

Jimis15cmtallerthanSam.Thisdifferenceisfivetimesasgreat
asthedifferencebetweenAbeandSamsheights.Whatisthe
differencebetweenAbeandSamsheight?
Solution:
ThedifferencebetweenAbesandSamsheightsis155cm,or3
cm.
ThinkAbout...WhatwouldthediagramforExample2looklike?

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE3.1B.Itcontains
instructionalinformation
ontheprobleminActivity
2,includingadrawing
representingthesituation.

Studentsmayhavedifficulty
interpretingthestatement,
ThecaptainofTeamBwon
theargumentby8points.
Makesurethatthisisclearly
understood.
Afterstudentshavehada
chancetoworkonthese,
someoneshouldputa
diagramontheboardfor
discussionshowingallofthe
quantitiesandtheir
relationships.Seethe
instructorsnoteabovefor
onepossiblediagram.Itis
goodtosharediagramsthat,
althoughdifferent,describe
thesamerelationship.

Example2illustratesthattheadditivecomparisonoftwoquantitiesdoes
notautomaticallysignalthatonemustsubtract.Howthequantitiesina
situationarerelatedtoeachotherdeterminesthemathematicaloperations
thatmakesense.Understandingthequantitativerelationshipsisessential
tobeingabletoanswerquestionsreliablyinvolvingthevaluesof
quantitiesinthegivensituation.Withoutsuchanunderstandingonehas
norecoursebuttoguesswhatmathematicaloperationsareneeded,aswas
illustratedinthelastchapter.Intheabsenceofrealunderstandingitisthe
unreliabilityoftheguessinggamesthatstudentsoftenplaythatmakes
storyproblemsdifficultformanyofthem.
Activity2ItsJustaGame
Practicedoingaquantitativeanalysistosolvethisproblem:
TeamAplayedabasketballgameagainstOpponentA.TeamBplayeda
basketballgameagainstOpponentB.ThecaptainsofTeamAandTeamB
arguedaboutwhichteambeatitsopponentbymore.TeamBwonby8more
pointsthanTeamAwonby.TeamAscored79points.OpponentAscored48
points.TeamBscored73points.HowmanypointsdidOpponentBscore?

1. Whatquantitiesareinvolvedinthisproblem?(Hint:thereare
morethanfour.)
2. Whatdoesthe8pointsreferto?
3. Thereareseveraldifferences(resultsofadditivecomparisons)in
thissituation.Sketchadiagramtoshowtherelevantdifferencesin
theproblem.
4. Solvetheproblem.
5. Whatarithmeticoperationsdidyouusetosolvetheproblem?
6. Formanystudentsthisisadifficultproblem.Whydoyousuppose
thisisthecase?Isthecomputationdifficult?Whatisdifficult
aboutthisproblem?
7. Supposeyouaretheteacherinafifthgradeclass.Doyouthink
tellingyourstudentsthatalltheyneedtosolvethisproblemis
subtractionandaddition,willhelpthemsolveit?Explain.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.54

TakeAwayMessageTheproblemsundertakeninthissectioninvolvedadditive
combinations(whichcanbeexpressedwithanadditionequation)andadditive
comparisons(whichcanbeexpressedwithasubtractionequation).Whatmakes
theseproblemsdifficultisthecomplexityofthequantitativestructuresofthe
problems,notthearithmetic.Theproblemsinvolveonlyadditionandsubtraction.
Understandingthequantitativerelationshipsinaproblemiswhatscrucial.Once
again,theseproblemsillustratehowundertakingaquantitativeanalysisbylisting
quantitiesandusingdiagramstoexploretherelationshipsofthequantitiescanhelp
oneunderstandacomplexproblemsituation.

Learning Exercises for Section 3.1

Todevelopskillinanalyzingthequantitativestructureofsituations,work
thefollowingtasksbyfirstidentifyingthequantitiesandtheir
relationshipsineachsituation.Feelfreetodrawdiagramstorepresentthe
relationshipsbetweenrelevantquantities.
1. a.BobistallerthanLaura.SupposeyouweretoldBobsheightand
Laurasheight.Howwouldyoucalculatethedifference
betweentheirheights?

LE3.1.Studentsdonothave
answersfor1,2,and5b,d.
Theyhaveacomplete
solutionfor9andanswers
onlyfor6and10.Youmay
wantthemtoshowhowthey
arriveattheanswersfor6
and10.

b. BobistallerthanLaura.Supposeyouweretoldthedifference
betweenBobsheightandLaurasheight.Supposeyouwerealso
toldLaurasheight.HowwouldyoucalculateBobsheight?

SEEINSTRUCTORNOTE
3.1Caboutadvicetogive
studentsaboutthese
exercises.

2. Kellysmomtimedherassheswama3lapracein1minute43
seconds.HerswimmingcoachtimedKellyonlyonherlasttwolaps.
DescribehowKellymightcalculatehowlongittookhertoswimthe
firstlapusingtheinformationfromhermomandthecoach.
3. MetcalfSchoolhastwothirdgraderooms(AandB)andtwofourth
graderooms(CandD).Together,roomsCandDhave46students.
RoomAhas6morestudentsthanroomD.RoomBhas2fewer
studentsthanroomC.RoomDhas22students.Howmanystudentsare
therealtogetherinroomsAandB?
4. InExercise3,whatquantitiesarecombined?Whichquantitiesare
compared?
5.FollowingaretwovariationsoftheactivityItsJustaGame,from
thelastActivity,butthecaptainofTeamBstillwinstheargumentby8
pointsineachcase.
a.Variation#1:TeamAscored79points.OpponentAscored53
points.FillintheblankswithscoresforTeamBandOpponent
Bsothatthespecifiedconditionsaremet.
TeamB______OpponentB______
b.Variation#2:TeamBscored75points.OpponentBscored69
points.GivepossiblescoresforTeamAandOpponentAsothat
thespecifiedconditionsaremet.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.55

Dontbeshyaboutassigning
theseproblems.Theyprovide
valuablepracticeinthekindof
reasoningthatwewant
studentstodevelopand
becomeadeptatusing.Unless
theypracticethistypeof
reasoningitisunlikelythat
theywillbecomegoodatit.
Assigningalloftheproblems
isnotabadidea,butyoumay
wishtospaceoutthe
assignment.Havethemwork
onsomeproblemsinclass(in
pairsorsmallgroups)and
othersathome.
Besuretoassign11,which
providesthetypeofpractice
necessarytodevelopeffective
quantitativereasoning.You
maywanttohavestudents
undertake11togetherwith
previousexercises.

TeamA_____OpponentA_____
c.CompareyourresponsetoVariation#1withthoseofclassmates.
Aretheycorrect?Howmanypossibleresponsesarethere?
d.WhatdidyoufindoutafterthinkingthroughVariation#2?State
yourconclusionandexplainwhyitisthecase.
6. ConnieboughtseveraltypesofcandyforHalloween:MilkyWays,
TootsieRolls,ReesesCups,andHersheyBars.MilkyWaysand
TootsieRollstogetherwere15morethantheReesesCups.There
were4fewerReesesCupsthanHersheyBars.Therewere12Milky
Waysand14HersheyBars.HowmanyTootsieRollsdidConniebuy?
7.a.OnedayAnnieweighed24ouncesmorethanBenjie,andBenjie
weighed3 14 poundslessthanCarmen.HowdidAnnie'sand
Carmen'sweightscompareonthatday?
b.Whycan'tyoutellhowmucheachpersonweighed?
8. Youhavetworecipeswhichtogetheruseapoundofbutter.Onerecipe
takes 14 poundmorethantheotherone.Howmuchbutterdoeseach
recipeuse?
9. Ahospitalneedsasupplyofanexpensivemedicine.CompanyAhas
themost,1.3milligrams,whichistwicethedifferencebetweenthe
weightofCompanyB'ssupplyandCompanyC's,and0.9mgmore
thanCompanyC'ssupply.Howmanymilligramscanthehospitalget
fromthesethreecompanies?

SEEAPPENDIXBonusing
thevideoclipStrategies(of
firstgraders),ontheIMAP
CD.
Onepossiblewaytohandle
thissectionistoassignitfor
readingandhavestudents
writeapageortworeflecting
onthesignificanceithasfor
teaching.Classdiscussionsare
alsoagoodwayforstudentsto
shareideasaboutthepossible
implicationsforteaching.One
suchimplicationthatis
importanttobringupisthat
teachersneedtoreallylistento
theirstudentsiftheywantto
understandhowtheirstudents
aremakingsenseof
mathematics.
SEEINSTRUCTORNOTE
3.2Aonwhatshouldbein
contentcoursesversus
methodscourses.

10.Acityspentabout 14 ofitsbudgetonbuildingsandmaintenance,
whichwasabout 18 ofthetotalbudgetlessthanitspenton
administrativepersonnel.Theamountspentonadministrative
personnelwasabout 18 ofthebudgetmorethanwasspentonpublic
safety.Aboutwhatpartofthebudgetwasleftforotherexpenses?
11.Alloftheproblemsinthepreviousexercisesinvolvethequantitative
operationsofcombiningandcomparingquantities.Choosetwoofthem
andforeachstateoneadditivecombinationoroneadditivecomparison
thatisinvolved.

3.2WaysofThinkingAboutAdditionandSubtraction
Althoughtheideaofcombiningtwoormorequantitiesadditivelyseems
quitesimple,situationsinvolvingadditivecombinationscanvaryin
difficultyforyoungchildren.Situationsinvolvingsubtractionarequite
varied,andwhenonlyonetypeofsituationistaught(forexample,take
away),childrencanhavedifficultywithothersituations(forexample,
comparing)thatalsocallforsubtraction.Inthischapterweconsidertwo
typesofsituationscallingforadditionandthreecallingforsubtraction.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.56

Aproblemsituationthatcallsforadditionoftendescribesonequantity
beingphysically,oractively,putwithanotherquantity,asinExample3.
Example3
Fourgirlswereinthecar.Twomoregotin.Howmanygirlswere
therethen?
Anothertypeofproblemsituationthatcallsforadditioninvolves
conceptually(ratherthanphysicallyorliterally)placingquantities
together,thusleadingtoanotherviewofwhatadditionmeans.
Example4
Only4carsand2truckswereinthelot.Howmanyvehicleswere
therealtogether?
Eventhoughbothproblemsinvolvetheadditivecombinationoftwo
quantities,andtheybothcallforthemathematicaloperationofaddition,
manyresearchstudieshaveshownthatthesecondproblemismore
difficultforyoungchildren.Theymaynotyetunderstandconcept
relationsascarsandtrucksaresimplytwodifferentkindsofvehicles.
Additioncandescribesituationsthatinvolveanadditivecombination
ofquantities,eitherliterally(asinthefirstexample)orconceptually
(asinthesecondexample).Numbersaddedtogetherarecalled
addends.Thenumberthatistheresultofanadditioniscalledthesum.
IneitheroftheproblemsgiveninExamples3and4,thenumbersbeing
added(2and4)areaddends,andtheresultiscalledthesum(6).
Animportantdistinctioncallingforawarenessbytheteachersisthis:The
calculationonedoestosolveaproblemmaybedifferentfromthat
suggestedbytheactiondescribedintheproblemorbytheproblems
underlyingstructure.Thefollowingillustratesthisimportantpoint.
Example5
Josieneedstomake15tacosforlunch.Shehasmade7already.
Howmanymoretacosdoesshehavetomake?
Youwouldprobablyregardthisasasubtractionproblem,becauseonecan
calculatethesolutionfromthenumbersentence157=n.Yet,when
youngchildrenhavesolvedsimilarproblems,perhapswiththeaidof
concretematerials,theyoftencountout7blocks,andthenputout
additionalblocks,oneatatime,untiltheyhave15.Theiractionsarea
reenactmentoftheproblemsstory.Theactionoftheproblemsuggests
additionofanunknownnumberoftacostothe7tacos,togiveatotalof
15.Mathematicallythisproblemcanalsobedescribedbythesentence
7+n=15,wherethesumandoneaddendareknown,buttheother
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.57

addendismissing.Ifthenumberswerelarger,say1678+n=4132,you
wouldprobablywanttosubtracttofindn.Suchmissingaddend(or
missingpart)situations,then,canbesolvedbysubtraction,andmissing
addendstoryproblemsmaybeinasubtractionsectionofanelementary
textbook.Notethepotentialconfusionforstudentsduetothemismatchof
thejoiningactionsuggestingadditionandthecalculationwhichuses
subtraction.Theclassificationofsuchproblemsasmissingaddend
problemsservestopointoutthisconnection.
Aproblemsituationthatcanberepresentedasa+?=biscalleda
missingaddendproblem.Althoughtheactionsuggestsaddition,the
missingvalueisba.Itisthereforeclassifiedasasubtractionproblem.

ThinkAboutWhyisthisproblemamissingaddendproblemcallingfor
subtraction?
Anahastopracticethepianofor15minuteseveryday.Todayshehaspracticed
7minutes.Howmanymoreminutesdoesshehavetopracticetoday?

Inthetypicalelementaryschoolcurriculum,missingaddendsituationsare
notthefirstonesstudentsencounterwhendealingwithsubtraction.
Usuallytakeawaysituationsarethefirstintroducedundersubtraction.In
fact,theminussign()isoftenreadastakeawayinsteadofasminus,
areadingthatcanlimitonesunderstandingofsubtraction.
Contrastthefollowingstoryproblemwiththemissingaddendproblem
givenintheaboveThinkAbout.
Josiemade15tacosforherfriendsatlunch.Theyate7ofthem.Howmany
tacosdidtheystillhave?

ThinkAboutHowdoyousupposechildrenwouldactoutthisstory
problemusingcounters?

Insituationsliketheproblemabove,childrentypicallystartwith15
counters,andthentheytakeawayorseparate7counters.Theremaining
countersstandfortheuneatentacos.Thisenablesthemtoanswerthe
question.Inatakeawaysituation,itisnaturaltocallthequantitythatis
leftafterthetakingawayisdone,theremainder.

Asituationinwhichonequantityisremovedorseparatedfromalarger
quantityiscalledatakeawaysubtractionsituation.Whatisleftof
thelargerquantityiscalledtheremainder.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.58

Asinthecaseofaddition,onecandistinguishbetweentwotypesof
situations:oneinwhichthereisaphysicaltakingaway,andonesinwhich
thereisnotakingawayactionassuch,butthereisamissingpart,given
awhole.
ThinkAbout...Howwouldyouclassifythefollowingproblemsituation?
OfJosie's15tacos,7hadchickenandtheresthadbeef.Howmanyofthetacos
hadbeef?

Becausethediscussionofmissingaddendsisfreshinyourmind,youmay
besayingtoyourself,IthinkIcanseebothofthelasttwotacoproblems
asmissingaddendproblems.

[numberoftacoseaten(7)]+[numberstilltoeat(?)]=totalnumber(15)
[numberofchickentacos(7)]+[numberofbeeftacos(?)]
=totalnumber(15)
Thissimilarityofstructureisonereasonthatsometextbooksemphasize
themissingaddendviewwhendealingwithsubtraction.
Example6
Onecanthinkabout73=?as3+?=7.
Familiaritywith3+4=7enablesonetosee73=4.Somecurricula
buildconsiderablyonthisviewandmayatsomepointteachfamiliesof
facts.Thefamilyof(additionandsubtraction)factsfor3,4,and7would
includeallofthese:3+4=7,4+3=7,73=4,and74=3.Doyou
seewhatmightbesomeadvantagestofamiliesoffacts?
Athirdtypeofsubtractioncomesfromtheadditivecomparisonidea.This
typeofsituationisalsofoundinelementaryschoolcurriculum.Consider
thefollowingsituation:
Josiemade15tacosand7enchiladas.Howmanymoretacosthanenchiladas
didJosiemake?

Twoseparatequantities,thenumberoftacosandthenumberof
enchiladas,arebeingcomparedinahowmanymore(orhowmanyless)
sense.
Aproblemsituationinvolvinganadditivecomparisonisreferredtoasa
comparisonsubtractionsituation.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.59

Recallthataddition
wasdefinedasan
additivecombination,
tobedistinguished
nowfromadditive
comparison.

Subtractioncantellhowmanymore,orless,thereareofonethanofthe
other.Theresultofthecomparisonisthedifferencebetweenthevaluesof
thetwoquantitiesbeingcompared.Comparisonsubtractionusually
appearsinthecurriculumaftertakeawaysubtraction.
Whenonenumberissubtractedfromanother,theresultiscalledthe
differenceorremainderofthetwonumbers.Thenumberfromwhich
theotherissubtractediscalledtheminuendandthenumberbeing
subtractediscalledthesubtrahend.
Example7
In5015=35,50istheminuend,15isthesubtrahend,and35is
thedifference(orremainder).

Inallofthepreviousexamples,theobjectsunderconsiderationwere
separate,disconnectedobjects,liketacos.Butthereareothersituationsin
whichwecombineorcomparethingssuchasdistances,areas,volumes,
andsoforth.
Quantitiesbeingconsideredarecalleddiscreteiftheyareseparate,
nontouching,objectsthatcanbecounted.Quantitiesarecontinuous
whentheycanbemeasuredonlybylength,area,andsoon.Continuous
quantitiesaremeasured,notcounted.

Example8
Thefollowingproblemsituationisalsoacomparisonsubtraction
problem.Heightisacontinuousquantity.Theheightsgivenare
onlyapproximationsoftherealheightofeach.Onecannotcountan
exactnumberofinches.
Johannis66inchestall.Jacquiis57inchestall.HowmuchtallerisJohannthan
Jacqui?

Example9
Thefollowingproblemsituationisacomparisonproblemcalling
forsubtractionofdiscretequantities.Onecancountsiblings;one
cannothavepartsofsiblings.
Johannhas5siblingsandJacquihas4siblings.Howmanymoresiblingsdoes
JohannhavethanJacqui?
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.60

Activity3WhichIsWhich?
Pairupwithsomeoneinyourclassandtogetherclassifyeachofthe

Activity:WhichIsWhich?
followingproblemsituations.
1.Takeawaysubtraction
2.Missingaddend
1.Velmareceivedfournewsweatersforherbirthday.Twoofthem
subtraction
wereduplicates,soshetookoneback.Howmanysweatersdoes
3.Additionliterallyadding
shehavenow?
4.Comparisonsubtraction,
thenadditionimplicit
2.Velmaalsoreceivedcashforherbirthday,$36inall.Shehasan
becauseonemust
eyeonsomesoftwareshewants,whichcosts$49.95.Herdad
recognizethatbothgirlsofferedtopayhertowaxandpolishhiscar.Howmuchdoesshe
andboysarefriends.

needtoearntobuythesoftware?
3.Velmaalsoreceivedtwomysterynovelsandthreeromancenovels
forherbirthday.Howmanynovelsdidshereceive?
4.Thereweresixboysandeightgirlsatherbirthdayparty.How
manymoregirlsthanboysfromclasswereattheparty?How
manyfriendswereattheparty?

Activity4WritingStoryProblems
1.Pairupwithsomeoneinyourclass.Writeproblemsituations(not
necessarilyintheordergiven)thatillustratethesedifferentviewsof
additionandsubtraction:
a.Additionthatinvolvesputtingtwoquantitiestogether
b.Additionthatinvolvesthinkingabouttwoquantitiesasonequantity
c.Takeawaysubtraction
d.Comparisonsubtraction
e.Missingaddendsubtraction
2.Shareyourproblemswithanothergroup.Eachgroupshould identify
thetypesofproblemsillustratedbytheothergroup,anddiscusswhether
eachgroupcancorrectlyidentifytheproblemsituationswiththe
description.Ineachproblem,identifywhetherthequantitiesarediscrete
orcontinuous.
Discussion1IdentifyingTypesofProblemSituations
Ifthereareanydisagreementsinthestoryproblemswrittenforthe
lastactivity,discusstheseasaclass.
TakeAwayMessageAdditioniscalledforinproblemsoftwodifferentgeneric
types:combiningactivelyorimplicitly.Subtractioniscalledforinthreedifferent
generictypes:takingaway,comparing,andfindingthemissingaddend.Missing
addendproblemsaresometimescalledadditivecomparisonproblems,buttheyare
solvedbysubtracting.Ifateacherillustratessubtractiononlywithtakeaway
situations,thenthatteachershouldnotbesurprisedifhisorherstudentscannot
recognizeothertypesofsubtractionsituations.Also,ifstudentsarepresentedonly
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.61

withdiscreteobjectswhentheyaddorsubtract,theywillnotnecessarilybeableto
transferthisknowledgetosituationsinwhichthequantitiesarecontinuous.
Onemightaskhowchildrencopewiththediversityofsituationsthatcallfor
additionorsubtraction.Themannerinwhichtheyactoutthestoryusuallyshows
howtheyhaveconceivedthesituation.Thephysicalsituationscanbequitedifferent
eventhoughthesymbolicmathematicsmaybethesame.

Learning Exercises for Section 3.2

1. Illustratethecomputation85withbothcontinuousanddiscrete
LE3.2.Studentsdo
drawingsforforeachofthethreegenericsituationsforsubtraction:a.nothaveanswers
takeaway,b.comparison,andc.missingaddend.Noticehowthe for3,4b,5a,b,6,
and7.Besureto
drawingsdiffer.
assign3,8,and9.

2. a.Thenarrativeinthissectionhasneglectedstoryproblemslikethis
one:Jayhad60piecesofcleanpaperwhenshestartedher
homework.Whenshefinished,shehad14cleanpieces.Howmany
piecesofpaperdidsheuse?Whatmathematicalsentencewould
onewriteforthisproblem?Noticethattheactionhereistakeaway,
butthecorrectsentencefortheactionwouldbe60n=14,not60
14=n(onecouldcalculate6014toanswerthequestion
though).SuchcomplicationsareusuallyavoidedincurrentK6
treatmentsintheUnitedStates,butseveralothercountriesgive
considerableattentiontothesetypes!Arewebabyingour
childrenintellectually?
b.Makeupastoryproblemforthismissingminuendnumber
sentence:n17=24.
3.Besuretodiscussthe
seriouslimitationsofthis
verycommonstrategy,key
words,thatmanyteachers
usetohelpstudentsknow
whichoperationtouse.

3. Teacherssometimesemphasizekeywordstohelpchildrenwithstory
problems.Forexample,altogethersuggestsaddition,leftsuggests
subtraction.Theintentisgood:Havethechildrenthinkaboutthe
situation.Butunfortunatelychildrenoftenabusethekeywords.They
skim,lookingjustforthekeywords,ortheytrustthemtoomuch,
takingwhatisintendedasaroughguideasarule.Inthefollowing,tell
howtheitalicizedkeywordscouldmisleadachildwhodoesnotread
thewholeproblemorwhodoesnotthinkaboutthesituation.
a.

Dalespent$1.25.ThenDalehad55cents.HowmuchdidDale
haveatthestart?

b.

Eachclassroomatoneschoolhas32children.Theschoolhas12
classrooms.Howmanychildrenareattheschoolaltogether?

c.

BendivideduphispiecesofcandyevenlywithJoseand
Cleveland.Eachofthethreeboysgot15piecesofcandy.How
manypiecesdidBenstartwith?

d.

Flohas3timesasmuchmoneyasLacydoes.Flohas84cents.
HowmuchdoesLacyhave?

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.62

e.

Manny'smotherboughtsomethingsatthegrocerystore.She
gavetheclerk$10andgot$1.27inchange.Inall,howmuch
didshespendatthestore?

f. Eachpackageofstickershas6pages,andeachpagehas12
stickersonit.Whatisthetotalnumberofstickersin4packages?
4. Considerthiscomparisonsubtractionsituation:Annhas$12.85
andBeahas$6.43.HowmuchlessmoneydoesBeahavethan
Ann?Notethatthequestionisawkward.Thisisbelievedtobe
oneexplanationofwhyyoungchildrenhavemoretroublewith
comparisonstoryproblemsthanwithtakeawayproblems.When
storyproblemsarephrasedlessawkwardly,childrentendtodo
muchbetter.Forexample,Thereare12bowlsand8spoons.How
manybowlsdonothaveaspoon?iseasierforthechildrenthan,
Thereare12bowlsand8spoons.Howmanymorebowlsare
therethanspoons?Thismaybeduetothefactthatthephrasing
intheformercaseissuggestiveofanaction(matchingbowlswith
spoons)thatenablesstudentstoobtainananswer.
Rephrasethequestionstomaketheseproblemseasier.
a. Thebaseballteamhas12playersbutonly9gloves.Howmany
moreplayersaretherethangloves?
b. Thereare28childrenintheteachersclass.Theteacherhas20
suckers.Howmanyfewersuckersaretherethanchildren?
5. Givethefamiliesoffactsforthese:
a.2,6,8

b.12,49,61

c.x,m,andp,wheremp=x
6.

Chooseafamilyoffactsin5above;writeoneadditionword
problemandthreesubtractionwordproblems,oneofeachtype,
forthatfamilyoffacts.

7.Inafirstgradeclasstheteachergavethefollowingproblem:ii
Thereare12boysand8girls.Howmanymoreboysthangirls?
Amajorityofthechildrenansweredfourmoreboyscorrectly,but
fivechildrenchosetoaddandgave20childrenastheiranswer.One
ofthesefivechildreninsistedthatsubtractioncouldnotbeused
becauseitisimpossibletotakeaway8girlsfrom12boys.Noneof
theotherchildrencouldrespondtothischildsclaim.Inlightofwhat
youhavelearnedinthissection,describehowyouwouldhandlethis
situationifyouweretheteacher,inordertohelpthischildunderstand
thatsubtractionisthe appropriateoperationinthissituation.Notethat
simplytellingastudenttherightwaydoesnotnecessarilyhelp
him/herunderstand.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.63

7.Responseshereshould
assumethatthechild
alreadyviewssubtractionas
theoperationneededin
takeawaysituations.
Buildingonthis
understandingwouldbe
pedagogicallysound.Thus,
helpingthechildconceive
thecomparisonsituationas
atakeawaysituationwould
probablyhelp.Onewayto
dothisistodoamatching
betweenthegirlsandthe
boys.Thereare8boysthat
arematchedwithgirls.If
wetaketheseawaythe
remaining4arenot
matched,andthisshows
howmanymoreboysthan
girlsthereare.

8. Tellwhichtypeofsubtractionisindicatedineachofthesestory
problems,withanexplanationofyourchoice.
a.Villiisrunninga10kilometermarathon.Hehasrun4.6
kilometers.Howfardoeshehaveyettogo?

8.Theseare
admittedlytrivial
wordproblems.
b.Diegoissavingupforacar.Heneeds$2000tobuyonefromStudentsareaskednot
hisuncle.Thusfarhehas$862.Howmuchmoredoesheneed?toanswerthembutto
c.Laresajustgotpaidfortheweek.Shereceived$200.Sheowesunderstandtheir
structure.

hermother$185forsomeclothes.Onceshepaysit,whatwill
shehaveleft?

d.Laresasfriendworksatadifferentplaceandispaid$230a
week.HowmuchmoredoesshemakeperweekthanLaresa?
e.Bojustboughtgasfor$2.79pergallon.Lastweekhebought
gasfor$2.72.Howmuchmoredidhepayforgasthisweek
thanhedidlastweek?
9.

Makeupawordproblemforeachofthetwodifferenttypesof
additionsituations;makeoneforthethreedifferenttypesof
subtractionsituations.

10. Mr.Lewisteachessecondgrade.Hehasbeenusingtakeaway
problemstoillustratesubtraction.Adistricttextcontainedthe
followingproblem:Vanessasmotherlost23poundsonadiet
lastyear.Vanessaherselflost9poundsonthediet.Howmany
morepoundsdidVanessa'smotherlose?MostofMr.Lewiss
studentswereunabletoworktheproblem,andhewasvery
discouragedbecausehehadspentsomuchtimeteaching
subtraction.Doyouhaveanyadviceforhim?
11.Foreachofthefollowingproblems,namethequantities,their
values,notetherelationshipsamongthevalues,makeadrawing
fortheproblem,thencomputetheanswer.
Example: JJ earned $2.50 an hour for helping a neighbor. JJ
worked 5 hours. Then JJ bought a T-shirt for $7.35. How much
money did JJ have left?
Solution: Quantities with values are: Amount JJ earns per hour:
$2.50. Number of hours JJ works: 5. Cost of T-shirt: $7.35.
Amount of money left after purchase of T-shirt: unknown.
Amount earned in one hour

Amount earned in 5 hours

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.64

Amount spent on shirt

Amount remaining

To find the amount earned, I would multiply her wage per hour by
the number of hours she worked or add five $2.50s. Then I would
subtract the amount she spent on the shirt because that cost is taken
away from the total earned.
$2.50 5 $7.35 = $5.15
a.Apost12feetlongispoundedintothebottomofariver.2.25feetof
thepostareinthegroundundertheriver.1.5feetstickoutofthe
water.Howdeepistheriveratthatpoint?
b.Atoneschool 53 ofalltheeighthgraderswenttoonegame. 23 of
thosewhowenttothegametraveledbycar.Whatpartofallthe
eighthgraderstraveledbycartothegame?
c.Asmallcomputerpieceisshapedlikearectanglewhichis2.5
centimeterslong.Itsareais15squarecentimeters.Howwideisthe
piece?
d.Mariaspendstwothirdsofherallowanceonschoollunchesand
onesixthforotherfood.Whatfractionalpartofherallowanceis
left?
e.Ononenecklace, 58 ofthebeadsarewooden.Thereare40beadsin
allonthenecklace.Howmanybeadsarewooden?
f.Apaintermixesacolorbyusing3.2timesasmuchredasyellow.
Howmuchredshouldheusewith4.8pintsofyellow?

3.3ChildrensWaysofAddingandSubtracting
Childrenwhounderstandplacevalueandhavenotyetlearnedastandard
waytosubtractoftenhaveuniquewaysofundertakingsubtractioniv.
Preparetobesurprised!

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE3.3Aonpreparing
studentsforthisactivity.

Activity5Children'sWays

Thechildrenswaysof
subtractingshowninthis
sectionusuallycomeasa
complete,sometimes
humbling,experienceto
bothprospectiveand
practicingteachers,because
theydonotimmediately
understandthethinkingused
byeachofthestudents.We
advisethatyounotskipthis
section.Whenstudents
realizethattheymust
understandmethodsother
thantheonestheyuse,they
aremotivatedtolearnto
attendtostudents
reasoning.

1. Considertheworkofninesecondgraders,allsolving36479(in
writtenform,withoutcalculatorsorbasetenblocks).
Identify:
a.whichstudentsclearlyunderstandwhattheyaredoing;
b.whichstudentsmightunderstandwhattheyaredoing;and
c.whichstudentsdonotunderstandwhattheyaredoing.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.65

2. Pickoutplaceswhereerrorsweremade,andtrytoexplainwhy
youthinktheerrorsoccurred.
InActivity5thesolutionsofstudents2,3,and5areallbasedonthe
standardalgorithmsthataretaughtinschool.Student3correctlyusesthe
regroupingalgorithmtaughtinmostU.S.schools.
Describeinwritingthestepsfollowedwhenoneusesthestandard
regroupingalgorithmforsubtraction.

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE3.3Bonthe
equaladditionsmethod
usedinmanyother
countries.

Activity6MakingSenseofStudentsReasoning
1.Justify,usingyourknowledgeofplacevalueandthemeaningsof
additionandsubtraction,theprocedureusedinSolution3ofthe
activitycalledChildrensWays.Makeupsomeotherproblems,
andtalkthemthrough,usingthelanguageofones,tens,
hundredsetc.
2.DiscusswhatyouthinkhappenedinthesolutionsofStudents2
and5.
3.Theprocedureusedbythefourthstudentiscalledtheequal
additionsmethod.Figureouthowthisalgorithmworks,andthe
mathematicalbasisforit.Hint:Because9cannotbetakenfrom4,
tenwasaddedtobothnumbers,butindifferentplaces.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.66

Sometimesteachersdismisssolutionsthatdonotfollowastandard
procedure.Yetsometimesthesesolutionsshowagreatdealofinsightand
understandingofourbasetennumerationsystemandhownumberscanbe
decomposedinmanyhelpfulways.Buttherearetimesthatasolutionthat
isdifferent,suchastheequaladditionsmethodofsubtraction,maynot
demonstrateanyinsight.Rather,anyprocedurecanbelearnedasa
sequenceofrules.IntheUnitedStates,subtractionisusuallytaughtbya
regroupingmethod(seeStudent3smethodinActivity5)butinsome
othercountrieschildrenaretaughttheequaladditionsmethod(seethe
workofStudent4).Eithercanbetaughtrotelyormeaningfully.
Activity7GiveItaTry
Gobackoverthesolutionsofstudents1,6,7,8,and9.Makesure
youunderstandthethinkingofeachstudent.Youcandothisby
thinkingthrougheachmethodasyoutry438159.
Theotherstudentsappeartohaveusednonstandardalgorithmsor
inventedalgorithms,thatis,procedurestheyhavedevelopedontheir
own,orperhapsasaclassforsolvingsubtractionproblems.InActivity7,
youshouldhavethoughtaboutplacevalueunderstandingforeachofthe
Discussion2.Some
methodshere.
studentswillfavorthe
standardalgorithm
ThinkAbout...Ifyouwere(orare)aparent,whatwouldyousaytoyour
becauseitisfamiliar.This
childifheorshesubtractedlikeStudent1?orStudent9?Whatabout
isfine,ifitistaughtina
meaningfulway.Some
Student4?Haveyoueverseenthissubtractionmethodbefore?Ifso,tell
methodswouldnotbeyourinstructorsothatyourmethodmightbesharedwithothers.
appropriatetoteachif
studentshavenever
Discussion2IsOneWayBetter?
workedwithnegative
Isanyonemethodofsubtraction(fromtheonesillustratedatthe
numbers.

beginningofthislesson)betterthanothers?Whyorwhynot?
Whichmethodsdoyouthinkcouldbemoreeasilyunderstood?
Arethereanymethodsthatshouldnotbetaught(ratherthan
inventedbyastudent)?Whyorwhynot?

TakeAwayMessageChildrendonotthinkaboutmathematicsinthesameway
thatadultsdo.Partofthereasonforthisisthatadultsaremorematureandhavea
widervarietyofexperienceswithnumbers.Butalsopartofthereasonisthatwe
havehadlimitedopportunitiestoexplorenumbersandthemeaningofoperations
onnumbers.Whenchildrenenterschooltheyareofteninquisitiveandwillingto
exploreinwaysthattheyoftenloseinlatergrades,unfortunately.Butwhen
childrenaregivennumerousopportunitiestothinkaboutnumbersandcometo
understandtheplacevaluesystemweuse,andthenapplythatunderstandingina
varietyofsituations,theyoftencomeupwithnovelwaysofapproachingproblems.
Thewaystheyinventforundertakingadditionandsubtractionareusefultothem,
andoftencanbegeneralized.Thisknowledgecanalsohelpthemunderstandand
rememberanytraditionalalgorithmstheyaretaught.Thishastheadvantagethat

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.67

theyareunlikelytomakethecommonerrorsthatresultwhenplacevalueisnot
wellunderstood.

Learning Exercises for Section 3.3

LE3.3.StudentshaveCasesC
1. Makeupsomenewsubtractionproblemsandtrysolvingthembyeach
andDfor2,3,and4only,not
ofthemethodsillustratedintheactivity,ChildrensWays.Try
forCasesA,B,E,F,orG.
inventingsomeotherwaysyouthinkachildmightapproachyour
Theyalsodonothaveanswers
for1or5.
subtractionproblems.
2. Hereareseveralcasesofadditionandsubtractionproblemssolvedby
Studentswillprofitbydoing
otherfirstandsecondgradersinclassroomswherethestandard
alloftheseexercises.
algorithmswerenottaught.Someproceduresaremoresophisticated
Althoughtherearenumerically
thanothers,basedontheindividualstudent'sunderstandingof
fewproblems,theytakequitea
numeration.Someweredonementally;otherswerewrittendown.
bitoftime,sothisisactuallya
Studyeachmethoduntilyouunderstandthethinkingofthestudent,
ratherlongassignment.
andthendotheproblemgivenusingthesamestrategy.
CaseA.Teacher:Whatis39+37?
Student1:30and30is60,then9moreis69,then7moreis70,71,
72,73,74,75,76.
Youdo:48+59.
CaseB.Teacher:Whatis39+37?
Student2:40and40is80,butthenyouneedtotakeaway.First1,
andget79,then3,andget76.
Youdo:48+59.
CaseC.Teacher:Whatis39+37?
Student3:40and37is,let'ssee,40and30is70,and7moreis77,
butyouneedtotakeaway1,soit's76.
D.Thisanswerwas
Youdo:48+59.
CaseD.Astudenttalksaloudashesolves246+178:

actuallygivenbyafirst
gradechildwhowasnot
consideredtobespecial,
butwhohadhadagreat
manyopportunitiesto
explorenumberstructure.

Student4:Well,2plus1is3,soIknowit's200and100,
sonowit'ssomewhereinthethreehundreds.Andthenyou
havetoaddthetenson.Andthetensare4and7....Well,
um.Ifyoustartedat70;80,90,100.Right?Andthat'sfour
hundreds.Sonowyou'realreadyinthethreehundreds
becauseofthis[100+200],butnowyou'reinthefourhundreds
becauseofthat[40+70].Butyou'vestillgotonemoreten.Soif
you'redoingit300plus40plus70,you'dhave410.Butyou'renot
doingthat.Sowhatyouneedtodothenisadd6moreonto10,
whichis16.Andthen8more:17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24.And
that's124.Imean424.iii
Youdo:254+367.
CaseE.Teacher:Whatis657?
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.68

Student5:65takeaway5is60,andtakeaway2moreis58.
Youdo:589.
Student6:657.7and8is15,and10is25,and10is35and10is
45and10is55and10is65.Fivetensis50,and8is58.(Uses
fingerstocounttens.)
Youdo:589.
CaseF.Writtensolutionfor654339.
Student7:6takeaway3is3andyoumakeitintohundredsso300.
Thenyouadd50>35030anditcomesto320,+4is324,9is
first4is320then5is315.
Youdo:368132.
CaseG:Oralsolutionfor500268.
Student8:2togetto270,then30moretogetto300,then200
more,so232.
Youdo:800452.
3. DiscusstheproceduresusedinExercise2intermsofhowwellyou
thinkthestudentunderstandstheprocedure,howlongyouthinkittook
forthestudenttodevelopandunderstandtheprocessbeingused;and
howrobusttheprocedureis,thatis,canitbeusedonotherproblems?
4. DiscusstheproceduresusedinExercise2intermsofwhetherthe
procedurewouldbedifficultforstudentstoremember.Doyouthink
thestudent,whenfacedwithanothersubtractionproblem,willbeable
tousehisorherprocedure?Whyorwhynot?
5. InmanyEuropeancountriesandinAustralia,additionandsubtraction
aretaughtusinganemptynumberlinethatisnotmarkedwith0and
1.Herearetwoexamplesforaddition,with48+39:
+ 30
+2

48
or

+7

78 80

87

+ 30
+7

+2

48 50

80

87

Subtractionisdonesimilarly.Consider36479,aproblemyousaw
earlier.
50
20
5 4
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.69

285

305

355 360 364

or
60
5

10

285 290 294

304

364

Trythefollowingcomputationsusingtheemptynumberlinemethod.
a.62+49

b.304284

c.7238

d.253140

3.4WaysofThinkingAboutMultiplication
Justastherearedifferentwaysofthinkingaboutadditionandsubtraction,
dependinguponthequantitiesinvolvedandthetypeofsituationinvolved,
therearedifferentwaysofthinkingaboutmultiplicationanddivision.
Manychildrenlearntothinkofmultiplicationonlyasrepeatedaddition,
whichlimitsthetypeofsituationsinwhichtheyknowtomultiply.
Discussion3WhenDoWeMultiply?
Howwouldyousolvethesetwoproblems?
1.Onekindofcheesecosts$2.19apound.Howmuchwilla
packageweighing3poundscost?
2.Onekindofcheesecosts$2.19apound.Howmuchwilla
packageweighing0.73poundcost?

SEEAPPENDIXB
onusingthevideo
clipJavier,whichfits
verywellwiththis
lesson.Theclipison
theIMAPCD.
Ifyouevenhesitatedindecidingtomultiplytosolvethesecondproblem,

youarenotalone.Researchersacrosstheworldhavenoticedthatsuccess
onthesecondproblemisusually35to40%lessthansuccessonthefirst
problem,evenamongadults!Manysolversthinktheyshoulddivideor
subtractonthesecondproblem.Whydoesthishappen?Thissectionwill
offerapossiblereason:Eachofmultiplicationanddivision,likeaddition
andsubtraction,canrepresentquitedifferentsituations,butsolversmay
notbeawareofthisfact.

Justastherearedifferentwaysofthinkingaboutsubtraction,thereare
severalwaystothinkaboutmultiplicationanddivision.Webeginwith
differentmeaningsofmultiplication.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.70

Whenawholenumbernofquantities,eachwithvalueq,arecombined,
theresultingquantityhasvalueq+q+q+.(naddends),ornq.
Thisiscalledtherepeatedadditionviewofmultiplication.
Example10
Karlainvited4friendstoherbirthdayparty.Insteadofreceiving
gifts,shegaveeachfriendadozenroses.Howmanyrosesdidshe
giveaway?412=12+12+12+12.
Somecriticssaythatrepeatedadditionreceivesattentionforsolong
(grade2or3on)thatitrestrictschildren'sattentionwhenothersituations
thatusemultiplicationappear.Nonetheless,thisviewdoesbuildonthe
children'sexperiencewithaddition,anditdoesfitmanysituations.
Usingthenotionofrepeatedaddition,34meansthesumof3addends,
eachofwhichis4:34=4+4+4.Noticetheorder;34means3
fours,not4threes.AtleastthatisthecaseineveryU.S.textseries;the
reverseisthecaseinsomeothercountries(BritishorBritishinfluenced
countries,forexample),whichcancauseconfusion.Ofcourse,youknow
fromcommutativityofmultiplicationthat34=43,butasateacher,
youwouldwanttomodelthestandardmeaning,evenafterthechildren
havehadexperiencewithcommutativity.Incontrastwithcommutativity
ofaddition,commutativityofmultiplicationismuchlessintuitive:Itisnot
obviousaheadoftimethat3eights(38)willgivethesamesumas8
threes(83).
Thenumbersbeingmultipliedarecalledfactors,andtheresultis
calledtheproduct(andsometimesamultipleofanyfactor).Thefirst
factorissometimesreferredtoasthemultiplier,andthesecondthe
multiplicand.Insomecontexts,divisorisusedasasynonymfor
factor,exceptdivisorsarenotallowedtobe0(butfactorsmaybe).

Notethatundertherepeatedadditionviewofmultiplication,thefirst
factormustbeawholenumber.Underthisview,2.36cannotbe
interpreted;itismeaninglesstospeakofthesumof2.3addends.
However,thecommutativepropertyofmultiplication(whichchildren
shouldknowbythetimetheyaresolvingproblemswithdecimal
numbers)tellsusthat2.36isthesameas62.3.Overall,anystory
situationinwhichaquantityofanysortisrepeatedlycombinedcouldbe
describedbymultiplication.62.3couldbeused,forexample,forHow
muchwould6boxesofthatdogtreatweigh?Eachboxweighs2.3
pounds.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.71

FirstThinkAbout.
Multiplicationasrepeated
ThinkAbout...ReadagainthecheeseproblemsinDiscussion3.Doesthe
additiondoesnotfitthe
secondproblem,because
ideaofmultiplicationasrepeatedadditionfitbothproblems?
itdoesntmakesenseto
Anemphasisonmultiplicationonlyasrepeatedadditiontotheexclusion
add2.19,0.73times.This
exampleillustratesthe
ofotherinterpretationsofmultiplicationappearstoleadmanychildren
difficultymanypeople
intotheunstatedanddangerousovergeneralizationthattheproductis
havewiththesecondtype
alwayslargerthanthefactors,expressedas:Multiplicationalwaysmakes
ofproblem.

bigger.

ThinkAbout...WhendoesmultiplicationNOTmakebigger?
Asecondtypeofsituationcallingformultiplicationisarectangulararray
withnitemsacrossandmitemsdown,foratotalofmnitems.Orwe
couldgeneratearectangleofnsquaresacrossandmsquaresdownfora
totalofmnsquares.(Thisis,ofcourse,whatweusetofindtheareaofa
rectangle.)
Thearray(orarea)modelofmultiplicationoccursincasesthatcan
bemodeledasarectanglenunitsacrossandmunitsdown.The
productismn.

Webeginheretouse
propertynames,
Note:Whenthefactorsarerepresentedbyletters,weoftenuseadotorwhichshouldbe
knownbystudents.
dropthemultiplicationsymbol:mn=m n=mn.
However,weadvise
thattheybepointed
Ifnandmarewholenumbers,thiscouldbeconsideredaspecialcaseof
outastheyoccur.
repeatedaddition.Oneattractionofthismodelisthatforcontinuous Therewillbemany
quantitiesthenandthemdonothavetobewholenumbers.Another remindersalongthe
way.
featureofthismodelisthatcommutativityofmultiplicationiseasilyseen:

Lengthtimeswidth(ornumberofrowstimesnumberineachcolumn)is
justreversedifthearrayorrectangleisturnedsideways.
ThinkAbout...Drawarectanglethatis 3 2 inchesacrossand 2 4 inches
1

high.Whatisthetotalnumberofsquareinchesshown?Findtheanswer
SEEINSTRUCTOR
firstbycountingsquareinchesandpartsofsquareinches,andthenbyNOTE3.4Aforadrawing
multiplying.Didyougetthesameanswer?
forthisThinkAbout.

Thereisathirdwaytothinkaboutmultiplication.
Thefractionalpartofaquantitymodelofmultiplicationoccurs
whenweneedtofindafractionalpartofoneofthetwoquantities.This
issometimesreferredtoastheoperatorviewofmultiplication.

Withthismodelwecanattachameaningtoproductssuchas 23
(pounds,say),meaningtwothirdsof17pounds,ortoaproductof0.35
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.72

8.2(kilograms),meaningthirtyfivehundredthsofeightandtwotenths
kilograms.
SEEINSTRUCTOR ThinkAbout...Supposeyouaredealingwithcookies.Howcouldyou
NOTE3.4Bfora actout 6 ?Howcouldyouactout 1 ?Howarethese

2
drawingforthisThink
different?Doyougetthesameanswerforboth?Whatistheunitorthe
About.

wholeforthe 12 ineachcase?

Youshouldhavesaidthattheunitorwholeforthe ab inthesecond
situation, 12 ,istheamountrepresentedbythesecondfactor,6cookies.
Wewantonehalfofsixcookies.Thereasonthisisreferredtoasthe
operatorviewisbecausethe ab actson,oroperateson,theamount
representedbythesecondfactor.Theoperatorviewwillbetreatedin
moredetaillater,butyounowhavethebackgroundtoconsiderthe
followingquestion.
ThinkAboutUsingthepartofanamountwayofthinkingabout
multiplicationbyafraction,tellwhat0.4x8or0.7x0.9mightmean.
Doesthathelpyoulocatethedecimalpointinthe0.4x8(=3.2)and0.7x
0.9(=0.63)products?

ThinkAbout...Ifyoubuy5.3poundsofcheesecosting$4.20perpound,
couldthisberepresentedasarepeatedadditionproblem?
SEEINSTRUCTOR
ThinkAbout...Whatismeantby5.34.20,asinfindingthecostof
NOTE3.4Cforthethird
buying5.3poundsofmeatat$4.20apound?
ThinkAbout.

Thereareothersituationsinwhichorderedcombinationsofobjects,
ratherthansumsofobjectsthemselves,arebeingcountedandwhichcan
bedescribedbymultiplication.Thisfourthtypeofsituationuseswhatis
commonlycalledthefundamentalcountingprinciple.Thesesituations
showthat,mathematicallyatleast,multiplicationneednotreferto
additionatall.Thenextactivityleadstoastatementofthatprinciple.
Activity8FindingAllOrderswithNoRepeatsAllowed
YouhearthatEd,Fred,Guy,Ham,Ira,andJoseranarace.You
knowtherewerenoties,butyoudonotknowwhowasfirst,second,
andthird.Inhowmanywayscouldthefirstthreeplacesintherace
haveturnedout?

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.73

Ifyouweresuccessfulinidentifyingall120possibleordersforthefirst
threefinishers,younodoubtusedsomesortofsystematicmethodin
keepingtrackofthedifferentpossibleoutcomes.Onemethodwhichyou
mayencounterinelementaryschoolbooksistheuseofatreediagram.
Hereisanexample,forasettingthatisoftenusedinelementarybooks:
Youhave3blousesand2pairsofpantsinyoursuitcase,allcolor
compatible.Howmanydifferentblousepantsoutfitsdoyouhave?
Atthestart,youhavetwochoicestomakeachoiceofblouse,anda
choiceofpants.Atreediagramrecordsthesechoicesthisway:
firstchoice
blouse1

(start)

blouse2

blouse3

secondchoice
pants1
pants2
pants1
pants2

Youwillrecognizethis
countingproblemasa
Cartesianproduct
problem.

pants1
pants2

Noticethatafterablouseischosen,bothpossibilitiesforthechoiceof
pantsmakethenextbranchesofthetree.Youmakeachoicebygoing
throughthetree.Forexample,blouse1andpants2wouldbeonechoice.
Youmakeallpossiblechoicesbygoingthroughthetreeinallpossible
ways.Doyoufind6differentoutfits?Whatwouldthetreediagramlook
likeifyouchosepantsfirst?Wouldtherebe6choicesthenalso?
Withasituationascomplicatedasthe6racersprobleminActivity8,
makingatreediagramisquitelaborious(tryit).Althoughitisgood
experiencetomaketreediagrams,thereisanalternative.Noticethatinthe
outfitsexample,thefirstact,choosingablouse,couldbedonein3ways
andthenthesecondact,choosingpants,couldbedonein2ways,no
matterwhatthechoiceofblousewas.And,32=6,thenumberof
possibleoutfits.Situationswhichcanbethoughtofasasequenceofacts,
withanumberofwaysforeachacttooccur,canbecountedefficientlyby
thisprinciple:
Inacasewheretwoactscanbeperformed,ifAct1canbeperformed
inmways,andAct2canbeperformedinnwaysnomatterhowAct1
turnsout,thenthesequenceAct1Act2canbeperformedinm.nways.
Thisisthefundamentalcountingprincipleviewofmultiplication.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.74

Theprinciplecanbeextendedtoanynumberofacts.Forexample,the
racersproblemhasthreeacts:finishingfirst(6possibilities),finishing
second(5possibilitiesaftersomeonefinishedfirst),andfinishingthird
(now4possibilities).Thenumberofpossiblefirstsecondthirdoutcomes
totheracecanthenbecalculatedbythefundamentalcountingprinciple:6
54,or120,withouthavingtomakeatreediagram.Noticethathere
theunitfortheendresultisdifferentfromanyunitrepresentedinthe
factors.(Asanaside,noticealsothatthetreediagramhereisnotthesame
asthefactortreethatyoumayrememberfromelementaryschool.)
ThinkAbout...Atanicecreamshop,adoubledeckericecreamconecan
beorderedfromtwochoicesofcones,12choicesforthefirstdip,12for
theseconddip,and8kindsoftoppings.Howmanychoicesofdouble
deckericecreamconesarepossible?Doesyouranswerincludetwodips
ofthesameflavor?

Alatersectiononmultiplicativecomparisons(notadditivecomparisons)
willgiveafifthimportantwayofthinkingaboutmultiplication.Until
then,whenyouusemultiplicationforaproblem,identifywhichwayis
involved:repeatedaddition,array,partofaquantity,orfundamental
countingprinciple.
Activity9MerrilyWeMultiply
Deviseamultiplicationproblemforeachofthetypesdescribedthus
far:repeatedaddition,array,partofaquantity,orfundamental
countingprinciple.Ifyoudothisinpairsorgroups,compareyour
problemsituationswiththoseofaneighboringgroup.
Earlierwereferredtothecommutativepropertyofmultiplication,thatis,
foranynumbersmandn,mn=nm.Thispropertytellsuswecantreat
eithermornasthemultiplier.Youshouldalsoremembertheassociative
propertyofmultiplication,thatis,fornumbersp,q,andr,(pq)r=p(qr).
Thispropertytellsusthatwhenmultiplying,wedonotneedparentheses,
becauseitdoesnotmatterwhichproductwefindfirst.
Example11
(32)8=3(28)or68=316.Thuswecouldwrite
theproductas328.Parenthesestelluswhichoperationtodo
first,buttheassociativepropertytellsusthatwhenmultiplying,it
doesnotmatterwhichmultiplicationwedofirst.
Thedistributivepropertyofmultiplicationoveraddition(oftenjust
shortenedtothedistributiveproperty)isaparticularlyusefulproperty:for
numbersc,d,ande,c(d+e)=cd+ce.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.75

Example12
Hereisanillustrationofthisproperty,showingthat
2(4+3)=(24)+(23).(Therightsidecouldhavebeen
writtenwithoutparenthesesbecauseinastringofoperations,all
multiplicationmustbedonebeforeaddition.)
4

+ 3

2
2x 7 = 2 x (4

2
+

3)

3
2

( 2 x 4) + ( 2 x 3)

Learnersoftenwonder,inthesymbolicform,wheretheother2
camefrom.Thedrawingshowsitwasthereallthetime.
TakeAwayMessageProblemsituationsthatcallformultiplicationcanbe
categorizedindifferentways,includingthefollowing:
1.

Findingthesumwhenawholenumberoflikequantitiesiscombinediscalled
therepeatedadditionviewofmultiplication.IntheUnitedStates,findingmn
meansn+n+nwithnasanaddendmtimes.Usingthisformconsistently
makesunderstandingeasieratfirst.Later,whencommutativityisunderstood,
studentsrecognizethattheaddendandthenumberofaddendscouldbe
reversed.

2.

Findingtheareaofarectangleorthenumberassociatedwitharectangular
array,iscalledthearray(orarea)modelofmultiplication.Thisviewhighlights
commutativityofmultiplicationandthedistributivepropertyofmultiplication
overaddition.

3.

Findingthefractionalpartofaquantityissometimescalledtheoperatorview
ofmultiplicationbecauseitappearsthatthemultiplierisoperatingonthe
multiplicand.Thisthirdtypeofsituationcaninvolveaproductthatissmaller
thanoneorbothofthefactors,whichcausesdifficultyforstudentswhohave
onlythoughtaboutmultiplicationasrepeatedaddition.Themisconceptionthat
multiplicationmakesbiggeriscommonandneedstobecounteredduring
instruction.

4.

Insituationswherefindingthenumberofwaysinwhichoneactfollows
another,thefundamentalcountingprincipleviewofmultiplicationapplies.
Treediagramshelptoillustratethisprinciple.

Learning Exercises for Section 3.4

1. a.Makesketchesfor62andfor26andcontrastthem.
b.Makesketchesfor 5 andfor 12 andcontrastthem.

LE3.4Studentsdonot
haveanswersfor2,4,8,
10c,10d,12and14.Be
suretoassign2,3,and4.

c. Makeasystematiclistofpossiblenamesforthisproblem:Janiceis
orderingicecream.Thereare5kindsavailable:vanilla,strawberry,
chocolate,mocha,andbutterpecan.Therearealsofivekindsof
sprinklestoputontop:M&Ms,coconut,Heathbarpieces,chocolate
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.76

chips,andwalnutbits.Ifsheordersonescoopoficecreamandone
kindofsprinkles,howmanychoicesdoesshehave?
2. Ateacherquiteoftenhastomakeupastoryproblemonthespot.For
eachviewofmultiplication,makeupTWOstoryproblemsthatyou
thinkchildrenwouldfindinteresting.Labelthemforlaterreference
(e.g.,arraymodel).Useavarietyofsizesofnumbers.Youmightwant
toshareyourswithothers.
3. Willmultiplyingawholenumber(>1)byanyfractionalwaysresultin
aproductsmallerthanthewholenumberwestartedwith?Whendoes
multiplicationmakebigger?
4. Doesrepeatedadditionmakesensefor42?For24?For8 3
?For 23 8?Explainyourthinkingforeachcase.
2

5. Intermsofrepeatedadditionand/orpartofanamount,whatdoes 6 12
12mean?(Hereisacontextthatmaybehelpful: 6 12 dozeneggs.)
6. Foreach,makeupastoryproblemwhichcouldbesolvedbythegiven
calculation.
a.3229

b.46.98

c.0.0719.95

d.12 83 ,aboutpizza.

e. 23 6,aboutpizza.

f.40%29.95

7. Herearetheingredientsinarecipethatserves6:
6skinnedchickenbreasthalves

1tablespoonmargarine

1cupslicedonion

1 12 cupsapplejuice

1tablespoonoliveoil

2 12 tablespoonshoney

2cupsslicedtartapples

1
2

teaspoonsalt

a. Youwantenoughfor8people.Whatamountsshouldyouuse?
b. Youwantenoughfor4people(andnoleftovers).Whatamounts
shouldyouuse?
8. Thefactthatmnandnmareequalisaveryusefulideafor,say,
learningthebasicmultiplicationfacts.Forexample,ifyouknowthat6
9=54,thenyouautomaticallyknowthat96=54...ifyoubelieve
thatmn=nm.Textseriesmayusethearraymodeltoillustrate
thisidea.Anarrayfor35wouldhave3rowswith5ineachrow
(rowsgosidewaysinalmosteverytextseries,andinadvanced
mathematics).

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.77

A 3 x 5 array
of square regions

Withaquarterturn,
becomesa5x 3 array

Sincethetwoarraysaremadeupofthesamesquares,evenwithout
countingyouknowthat35=53.
a. Makeanarrayfor47andturnthepaperitison90.Whatdoesthe
newarrayshow?
b. Useapieceofgraphpapertoshowthat1215=1512.
1

c. Showhowthisideaworksinverifyingthat6 2 = 2 6.
9. a.Showwithadrawingthat5What
isthe
nameofthisproperty?
b.Howcouldyouillustrate,withoutadrawing,theassociative property
ofmultiplication?Hint:(a b) c=a (b c).
c.Showwithadrawingthat3 6.5=6.5 3.
10.Makeatreediagramorasystematiclistforthreeofthese,and check
thatthefundamentalcountingprinciplegivesthesameanswer.Tellhow
manyyoufound.
a. Youflipaspinnerthathasfourdifferentlycoloredregions(red,white,
blue,green)allequalinarea,andtossonedieandcountthedotson
top(1through6possible).Howmanycolordotoutcomesare
possible?
b. Acoupleisthinkingofanamefortheirbabygirl.Theyhavethought
of3acceptablefirstnamesand4acceptablemiddlenames(all
different).Howmanybabygirlscouldtheyhavewithoutrepeatingthe
wholename!?
c. Inasixthgradeelection,Raoul,Silvia,Tien,Vena,andWallyare
runningforpresident;AngelaandBenarerunningforvicepresident;
andCaraandVonarerunningfortreasurer.Inhowmanywayscould
theelectioncomeout?
d. Inagameyoutossareddieandagreendie,andcountthenumberof
dotsontopofeachone,forexample,R2,G3.(Thenumbersofdots
arenotaddedinthisgame.)Inhowmanydifferentwayscanatossof
thediceturnout?
11.Ahamburgerchainadvertisedthattheymade256differentkindsof
hamburgers.Explainhowthisclaimispossible.Hint:Onecanchoose1
pattyor2,mustardornot,etc.
12.Anicecreamstorehas31kindsoficecreamand2kindsofcones.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.78

a.Howmanydifferentkindsofsinglescoopicecreamconescanbe
orderedatthestore?
b.Howmanydifferentkindsofdoublescoopicecreamconesare
there?(Decision:Isvanillaontopofchocolatethesameas
chocolateontopofvanilla?)
13.Youhavebecomeacardealer!Onekindofcaryouwillsellcomesin3
bodystyles,4colors,and3interioraccessorypackages,andcosts
you,onaverage,$12,486.Ifyouwantedtokeeponyourlotanexample
ofeachtypeofcar(stylewithcolorwithpackage)thatapersoncould
buy,howmuchmoneywouldthispartofyourinventoryrepresent?
14.Licenseplatenumberscomeinavarietyofstyles.
a. Whymightastyleusing2lettersfollowedby4digitsbebetterthan
a6digitsstyle?
b. Howmanymorearetherewithastyleusing2lettersfollowedby4
digitsthanthe6digitsstyle?Howmanytimesaslargeisthe
numberoflicenseplatespossiblewithastyleusing2letters
followedby4digitsasisthenumberpossiblewitha6digitsstyle?
(Ignorethefactthatsomechoicesofletterscouldnotbeused
becausetheywouldsuggestinappropriatewordsorphrases.)
c. Designastyleforlicenseplatenumberingforyourstate.Explain
whyyouchosethatstyle.
15.Locatethedecimalpointsintheproductsbythinkingaboutthepart
ofanamountmeaningformultiplication.Insertzerosintheproduct,if
needed.
a.0.6x128.5=777(Wheredoesthedecimalpointgo?)
b.0.8x0.95=76
c.0.75x23.8=1785
d.0.04x36.5=146
e.0.328x0.455=14924
f.0.65x0.1388=9022

3.5WaysofThinkingaboutDivision
Nextweturnnexttodivision.Therearetwocommontypesofsituations
thatcallfordivision,andtheybothappearinvirtuallyeverycurriculum.A
thirdview,whichyoumayrecognizefromyourearliercoursework,is
moreencompassingandmathematicallyincludesthefirsttwoviews.
Underanyoftheseviews,thisvocabularyapplies:
Inadivisionsituationthatcanbedescribedbyab=q,theaiscalled
thedividend,biscalledthedivisor,andqiscalledthequotient.Ina
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.79

divisionsituationinwhichbisnotafactorofa,thesituationcanbe
describedasab=q+ br ,thequotientisq+ br ,andthequantityris
calledtheremainder.Thissituationisalsowrittenasab=q
Remainderr.Notethatthedivisorcanneverbe0.
Example13In284=7,28isthedividend,4isthedivisor,and7
isthequotient.IntheusualU.S.calculationform,
divisor dividend ,thequotientiswrittenontopofthedividend.
Theremayalsobearemainder,asin134=3R1,or3 14 .
Divisioncalculationsthathavearemainderof0areinformallysaid
tocomeouteven.
Onebasicviewofthedivisionabiscalledthemeasurementview.
Themeasurementviewof
divisionasrepeated
ThisfollowsfromHowmanymeasuresofbareina?Becausethe

subtractionistheusualbasis

answercanoftenbefoundbyrepeatedlysubtractingbfroma,thisview
forthestandardalgorithmfor
wholenumberdivision.IfIset
ofdivisionisalsosometimesreferredtoastherepeatedsubtraction
outtofind35426,Iam
viewofdivision.Thisviewisalsocalledthequotitiveviewof
askinghowmany26sarein

354.Thefirststepistowrite
theprobleminthelong
divisionformatandthenplace
Youwillfindthatdifferenttextbooksusedifferentterms.
a1over5,indicatingthatthere
areatleast1026sin354,
whicharethensubtractedfrom
354,leaving94.A3isthen
Example14
placedoverthe4,indicating
thatwecansubtract3more
Whenaskedwhat124means,onewouldsayitmeansHow
26s,etc.Youmaywanttouse
many4saretherein12orHowmanymeasuresorcountsof4are
justoneoftheseterms
in12andtheanswercanbeobtainedbyrepeatedlysubtracting4
(measurement,repeated
untilthe12aregone,resultinginaquotientof3.Whenaskedwhat
subtraction,orquotitive)but
studentsshouldatleastseethe
134means,wecanrepeatedlysubtract4threetimesagain,
resultinginapartialquotientof3,butthistimethereisaotherterms.Thelongdivision
algorithmisdiscussedin
remainder,1,becauseitwasnotpossibletoagainsubtract4.
Chapter4.

division.

ThinkAbout...Whatismeantby 4 2 ,usingthemeasurementview?
3

Howcanonethinkofusingrepeatedsubtractiontofindthequotient?
Whatismeantby0.60.05?

Usingthemeasurementviewofdivisiononecouldask,Howmany
measuresof 12 arein 43 ?
ThinkAbout2...Supposeachildhasthisproblemsituation:Danesse

has3friends.Shehas12cookiestosharewiththem.Howmanycookies
doeseachofthefourpeopleget?Howdoyousupposeachildwhodoes
notyetunderstanddivisionmightmodelthissituation?

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.80

Anotherbasicviewofdivisionissharingequally.Whenonequantity
(thedividend)issharedbyanumberofobjects(thedivisor),the
quantityassociatedwitheachobjectisthequotient.Thissharing
notionofdivisionisalsocalledpartitivedivision.
Example15
Danesseprobablysharedhercookiesbysayingoneforyou,onefor
you,etc.Thusthe12cookiesaresharedequallybyfourpeople,and
eachgetsthreecookies.Or,youmightsaythatthe12cookieshave
beenpartitionedintofoursetsofthesamesize.

Activity:HighwayRepair
Activity10HighwayRepair
1.Measurement:Repeatedly
subtract2.5milesuntilthere
Arethesetwoproblemsthesame?Whichviewofdivisionis
isnohighwayleft.The
representedineach?Wouldyoumakethesamedrawingforeach?
numberoftimes2.5is
1.Thehighwaycrewhasseveralmilesofhighwaytorepair.Past
subtractedisthenumberof
days.
experiencesuggeststhattheycanrepair2.5milesinaday.How

manydayswillittakethemtorepairthestretchofhighway?

2.Partitive:Partitionthe
highwayinto2.5parts 2.Thehighwaycrewhasthesamestretchofhighwaytorepair.But
(probablybyfirstcuttingittheymustdoitin2.5days.Howmanymileswilltheyhaveto
into5equalparts).Onepart
repaireachdaytofinishthejobontime?
canbecompletedinoneday.
Notethatthelengthofthe
Discussion4PracticingtheMeanings
stretchofhighwayneednot
beknowninorderto Tellwhateachcouldmeanwitheachviewofdivision.
understandwhichviewof
1.857
divisionisindicated.

2.22.52

3. 87 (repeatedsubtractionviewonly)
4.1.080.4(repeatedsubtractionviewonly)
Amoregeneralwayofthinkingaboutdivisionisthemissingfactor
viewofdivisioninwhichaquestionisaskedaboutamissingfactor
that,whenmultipliedbythedivisor,wouldresultinthedividend.That
factoristhequotient.
Example16
124=nwouldbeassociatedwithn4=12(withrepeated
subtractioninmind)or4n=12(withsharinginmind).Indeed,
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.81

thecommonwaytocheckadivisioncalculationistocalculate
divisorquotient,andseewhethertheproductisthedividend.

Discussion:Dividingby
Zero
Itisextremely
importanttohavethis
discussioninclass.The
factthatonecannot
divideby0isamystery
tomanystudents.

Amissingfactorviewcouldreplacetheearliertwoviewsofdivision,
oncetheyareunderstood.Becauseouremphasisisonmathematicsfor
theelementaryschool,ourattentionwillcenterontherepeatedsubtraction
andsharingviews.Keepthemwellinmind.
Discussion5DividingbyZero
Youcantdivideby0.Anelementaryschoolteachershould
knowwhythisisnotthecase.Perhapstheeasiestwaytothink
abouttheissueistothinkofcheckingadivisioncalculation;the
relatedmultiplication,divisorquotient,shouldequalthe
dividend.So124=3istruebecause34=12.
1. Check50=n.Whatnumber,ifany,checks?
2. Check00=n.Whatnumber,ifany,checks?
3. Achildsays,Wait!Lastyearmyteachersaid,Anynumber
dividedbyitselfis1.Soisnt00=1?Whatdoyoureply?
Thus,eithernonumberchecks(asin50)oreverynumberchecks(asin
00)whendividingbyzero.Eitherisclearlyagoodreasontosaythat
divisionbyzeroisundefined,orYoucantdividebyzero.
TakeAwayMessageJustaswithotheroperations,therearedifferentcontexts
thatcanbedescribedbydivision:
1.

Findingthenumberoftimesaparticularvaluecanberepeatedlysubtracted
fromanothervalue.Thisviewofdivisionhasdifferentlabels:repeated
subtractiondivision,measurementmeaningofdivision,andquotitivemeaning
ofdivision.

2.

Findingthenumberineachshareifaquantityissharedequallybyanumberof
objects.Thisviewofdivisioniscalledsharingequallydivision,orpartitive
division.

3.

Findingthemissingfactorthat,whenmultipliedbyanotherknownfactor,
wouldresultinaknownproduct.Thisviewofdivisioniscalledthemissing
factorviewofdivision.Mathematically,thisviewcanencompassthefirsttwo
views,butwedependonthefirsttwoviewswhenhelpingchildrento
understanddivision.

4.

Whenonevalue(thedividend)isdividedbyanother(thedivisor,whichcannot
be0)theresultisavaluecalledthequotient.Insituationswherethequotient
mustbeexpressedasawholenumber,thereissometimesavalueremaining,
calledtheremainder.

5.

Forgoodreasons,divisionbyzeroisundefined.Thatis,onecannotdividebyzero.

Learning Exercises for Section 3.5

LE3.5Studentsdonot
1. Fortherepeatedsubtraction(alsocalledmeasurementorquotitive)
haveanswersfor2,3,4,
viewofdivision,makeupTWOstoryproblemsthatyouthinkchildren

5a,5c,5d,7,or8.Besure
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.82
toassign1,2,and9.

wouldfindinteresting.Dothesameforthesharing(partitive)viewof
division.
2. Illustrate123withdrawingsofcountersusingtherepeatedsubtraction
viewandthenthesharingview.Noticehowthedrawingsdiffer.
3. Writestoryproblemsthatcouldleadtothefollowingequations.
a. 15012=n(partitive)
b. 15012=n(repeatedsubtraction)
c. 34=n(partitive)
d. 34=n(repeatedsubtraction)
4. Afteryearsofworkingwithdivisioninvolvingwholenumbers,
childrenoftenformtheerroneousgeneralization,divisionmakes
smaller.Giveadivisionproblemwhichshowsthatdivisiondoesnot
alwaysmakesmaller.
5. Considerthefollowingsituation:MountAztecais1.3kmhigh.Thereare
3differenttrailsfromthestartingplaceatthebottomtothetopofthe
mountain.Onetrailis4.5kmlong,anotheris3.5kmlong,andthemost
difficultis2.4km.
Foreachcomputationindicatedbelow,finishthestoryproblemstarted
abovesothatyourproblemcouldleadtothecomputationdescribed.As
always,itmaybehelpfultomakeadrawingofthesituationandthink
aboutthequantitiesinvolved.
a.32.4

b.(4.5+3.5)(22.4

c.4.53(partitive)

d.4.53(repeatedsubtraction)e.102.4
6. a.AnationaltestonceusedaquestionlikeThebuscompanyknowsthat
afteraballgame,1500peoplewillwanttocatchabusbacktothemain
busterminal.Eachbuscanhold36people.Howmanybusesshould
thecompanyhaveready?Whatisyouranswertothequestion?
b.Therewillbe300childrensinginginadistrictsongfest.Eachsinger
getsasash.Sashescomeinboxesof8.Calculate3008,andthen
answerthefollowingfromyourcalculation.
b1.Howmanyboxesofsashesshouldthedistrictorder?
b2.Ifthedistrictordersonly37boxes,howmanychildrenwouldnot
getasash?
7. Analyzethequantitiesinthissettingtogeneratesomequestionsyoucan
answer:
Onecompanyplanstoopen505acresaroundanoldgoldminingsiteand
toprocessthegroundchemically.Thecompanyhopestoextract636,000
ouncesofgoldfrom48milliontonsoforeandwasterock,overa6 12 year
period.Thecompanyexpectstogetabout$200millionforthegold.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.83

8. Thesixproblemsbelowweretakenfromelementaryschoolmathematics
textbooks.Discussthemeaningorinterpretationofdivisionineach
problemandexplainhowyouwouldhelpstudentsvisualizetheactionin
theproblemandconnectittoameaningofdivision.Identifythequantities
ineachandtellhowtousethemtodrawadiagramforeachproblem.
a. Theparkbought900kgofsealfood.Thefoodcomesinboxesof12kg
each.Howmanyboxesdidtheparkbuy?(fourthgrade)
b. Thedolphinsate525kgoffoodin3weeks.Whatistheaverage
numberofkilogramsoffoodtheyateeachday?(fourthgrade)
c. Asalespersondroveabout34,500kmin46weeks.Whatwasthe
averagedistancethesalespersondroveeachweek?(fifthgrade)
d. Theartteacherhas128strawsinthesupplyroom.Eachstudentneeds
16strawsforanartproject.Howmanystudentscandotheartproject?
(fifthgrade)
e. Astrangecoincidence.Sixhenseachweighsthesame.Theirtotal
weightis35lbs.Howmuchdoeseachhenweigh?(sixthgrade)

Discussion6:Indian...

f. Ittakes1minutetomakeagadget.Howmanygadgetscanbemadein
TheworkofStudent1islike
14minutes?(sixthgrade)
thestandardalgorithmexceptthe
workislefttoright.Student2
9. Whatis243?24030?2400300?240003000?2.40.3?
wantedtofindtwentyfour16s,
Formulatearuleforfindingquotientssuchasthese.
soitmadesensetowrite16

twentyfourtimes.Shecombined
10.Reflecton:Ifyouwerenottaughtbyateacherwhoclarifiedthe
pairsof16s,gettingtwelve32s,
meaningsofoperations,howdidthisaffectyourabilitytosolve,and
thencombinedpairsof32stoget
developanattitudetoward,storyproblems?
six64s.Whencombiningpairs

of64s,shefirstcombinedpairs
of60togetthree120sthen
3.6ChildrenFindProductsandQuotients
addedonthesix4s.Whilethisis
oneofthelessefficientwaysof
Whenstudentscananalyzesituationsthatinvolvefindingaproductora
findingtheanswer,itdoeswork
quotient,theymightusenovelmethodsforcomputing,perhapsnoteven
thestudentcanatleastwork
realizingthattheyaremultiplyingordividing.Inthissectionyouwillsee
theproblem,basedon
avarietyofwaysthatchildrenthinkaboutmultiplicationanddivision
understanding.Amoreefficient
problems.
wayshouldcomeaboutasshe
viewstheworkofothers.
Discussion6IndianRiverOranges
Lookforopportunitiesforgood
questionslikethisonefor#3:
Inathirdgradeclassroomthefocushadbeenonunderstanding
Whatiftherewere14piecesof
problemsituationsandthechildrenknewthatmultiplicationcanbe
fruitineachofthe24bags?In
v
the4thcase,thestudentusedthe
thoughtofasrepeatedaddition.Theywereworkingonthisproblem
equalsignimproperly,butdid
EveryChristmasmyfathergetsbigboxesoffruit,likeIndianRiver
appeartounderstandwhatthe
oranges,fromhiscompany.Wegetsomanypiecesoffruitthatwe
problemrequired.However,
havetogivesomeaway.Thisyearweendedupmaking24grocery
prospectiveteachersalsooften
bagsoffruitwith16piecesineachbag.Howmanypiecesdidwebag
usetheequalsigninthisfashion
andshouldnotbeallowedtodo
altogether?Discusswhatyouthinkeachchildwasthinkingaboutin
so.Itcanbeveryconfusingto
eachcasebelow.
studentsandmodelsincorrect
writingofmathematics.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.84

1.
2.
20x10=20016
32
20x6=120
16
320
16
32
16
4x10=40
16
32
4x6= 24
16
64
16
32
320
16
384
(continued
24times)
3.
80

40

24
24
24
24

16

64

64

64
64
64
64
64
64

120
120

240

120

360
24
384

4.
16x12=10x12=120
6x12= 72
192
192
384

16 40
8
Discussion8:1.10isfartoofew,
96
14istoomany,souse13.The
96
remainderislessthan160so13
96
works.Thereminderis120ml.
192
192
2.Askwhetherthesolutionshows
384
apartitive(sharingequally)or
repeatedsubtractionwayof (Note:Student2actuallywrotethenumber16twentyfourtimes.)
thinkingaboutdivision.Astory
Discussion7WhatWereTheyThinking?
context,asin#1,isoftenhelpfulin
thinkingaboutasolution.Thereare
1. Justify,usingyourknowledgeofplacevalueandmultiplication,eachofthe
three20sin78,with18leftover.
methodsusedinDiscussion6.
18=10+8.Divideboth8and10
2. Discusstherelativeclarityandtherelativeefficiencyofthefourmethods.
by3.Thereare2threesin8and3
3. Anotherchild(Student5)wasaskedtofind5462andwrote:FirstIdid50
threesin10.Wenowhave20+2+
3=25threes.Turningtothe
60wich(sic)cameto3000.ThenIdid604andthenIaddeditonto3000
remainders,wefindanotherthree
wich(sic)cameto3240.ThenIdid502whichcameto100andthisIadded
foratotalof26threes.
itontothe3240whichcameto3340thenIdid42whichcametoeightand
3.35twiceis70.Sosubtracting
that'showitcameto3348."Workthroughthisthinkingtoseewhetheritis
successive70sissubtractingtwo
correct.
35sasatime.
4.Alsorepeatedsubtractions.The
Discussion8ThinkingAboutDivision
Greenwoodorscaffoldalgorithm
Hereissomechildren'sworkvionwhatwetypicallyregardasdivision
wasrevivedduringNewMathdays
inthe1960s.
problems.Noneofthesechildrenhadlearnedthestandarddivision
5.Oneway:Thinkofsharing;42
algorithmbutcopedquitewellwithoutit.Youaretostudyeach
objectsaretobeplacedin7piles.
methodandtellwhatyouthinkeachchildisthinking.Thefirstchild
Firstput40oftheobjectsinto10
wasabout7yearsoldandhadnotlearnedaboutdivision,butheknew
piles(becausethechildcandothis
howtomultiplyusingthecalculator.Thesecondchild,alsoabout7,
division).Ihave4thingsineach
pile,andIhave3pilestoomany.
knewsimpledivisionfactsandusedthemtohisadvantage.Notethe
Putthoseobjectstogether;thereare
wayhedealswithremainders.
12objects.Addthe2thatwereleft
fromusingonly40objectsrather
than42,giving14objects.This
allows2moreineachoftheseven
remainingpiles.Therearenow4+
2or6ineachpile.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.85

Student1
Howmanycupscontaining
160mlarein2200ml?
10160=1600
13160=2080
14160=2240
So13cups,120mlleft
over.

Student2
Whatis78dividedby3?
20+20+20=60
83=2rem2
103=3rem1
2+1=3
33=1
So783=26

Thenexttwosolutionswerefromchildreninfourthgradewhohad
beensolvingproblemsrequiringdivision.Theteacherhadnotyet
taughtthemaparticularmethodfordividing.However,theyknew
thatdivisioncouldbethoughtofasrepeatedsubtraction.123could
befoundbyaskinghowmanytimes3couldbesubtractedfrom12;
theansweris4times.
Student3
28035
280
70
210
70
140
70
70
70
0
Sofour70siseight35s.

Student4
27) 3247

2700
100
547
270
10

277
270
10
7120
So324727=120remainder7.
ThefourthwayistheGreenwoodor
scaffoldalgorithm,datingbacktothe
seventeenthcentury.

Thenextchildwasinfirstgradeandknewafewsimpledivisionand
multiplicationfacts.Healsoknewwhatdivisionmeant,andinhis
headhemadeupastorythatheexplainedafterhehadgiventhe
methodthatappearshere.vii
Student5
What's427?Well,40dividedby10is4,and3times4is12,and12and2is14,
and14dividedby7is2,and2plus4is6,soit's6.

Doyouunderstandthethinkingofeachstudent?(Thelastonemaybe
difficult.)Whatknowledgeofplacevaluedidthesestudentshave?
TakeAwayMessageWhenyoungchildrencanworkproblemssuchasAmelia
has6vasesand24roses.Shewantstoputthesamenumberofrosesineachvase.
The pagination from
Howmanyroseswillsheputineachvase?orAmeliahas24rosesandsomevases.
this page to the end of
the chapter is not the
Ifshewantstoplace4rosesineachvase,howmanyvaseswillsheneed?,theyare
same as in the student
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.86
text.

doingdivision.Theymayfindthequotientineachcasebyactingitout.Asthe
numbersineachsituationbecomelarger,themethodstheyusemayseemmore
complexbecausewefinditmoredifficulttofollowtheirreasoning.Inactuality,they
areusingoneofthethreedifferentviewsofdivisiontosolveeachproblem.They
dealwiththesituationathand,solvingtheprobleminasensemakingmanner.
Studentdevisedmethodsmayhelpthemtolaterdevelopandunderstand
algorithmsforfindingquotients.

Learning Exercises for Section 3.6

Exercises1through5refertothechildrensworkinDiscussion8.
1. Howisthefirststudent'smethodrelatedtoestimating?
2. Thesecondstudentshowsremarkablefacilityindealingwith
remainders.Trythismethodyourselfon56dividedby4.
3. Student3solvedthedivisionproblembyrepeatedlysubtracting.What
areadvantagesanddisadvantagesofthismethod?
4. Student4'smethodofdividingissometimescalledthescaffolding
method,andinsomeschoolsitistaughtasafirstalgorithmfordoing
division.Compareittothestandarddivisionalgorithmintermsof
advantagesanddisadvantages.
5. Student5'smethodfordividingisperhapsthemostdifficultoneto
understand.Supposeyoustartbytellingyourselfyouhave42candies
toshareamong7people,andsinceyoudon'tknowhowmanyeach
personshouldget,youbeginwith10piles.Whenyouhavefiguredthis
methodout,tryiton639.
6.Thefollowingproblemwaswrittenbyathirdgraderwhowas
challengedbyherfathertomakeupsomestoryproblemsforhimto
solve.Howmuchoftheinformationgivenisusedtosolvethe
problem?Whatwouldyouaskthischildaboutthisproblem(in
additionto:Wheredidyoulearnthewordheedless?)?
Aliciawasaheedlessbreaker,andshebroke24lampsinone
week.Herparentspaid$7.00foreverylightbulbshecrackedto
replaceit.Herparentsonlypaidfor5bulbsinaweek,like
MondayFriday.Answerthequestionbelow:
Howmuchmoneydidherparentspayforoneweek,notcounting
theweekend?

3.7IssuesforLearning:DevelopingNumberSense
Theideaofdevelopingnumbersenseintheelementarygradesisacrucial
one.Toooften,whenfocusingjustonanswersratherthanonboth
reasoningandanswers,childrendonottrytomakesenseofmathematics
asshownbycontrastingthetwoelementaryclassroomsdescribedby
Howden.viiiSheaskedstudentsinonefirstgradeclassroominavery
transientneighborhoodtotellwhatcametomindwhenshesaidtwenty
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.87

LE3.6Studentsdonothave
answersto2and3.Assignall
sixexercises.

4.Scaffoldingmaytakelonger
becauseitinvolveswriting
moredown.(Isthis
important?)Butthescaffolding
methodismoreeasily
understoodandremembered
andtakesmuchlesstimeto
learn.

four.Thechildrenimmediatelygaveavarietyofanswers:twodimesand
fourpennies,twodozeneggs,fournickelsandfourpennies,takeapenny
awayfromaquarter,thedaybeforeChristmas,mymotherwas24last
year,whenthehand(onagroceryscalehangingintheroom)isalmostin
themiddleoftwentyandthirty.Whensheaskedthisquestioninathird
gradeclassroominaprofessionalcommunity,24wasjustanumberthatis
writteninacertainway,thatappearsonacalendaroronadigitalwatch.
Howdenclaimedthestudentsinthefirstgradeclasshadmorenumber
sense.Shesaid:
Numbersensecanbedescribedasagoodintuitionaboutnumbersand
theirrelationships.Itdevelopsgraduallyasaresultofexploring
numbers,visualizingtheminavarietyofcontexts,andrelatingthem
inwaysthatarenotlimitedbytraditionalalgorithms.Sincetextbooks
arelimitedtopaperandpencilorientation,theycanonlysuggestideas
tobeinvestigated,theycannotreplacethedoingofmathematicsthat
isessentialforthedevelopmentofnumbersense.Nosubstituteexists
foraskillfulteacherandanenvironmentthatfosterscuriosityand
explorationatallgradelevels(p.11).
Therehasbeenagreatdealwrittenaboutnumbersenseinthepasttwo
decades.Educatorshavecometorealizethatdevelopinggoodnumber
senseisanimportantgoalintheelementaryschool.Infact,animportant
documentfromtheNationalResearchCouncilix,calledEverybody
Counts,containsthestatement:Themajorobjectiveofelementaryschool
mathematicsshouldbetodevelopnumbersense.Likecommonsense,
numbersenseproducesgoodandusefulresultswiththeleastamountof
effort(p.46).
Researchhasshownthatchildrencometoschoolwithagooddealof
intuitiveunderstanding,butthatformanythisunderstandingiserodedby
instructionthatfocusesonsymbolismanddoesnotbuildonintuitive
knowledge.Manyeducatorsnowrecognizethatwecanintroducesymbols
toosoonandthatstudentsneedtobuildanunderstandingofa
mathematicalphenomenonbeforeweattempttosymbolizeit.
Unfortunately,manyteachersbelievethatwhileanemphasison
understandingisgoodforsomestudents,others,particularlythosein
innercityschoolsandinremedialprograms,needamorerigidapproach
tomathematics.Yetaverylargeresearchstudyxofacademicinstruction
fordisadvantagedelementaryschoolstudentsshowedthatmathematics
instructionthatfocusedonunderstandingwashighlybeneficialtothe
students.Bycomparisonwithconventionalprograms,instructionthat
emphasizesmeaningandunderstandingismoreeffectiveatinculcating
advancedskills,isatleastaseffectiveatteachingbasicskills,andengages
childrenmoreextensivelyinacademiclearning(p.i).

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.88

Numbersenseisawayofthinkingaboutnumbersandtheiruses,andit
hastopermeateallofmathematicsteachingifmathematicsistomake
sensetostudents.Itdevelopsgradually,overtime.Alloftheinstructionin
thesepagesfocusesonhelpingyoudevelopnumbersenseandrecognizeit
whenitoccurs.Forexample,mentalcomputationandcomputational
estimationbothbuildonnumbersenseandcontinuetodevelopit.The
examplesofchildren'smethodsofoperatingonnumbersdemonstrate,in
mostcases,agooddealofnumbersenseonthepartofthestudents.

TakeAwayMessageStudentsexhibitgoodnumbersensewhentheycanfindways
totackleproblems,suchassubtraction,multiplication,anddivision,eventhough
theyhavenotbeentaughtprocedurestosolvethesetypesofproblems.Teachers
musthavegoodnumbersenseiftheyaregoingtobesuccessfulinhelpingtheir
studentsdevelopit.Doyouhavegoodnumbersense?Doyouthinkyouare
developingbetternumbersense?

Learning Exercises for Section 3.7

ThefirstfiveLearningExerciseswill,liketheearlierchildren'swork,give
youabetterideaofwhatnumbersensemeans.
1. Ineachpair,choosethelarger.Explainyourreasoning(andusenumber
senseratherthancalculating).
a.135+98,or114+92
1
2

3
4

c. + ,or1

1
2

b.4619,or4617
d.0.0358,or0.0016+0.313

2. Is4691more,orless,than5000?Isitmore,orless,than3600?
Explain.
3. Supposeyoumayroundonlyoneofthenumbersin3283.Which
onewouldyouchoose,32or83,togetclosertotheexactanswer?
Explainwithadrawing.
4. Withoutcomputingexactanswers,explainwhyeachofthefollowingis
incorrect.
a. 310
b. 119
c. 27 3 = 621
520
46
630
137
d. 36 0.5 = 18
150
940
+ 470
+ 300
2081
602
5. Supposethatthesumof5twodigitwholenumbersislessthan100.
Decidewhethereachofthefollowingmustbetrue,false,ormaybe
true.Explainyouranswers.
a. Eachnumberislessthan20.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.89

Studentsdonothave
answersfor1a,c,d;2;4,
5b,c,d;5;6e,f;7b,9

b. Onenumberisgreaterthan60.
c. Fourofthenumbersaregreaterthan20,andoneislessthan20.
d. Iftwoarelessthan20,atleastoneisgreaterthan20.
e. Ifallfivearedifferent,thentheirsumisgreaterthanorequalto60.
6.Lookforcompatiblenumberstoestimatethese:
a.36+47+52+18+69 b.3942

c.1268927

d.34,67849e.19+26+79+12+74

f.436773

7. a. Aquickestimateof569.35is5.6,from5610.Abetter
estimatewouldadjustthe5.6up.Explainwhy,usingameaning
fordivision.
b. Aquickestimateof71510.2146is71.5.Abetterestimate
wouldadjustthe71.5down.Explainwhy,usingameaningfor
division.
8. Consider150.685.34.Inestimatingtheproductbycalculating150
5,onehasignoredthedecimalpartofeachnumber.Inrefiningthe
estimate,whichdecimalpart(the0.68orthe0.34)shouldbethefocus?
Explain.
9. Inmultiplyingdecimalsbytheusualalgorithm,thedecimalpointsdo
notneedtobealigned(incontrasttotheusualwaysofaddingand
subtractingdecimals).Whynot?

Section3.8CheckYourself
Thisveryfullchapterfocusedonhowchildrencancometounderstandthe
fourarithmeticoperationsonwholenumbers.Asteachers,eithernowor
inthefuture,youneedtobeabletoreasonthroughachildssolutionthat
isdifferentfromoneyoumayhaveseenbefore.Ofcourse,thiscannot
alwaysbedonequickly,butchildrenshouldnotbetoldtheirworkis
incorrectwhenitisnot.Sometimesastudenthasauniqueandwonderful
wayofusingknowledgeofnumberstructuretofindasolutionsucha
childhasgoodnumbersense.Atothertimestheanswersarewrong
becauseofalackofunderstandingoftheunderlyingplacevaluestructure
ofthenumbers.
Youshouldbeabletoworkproblemslikethoseassignedandtomeetthe
followingobjectives.
1.Identifytheoperationsandtheviewofthatoperationthatfitsaproblem
situationinvolvinganyofthefouroperations.
2.Writestoryproblemsthatcorrectlyillustrateanyspecifiedviewofan
operation;forexample,writeastoryproblemwiththemissingaddend
viewofsubtraction.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.90

3.Providereasonswhysomeviewsofoperationsaremoredifficultthan
others.
4.Explainwhyusingkeywordsisnotagoodstrategyforanswering
storyproblems(seeSection3.2LearningExercises).
5.Studystudentsarithmeticproceduresandexplainhowthestudentsare
reasoning.
6.Describewhy,inmanycountries,theemptynumberlineisapopular
wayofbeginningadditionandsubtractionofmultipledigitnumbers.
7.Describehowyouwouldexplaintosomeonethatmultiplicationmakes
biggerisnotalwaystrue.
8.Describewhatismeantbynumbersenseandhowyouwould
recognizeit.
References for Chapter 3
i

Thompson,P.W.(1996).Imageryandthedevelopmentofmathematicalreasoning.InL.
P.Steffe,B.Greer,P.Nesher,&G.Goldin(Eds.),Theoriesoflearningmathematics
(pp.267283).Hillsdale,NJ:Erlbaum.

ii

Hatano,G.,&Inagaki,K.(1996).Culturalcontextsofschoolingrevisited:Areviewof
TheLearningGapfromaculturalpsychologyperspective.Paperpresentedatthe
ConferenceonGlobalProspectsforEducation:Development,Cultureand
Schooling,EastLansing,MI.

iii

Carpenter,T.P.(1989,August).Numbersenseandothernonsense.Paperpresentedat
theEstablishingFoundationsforResearchonNumberSenseandRelatedTopics
Conference,SanDiego,CA.

iv

Shuard,H.,Walsh,A.,Goodwin,J.,&Worcester,V.(1991).Primaryinitiativesin
mathematicseducation:Calculators,childrenandmathematics.London:Simonand
Schuster.

Kamii,C.,&Livingston,S.J.(1994).Classroomactivities.InL.Williams(Ed.),Young
childrencontinuetoreinventarithmeticin3rdgrade:ImplicationsofPiaget's
theory(pp.81146).NewYork:TeachersCollegePress.

vi

Shuard,H.,Walsh,A.,Goodwin,J.,&Worcester,V.(1991).Primaryinitiativesin
mathematicseducation:Calculators,childrenandmathematics.London:Simonand
Schuster.

vii

Harel,Guershon.Personalconversationwithachildheinterviewed.

viii

Howden,H.(1989).Teachingnumbersense.ArithmeticTeacher,36(6),611.

ix

NationalResearchCouncil.(1989).Everybodycounts:Areporttothenationonthe
futureofmathematicseducation.Washington,DC:NationalAcademyPress.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.91

Knapp,M.S.,Shields,P.M.,&Turnbull,B.J.(1992).Academicchallengeforthe
childrenofpoverty(SummaryLC88054001).Washington,DC:U.S.Departmentof
Education.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter3InstructorsVersionp.92

Chapter 4
Some Conventional Ways of Computing
Thepreviouschapterintroducedyoutosomeofthewayschildreninvent
forcarryingoutarithmeticoperations.Theproceduresyouyourselfuse
areprobablythestandardonesyoulearnedinelementaryschool.Contrary
towhatsomebelieve,thesealgorithms,orprocedures,tookcenturiesto
evolve,andotheralgorithmsarestandardelsewhere.Inthissectionwe
willlookatthoseproceduresforcarryingoutarithmeticoperationsmore
carefully,andcometounderstandhowandwhytheywork.

SEEINSTRUCTORNOTE4
foranoverviewand.
Introductiontothissection.

4.1OperatingonWholeNumbersandDecimalNumbers
Thearithmeticoperationsonwholenumbersorondecimalnumbersare
similarsincethesamebasetenstructureunderliesbothoftheseforms.
Thecomputationsarehighlydependentonthisbasetenstructure.
Developingsensiblestepbystepprocedures,oralgorithms,tocarryout
thearithmeticoperationsofaddition,subtraction,multiplication,and
divisiondemandsunderstandingourbasetensystem.Whenstudentshave
difficultywithcomputationalalgorithms,manyerrorstheymakecanbe
tracedbacktoalackofunderstandingofourbasetensystem.
ThinkAbout...Arethealgorithmsyouuseforthefourarithmetic
operationsbasedonrighttoleftorlefttorightprocedures?Canallbe
undertakenworkingfromlefttoright?

Somechildrenunderstandalgorithmsbetterwhentheyareillustratedwith
basetenmaterialsordrawing.
Example1Usebasetendrawingstoillustrate174+36.
SolutionStep1:Representtheproblem,usingthesmallcubeas1.
174
+ 36
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.93

The addition, subtraction,

and multiplication
algorithms are right-toleft procedures, but need
not be. And the division
algorithm is left-to-right.
Mental computation and
estimation are often
undertaken left-to-right.
Some of the studentdeveloped procedures in
the last section illustrate
this.


Step2.Placeallcubestogether;replace10smallcubeswithonelong.
1

174
+36
0

Step 3. Place all longs together; replace 10 longs with one flat
11

174
+36
10

Step4.Putlikeblockstogethertorepresentthesum.
11

174
+ 36
210

Activity1
Firstmodelaproblemas
indicatedintheintroduction
tothischapter.Pointoutthat
theoldtermcarrydoes
correspondtoworkwiththe
blocks,buttheterm
borrowforsubtraction
doesnotworkaswell.
Termslikerenameor
regrouparecommonly
usednowadaysratherthan
theolderterms.See
InstructorNote2.4Aforan
exampleofhowtomodela
subtractionproblemwith
drawings.

Actoutthefollowingcalculationsusingbasetenblocksordrawings,
whicheverisappropriate.Thenredoeachandrecordnumericallyat
eachstep.Itisimportantthatonewritesdownthestepsasthe
proceduresareundertaken,withthenumericalworklinkedtothe
workwiththeblocks,software,ordrawings.Whenyouusebaseten
blocksordrawings,besureyouspecifywhichblockordrawingis
beingusedtorepresentonewhole.
1. 312124
2. 3x21
3. 123+88
4. 12.3+88
5. 12.3+8.8
6. 12.3+0.88
7. Describewhatnewblockswouldbeneededtocompute235.42+
6.345.
Multiplicationanddivisionalgorithmsaremoredifficulttounderstand
thanadditionandsubtractionalgorithms.Inthelastsectionyousawsome
multiplicationalgorithmsthatcouldeasilyleadtothestandardalgorithm
thatyouuse.Ifchildrenunderstandplacevalueandusethattomultiply,
theywillunderstandtheprocess.Thefirstexampleonthenextpage
showsallsixpartialproducts.Thesecondexampleisashortenedwayto
findtheproductusingjusttwopartialproducts.Ifchildrenfirstlearnto
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.94

writeallpartialproducts,theywillunderstandwherethepartialproducts
comefrominthecondensedalgorithm.Notetheuseofdecomposing348
as8+40+300andthenusingthedistributiveproperty.

348
x 26
48
240
1800
160
800
6000
9048
3.48
x 2.6
.048
.240
1.800
.160
.800
6.000
9.048

=6x8
= 6 x 40
= 6 x 300
= 20 x 8
= 20 x 40
= 20 x 300

348
x 26
2088 = 6 x 348
6960 = 20 x 348
9048

(Note that 348 = 300 + 40 + 8.)

We can also use all partial products to make sense of

multiplying by decimal numbers.
3.48
x 2.6
= .6 x .08
2.088 = .6 x 3.48
= .6 x .4
6.960 = 2 x 3.48
= .6 x 3
9.048
= 2 x .08
= 2 x .4
=2x3

Studentsmayneedpractice
onpartofanamount
thinkingforproducts
involving0.6

Activity2YourTurn
Multiply1.3x 2.4,showingallpartialproducts.
Hereisanexampleofaseriesofdivisionalgorithmsfor47237that
leadstothestandardalgorithmthatyouprobablyuse.Inthefirstexample,
37saresubtracted10atatimeor1atatime.Inthesecond,wesubtract
othermultiplesof37(inthiscase2).Inthethird,wesimplymovethe10
and2tothetop.Inthelast,wedonotwrite10,butonlythefirstdigitof
10,alignedwiththetensplaceinthedividend,andthusleavingroomfor
adigitintheonesplacesothatthe2canbefilledin.Noticethatthe
standardalgorithmyoulearnedisjustacondensedversionofsubtracting
37s.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.95

Whenprospectiveteachers
havelearnedhoweasythe
divisionalgorithmisto
understand,andalsorealize
thattheycoulduseanyoneof
thealgorithmsgivenbelowto
dolongdivision,they
sometimesreactinanger,
sayingthattheyshouldhave
beentaughtthisinelementary
schoolratherthanbeingmade
tosufferoveryearsoflearning
howtodivide.

12
2
1012
37) 472

SEEINSTRUCTOR
NOTE4.1foranother
exampleofmoving
fromanonstandardto
astandardalgorithm
fordivision.

370
10
102
37
1
65
37
1
28 12

37) 472

37) 472

37) 472

370
102

74
28

37
102
74
28

370
10
102
74
2
28
12

Thus472dividedby37is12witharemainderof28.Noticethateach
successivetimethedivisionproblemisworked,itbecomesalittlemore
condensed,sothatthefinalillustrationmatchesthewaymostofus
learnedtodivide.However,thepreviousthreeillustrationsshowthatthe
problemcanbethoughtofashowmany37sarein472,andsubtracting
multiplesof37untilnomorecanbesubtracted.Whilethisishappening,
wekeepcountatthesideorontopofthenumberof37sthathavebeen
subtractedandrecordthem.Studyingthisseriesofalgorithmswillhelp
youunderstandthelastone,whichistheonemostwidelyusedinthe
UnitedStatesbutoftenneverunderstood.
Activity3WhyMovetheDecimalPoint?
Asyouknow,thefirststepinusingtheusualalgorithmfor
calculating,say,56.9063.7istomovethedecimalpointinthe
divisortomakeawholenumber(37)andtomovethedecimalpoint
inthedividendthatnumberofplaces(giving569.06).Usea
calculatorinpartsa.d.toFindanswerstothefollowing(usinga
calculatorifyouwish):
a.56.9063.7
b.(56.906 10)(3.7 10)
c.1.7281.44
d.(1.728 100)(1.44 100)
e.Whatinsightsintothemovethedecimalpointinthedivisorrule
doesthisactivitysuggest?
Activity4NowIKnowHowtoDivideDecimalNumbers
Trydividing0.18by1.5usingeachofthetechniquesdemonstrated
for47237.Useknowledgegainedfromthepreviousactivityto
accountformovingthedecimalpoint.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.96

TakeAwayMessageUndertakingthefundamentalarithmeticoperationsusing
thestandardproceduresiseasierwhenyoucanfirstseethemunpacked,with
eachstepalongthewayclarifiedbyusingpropertiesandthinkingaboutthe
meaningoftheoperationinvolved.Thisworkcanleadtoanunderstandingof
whereallthenumberscomefromandhowthealgorithmcanthenbecondensed
intotheproceduresweallknowandprobablyalluse.

Learning Exercises for Section 4.1

LE4.1Studentsdo
1.Workthroughthefollowingproblems,thinkingabouteachstepyou
nothaveanswersto
perform,andwhy.Ifyouhaveusedbasetenblocksorsketchesofbase
1band2b
Besuretoassign1,2,tenblocks,youcanusethemtohelpyouwiththeseproblems.Ineach
3,and5
case,specifywhatyoudecidetouseasyourunit.Forexample,ifthe

flatisusedtorepresent1,then34.52canberepresentedasfollows:

.. .
a. 56.2+34.52
b. 4x0.39
c. 345.621.21
d. 29128(Thinkofthisasasharingproblem.)
2. Workthroughthefollowingproblemsinthebaseindicated.Write
downyourprocedure,andspecifywhatyouuseasyourunitineach
case.
a. 231+342inbasefive
b. 1000555inbasesix
Ifyoufeelatalluncertainabouttheseproblems,makeupandtry
someofyourown.
3. Showhowyoucoulduseaseriesofalgorithms,suchasthoseinthis
section,toteachanotherpersontounderstandthestandardalgorithms
formultiplicationanddivision:35x426;14910426.
4. Therehavebeen,inthepast,manydifferentalgorithmsdevelopedfor
carryingoutcomputation.Herearetwosuchalgorithmsforcomputing
36x342.Thefirstiscalledthelatticemethodformultiplication,used
bytheArabsinthe1600sandcarriedtoEurope.Themethoddepends
onknowingthemultiplicationfacts,butnotmuchonplacevalue.The
factorsarewrittenacrossthetopandright,andtheanswer,12,312,is
readoffgoingdownontheleftandaroundthebottom.Comparethis
methodtoshowingallpartialproducts.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.97

Checkoutstudents'
understandingofthesteps
inthisalgorithm;they
oftenhavedifficulty
divorcingtheirthinking
fromthealgorithmthey
know.Studentsmost
often,unfortunately,do
notwanttoknowwhy
thesework.Therightto
leftslantsinthelattice
giveentrieswiththesame
placevalue.

3
1
2

9
2

8
3

3
6

Notethattheright
columnis342x20,342
ThesecondiscalledtheRussianpeasantalgorithm.Onenumberis
x21,342x22,...342x
successivelyhalveduntil1isreached(ifitisodd,1issubtracted 25.36is100100inbase
beforehalving)andtheothernumberisdoubledthesamenumberof
2,thatis,36=1x25+
timesthefirstishalved.Numbersinthesecondcolumnarecrossed
0x24+0x23+1x22
outwhenthecorrespondingnumberinthefirstcolumniseven,and
+0x21+0x20.So36
theremainingnumbersareadded.Rereadtheprecedingstepsasyou
x342=(25+22)x342.
studythiscalculationof36x342.
Butthisis1368+
10944.

This algorithm is on
page 91 of the
student text. The
remaining pages in
Thisisanextremelyimportant
this chapter do not
discussion.Asstatedearlier,many
match the pages in
prospectiveteachers(andsome
the student text.
practicingteachers)believethat
learningthestandardalgorithmsin
thesamewaytheydidisthemost
importantcomponentofelementary
schoolmathematics,andthat
calculatorsinelementaryschoolare
harmfulandifusedwillleadto
inabilitytocalculateinotherways.
Thissectionwillhelpthemreflect
ontheseissues.Thereisan
excellentdiscussionofusing
algorithmsinAddingItUp,
publishedbytheNationalResearch
Council.

36

342

18

684

1368

2736

5472

10,944

12,312
Trythesealgorithmson57x623.Theyarenotmagic!Eachcanbe
justifiedmathematically.
5. Useyourunderstandingofdivisiontocompleteeachequation.
If400016=250,then
a. 800016=___________

b.16,00016=_________

c. 200016=___________

d.400032=___________

e. 400064=___________

f.40008=_________

g.40004=_________

h.40000.4=_________

4.2IssuesforLearning:TheRoleofAlgorithms
InSection4.1wefocusedonthemethodsusedincarryingoutthe
arithmeticoperationsonwholenumbersanddecimalnumbers,methods
thatarelikelytobealreadyfamiliartoyou.Bylearningwellone

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.98

algorithmforeachoperation,traditionallongdivisionforexample,that
skillbecomesautomatizedandallowsonetothinkaboutotherthings,for
example,theproblemathandthatledtothedivision.
Discussion1WhatDoYouRemember?
Whatdoyourememberaboutlearningalgorithmicproceduresin
school?Didyouunderstandtheseprocedures?Weretheyeasyor
painfultolearn?Weretheyeasyordifficulttoremember?Doyou
usethemoftennow?Howimportantisittobeabletocarryout
operationsrapidlywithpaperandpencil?
Thestandardalgorithmsarecalled"standard"becausechildrenaretaughtto
dothemthesameway.Theevolutionofthesealgorithmsbeganinthe1600s,
withthedemiseoftheuseoftheRomannumeralsystemduetothehardwon
acceptanceoftheHinduArabicdecimalsystemofnumeration(ourplace
valuesystem).Thealgorithmscameintoexistenceaspeopleattemptedto
becomeasefficientandspeedyaspossibleintheircalculations.Evenso,
someofthealgorithmsweuseherearenotstandardinotherpartsofthe
world.Forexample,oursubtractionalgorithmwasselectedforteachingin
U.S.schoolsbecausearesearchstudyiin1941showedittobeslightly
betterthantheequaladditionsmethodofsubtractionyousawinChapter3,a
methodthatistaughtinmanyothercountries.Thosewholearnedtheequal
additionsalgorithmfindthealgorithmusedintheUnitedStatestobestrange.
Manymathematicseducatorssaythatthereshouldbelessemphasison
teachingpencilandpaperalgorithmsbecausestudentscanusecalculatorsto
compute.Buttheydonotarguethatweshouldthereforenotteachmethodsof
calculatingthatareindependentofcalculatoruse.Onereasonforteaching
calculationmethodsisbecausecalculationisausefultool.Anotherreasonis
thatitmayleadtoadeeperunderstandingofnumberandnumberoperations.
Studentsmakebettersenseofstandardalgorithmswhentheyhavehad
opportunitiestoexplorearithmeticoperationsandfindtheirownwaysof
operatingonnumbers,exemplifiedbythosechildrenwhoseworkyouhave
studiedinthelastchapter.Studentscanthenlearnstandardalgorithmsas
required,becauseinmoststatesandschooldistrictstheyarerequired.Ifthey
learnstandardalgorithmswithanunderstandingofwhytheproceduresleadto
correctanswerstheyaremorelikelytorememberthemandusethem
correctly.
ThinkAbout...Doyouhaveabetterunderstandingofthemultiplicationand
divisionalgorithmsafterseeing,intheprevioussection,howlongeralgorithms
canbeusedtoshowwhystandardalgorithmswork?

What,then,istheroleofcalculatorsinelementaryschool?Calculatorsare
ubiquitous,andaremuchfasterthananyhumancalculator.Willcalculators
somedaycompletelyreplacepaperandpencilcalculations?Notlikely.But

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.99

efficiencyandautomaticityshouldbereconsideredasvalidreasonsfor
teachingarithmeticskills.Thisdoesnotmeanthatpeopleshouldnothave
theseskills,butratherthatfindingananswerusingpaperandpencilmayno
longerneedtoberapid(exceptinsometestingsituations).Therearetimes
whenpencilandpapercomputingshouldbepreferred,andtimeswhen
calculatorsshouldbeused.
Discussion2WhatIstheRoleofCalculators?
Whatistheroleofcalculatorsinschoolmathematics?A
newspapercartoonshowedparentsandgrandparentssittingat
desksusingcalculatorsforcomputing,whilethe12yearoldson
wassittingathisdeskdoingworksheetsoflongdivisionpractice.
Whatdoyouthinkwasthemessage?
Contrarytowhatisbelievedbymany,researchhasshownthatcalculatorsdo
nothinderthelearningofbasicskillsandcan,infact,enhancelearningand
skilldevelopmentwhenusedappropriatelyintheclassroom.ii,iii,iv TheNational
AssessmentofEducationalProgress(NAEP)fromyears1990to2003shows
nodifferenceinscoresforfourthgradestudentsinclassroomswhere
calculatorswerefrequentlyusedandwherecalculatorswerenotused.v(The
NAEPtestinmathematicsisadministerednationallyatgrades4,8,and12
every24years.)Ineighthgrade,studentswhofrequentlyusedcalculators
scoredsignificantlyhigherthanstudentswhodidnot.Keepinmindthat
studentsoftendonotunderstandenoughaboutarithmeticoperationstobe
abletochooseappropriateoperationstosolverealproblems,andinsuchcases
acalculatorisuseless.Ifunderstandingalgorithmsleadstolessneedfor
practice,moretimecanbedevotedtolearningwhichoperationsare
appropriateandwhen.
Inthenextchapteryouwillbegivenopportunitiestoconsiderathirdoption
usingstandardalgorithmsorcalculators.Inmanycasesanexactanswerisnot
needed.Whatshouldbedonethen?

4.3CheckYourself
Bynowyoushouldbeabletoexplainthemultiplicationanddivision
algorithmstosomeoneelsewhodoesnotunderstandtheprocesses.You
shouldknowtheprosandconsofthestandardalgorithmsandstudent
inventedalgorithms,andprovideacogentargumentdefendingyourviewof
whatisimportantforchildrentolearnabouttheproceduresforcarryingout
arithmeticprocedures.
Youshouldalsobeabletodoproblemslikethoseassignedandtomeetthe
followingobjectives.
1.Explaineachstepoftheaddition(e.g.,for378+49)andsubtraction
algorithms(e.g.,for37849)andshowhowrenamingisused.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.100

2. Explaineachstepofwholenumbermultiplication(e.g.,375x213)using
partialproducts.
3.Explaindivisionofwholenumbers(e.g.,76446)usingaseriesof
algorithmsthatleadstothestandardalgorithm.
4.Recognizetheroleofplacevalueinthealgorithms.
5.Discusstheroleofbothnonstandardandstandardalgorithms.
References for Chapter 4
i

Brownell,W.A.(1941).ArithmeticingradesIandII:Acriticalsummaryofnewand
previouslyreportedresearch.Durham,NC:DukeUniversityPress.
ii
Shuard,H.,Walsh,A.,Goodwin,J.,&Worcester,V.(1991).Primaryinitiativesin
mathematicseducation:Calculators,childrenandmathematics.London:Simonand
Schuster.
iii
Kloosterman,P.,&Lester,F.K.,Jr.(Eds.)(2004).Resultsandinterpretationsofthe
1990through2000mathematicsassessmentsoftheNationalAssessmentof
EducationalProgress.Reston,VA:NationalCouncilofTeachersofMathematics.
iv
Kilpatrick,J.,Swafford,J.,&Findell,B.(Eds).(2001).Addingitup.Washington,DC:
NationalResearchCouncil,NationalAcademyPress.
v
Kloosterman, P., Sowder, J., & Kehle, P. (2004). Clearing the Air About School
Mathematics Achievement: What Do NAEP Data Tell Us? Presentation at the April
2004 American Educational Research Association, April, 2004, San Diego.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter4InstructorsVersionp.101

Chapter 5
Using Numbers in Sensible Ways

SEEINSTRUCTORNOTE
5foranoverviewofthis
section.

Peoplewhoarecomfortableworkingwithnumbershavemany
waystothinkaboutnumbersandnumberoperations.For
example,theyusebenchmarks,thatis,numberscloseto
particularnumbersthatareeasiertouseincalculating.Thinkingabout
numbersinvariouswaysallowsthemtoestimateanswers,domental
arithmetic,andrecognizewhenanswersarewrong.Thischapterwillhelp
youacquireabetternumbersense,thatis,theabilitytorecognizewhen
andhowtousenumbersinsensibleways.

5.1MentalComputation
Whenpeoplehearthewordcomputationtheyusuallythinkofpaper
andpencilcomputationusingthemethodstheylearnedinschool.But
computationcantakemanyforms,andanindividualwithagood
understandingofnumberswillchoosethemostappropriateformof
computationfortheproblemathand.Today,thisoftenmeansusinga
calculatorbecauseitisfastandefficient.Often,though,onecanmentally
computeananswerfasterthanonecancomputewithpaperandpencilor
evenacalculator.Atothertimes,onemightwishtocomputementally
simplybecauseitismoreconvenientthanfindingpencilandpaperora
calculator.Tobecomeskilledatmentalcomputationtakessomepractice.
Numberpropertiesmustbeunderstoodandused,althoughyoumaynot
evenbeawareofthepropertiesbecausetheyaresonaturalforyoutouse.
Oneimportantadvantageofpracticingmentalcomputation,forchildren
andforadults,isthatithelpsdevelopflexibilityofuseofnumbersandThesethreewaysof
finding1250
propertiesofoperationsandgivesthemasenseofcontrolovernumbers.

providean
Considersomeofthefollowingwaysofmentallycomputing1250: opportunitytoreview
thecommutative,
1. 1250canbethoughtofas12510=6010=600.This associative,and
distributive
requireddecomposing50into510,andthenusingthe
properties.

associativepropertyofmultiplication:12(510)=(125)
10=6010.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.102

2. 1250canbethoughtofas(10+2)50=(1050)+(250)
(usingthedistributivepropertyofmultiplicationoveraddition),
whichis500+100=600.
3. 1250=(62)50=6(250)=6100=600(usingthe
associativeproperty).
Rememberthatadditionisalsocommutativeandassociative,givinga
greatdealofflexibilityinaddingnumbers.
Therearealsoseveralwaysofthinkingabouthowtomentallycomputea
difference.Forexample:
1.14766couldbefoundbyadding4toeachnumber:15170is
1515020=10120=81.
2.14766:Countup4to70,then30to100,then40to140,then7
to147.Thisis4+30+40+7whichis81.
3.14766is14060whichis80,plus7is87,minus6,is81.
Activity:ICanDoItInAndofcoursethereareotherways
MyHead
Activity1ICanDoItinMyHead!
Discusssomeofthesein
class.Therearemany Beforereadingahead,dothefollowingcalculationsinasmanyways
differentwaystomentally
aspossible.
calculate,someeasierthan
others.Studentsshouldbe
1.15247
2.1000729
3.2524
expectedtojustifytheir
1
answers,andtodiscuss4.38.6+27.2+4.838.65.12 4 6.643+67
differentmethodsinterms
Manytimestheeaseofmentalcomputationdependsonthenumbersused,
oftheirease.SeealsoSEE
andonfamiliaritywithpropertiesofoperations.Thecomputationshould
INSTRUCTORNOTE
5.1Aforadiscussionof
notbeginbeforelookingoverthenumbersandthinkingofdifferentways
strategies.
ofreorganizingorrewritingthenumbers.ConsiderProblem4inActivity

1.Manypeoplewouldbeginbytryingtoadd38.6and27.2mentally,a
challengebutcertainlypossible.Butasonebecomesmoreadeptatmental
computation,theknowledgethatthenumberscouldbereordered,
allowingthe38.638.6tobethefirstoperation,makesthisamucheasier
problemtocomputementally:27.2+4.8is31+1is32.
NowconsiderProblem3,whichis2524.Onewaytothinkaboutthis
problemisas(55)(46)=(54)(56)=2030=600.Notice
thatyouhavereallydonethefollowing,butwithoutwritingitall:
2524=(55)(46)
=5(54)6usingtheassociatepropertyofmultiplication,
=5(45)6usingthecommutativepropertyofmultiplication,
=(54)(56)usingtheassociativepropertyagain.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.103

When25isafactor,itcouldalsobethoughtofas
becomes

100
4

100
4

.Now2524

=1006=600.

ForProblem6,thearithmeticiseasyifweusethedistributiveproperty:
(643)+(67)=6(43+7)=650=300.
ForProblem2,whichis1000729,thementalcomputationbycounting
upisactuallyeasierthanusingthestandardalgorithm,which,becauseof
thezeros,oftenleadstoerrors.Add1to730,70to800,then200to1000,
1+70+200is271.Noticethatthisisbasedonthemissingaddendview
ofsubtraction.
InProblem5thinkofhowmanyquartersarein$12.Toooften,people
givetheanswer3.Whydoyouthinkthishappens?
Discussion1BecomingGoodatMentalComputation

Discussion1.Becoming...

SEEINSTRUCTORNOTE
Trytheseindividually,thentogetherdiscussdifferentwaysof
5.1Baboutdiscussingthese
undertakingthesementalcomputations.

1. Mentallycompute503525

problemsinclasssothat
studentscanbeexposedtoa
varietyofwaysofthinking.

2. Mentallycompute1921(Isthisthesameas2020?)
3. Mentallycompute5,400,000600,000
4. Mentallycompute3476+24561476
5. Mentallycompute50340
6. Mentallycompute2438+2412

7. Mentallycompute8324(Hint:Youcanusepowersof2.)

Studentsmayneedtoreview
changingpercentsto
decimalsorfractions.A
Mentalcalculationwithsomepercentsisnotdifficult.Herearesome
reviewisfoundinthe
Appendix:AReviewof
hintsaboutcalculatingwithpercents.
Some"Rules."
Youmayprefertoomit
1. 10%ofanumberis 101 or0.1timesthenumber.
thesepercentproblemsnow
andreturntothemin
10%of50is5.
10%of34.5is3.45.
Chapter9ifyourstudents
havedifficultylaterworking
2.Multiplesof10%canbefoundusingthe10%calculation:
withpercents.
20% of 50 is twice 5, or 10.

8. Mentallycompute3514+356

20% of 34.5 is 3.45 twice, or 6.90.

70% of 20 is 10% seven times, or 14.
(Or think: 10% of 20 is 2, and 2 7 = 14 is 70% of 20.)
3.15%is10%plushalfthatagain.15%of640is64+32or96.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.104

4.25%isaquarterofanamount,and50%ishalfanamount.
Thus25%of$360is$90becauseonequarterof360is90.Or,you
couldsay10%is36,10%moreis36more,then5%ishalfof10%,and
halfof36is18.Finally,36+36+18is90.

Activity2ICanDoPercentsinMyHead

Activity2.
a.10
Determinethefollowingmentally.Doesamentaldrawinglikethe
b.6is10%of60,so12is
20%of60
oneherehelpinsomecases?
c.26
d.100
a.Whatis25%of40?
e.10%is5.5;30%is15+
b.Twelveis20%ofwhatnumber?
1.5=16.5
f. 33.3 %

c.Thirteenis50%ofwhatnumber?

Estimatingwith 13 or 33.3
%wasnotcoveredabove. d.Tenpercentofwhatnumberis10?

e.Whatis30%of55?
f.Whatpercentof66is22?
TakeAwayMessageTherearemanywaystomentallycomputeifoneknowsthe
propertiesofoperationsonnumbers.Aspeoplebecomemorecomfortableusing
numbers,theyaremorelikelytomentallycomputeanswerswhenthisiseasytodo.
Computingmentallyleadstogreaterfacilitywithnumbersandmoreconfidencein
onesabilitytoworkwithnumbers.

Learning Exercises for 5.1

Studentsdonothaveanswers
1.Howcanthefollowingcomputationsbedonementallyusingthe
for1a,1c,2b,2c,2e,2f,3b,
distributiveproperty?Writeoutyoursolutions.
3c,3e3f,4b,4d,5,6second
row.

a.439

b.2398+232

c.7230

Besuretoassign2and3.
2.Tellhowyoucouldmentallycomputeeach.

a.365+40+35

b.75628

c.2391+4311391

d.49949

e.12425

f.4229

g.4425

h.7588

i.832

3.Computeeachofthefollowingmentally.
a.25%of60

b.10%of78

c.30%of15

d.80%of710

e.15%of$40

f.100%of57

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.105

g.125%of40

h.20is20%of?

i.5%of64

4.Computeeachofthefollowingmentally.
a.24is20%ofwhatnumber?b.38is10%ofwhatnumber?
c.89is100%ofwhatnumber?d.50is125%ofwhatnumber?

5. Thefigureshownbelowis120%ofasmallerfigure.Canyoushow
#5iseasierthanitfirst
20%ofthesmallerfigure?Shade100%ofthesmallerfigure. seems.Drawindiagonals
sothatthehexagonshows
sixtriangles.120%is6/5,
and5/5wouldbefiveof
thetriangles.

6. Ifyouwish,shadeagridtohelpyoufindthefractionalequivalentin
simplestformforeachofthefollowingpercents.
50%=_____

33

1
3

%=_____75%=_____

66 23 %=_____ 12.5%=_____20%=_____

5.2ComputationalEstimation
Manytimesanestimateratherthananexactanswertoacalculationmay
besufficient.Estimatesareusednotonlywhenanexactanswercouldbe
foundbutisnotneeded,butalsowhenanexactanswerisnotpossible,
suchaswhenyoumakeabudgetandestimatehowmuchyourtotal
utilitiesbillswillbeeachmonth.Mentalcomputationisusedin
computationalestimation,butwhenyouestimate,youarelookingonlyfor
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.106

anapproximateanswer.However,estimationissometimesconsidered
moredifficultbecauseitinvolvesbothroundingandmentalcomputation.
ThinkAbout
Thinkbackonthetimesyouhaveneededanumericalanswertoa
computationinthepastweek.Howmanytimesdidyouneedanexact
answer?Howmanytimesdidyouneedjustanestimate?

Discussion2IsOneWayBetterThanAnother?

Discussion2.Themethods
1. Estimate3655alonebeforediscussingthisproblem.
usedbythedifferentchildren
deserveaclassdiscussion.
2. Carefullyreadthesestudents'solutionstothefirstexercise.Be
Studentsoftendon't
sureyouunderstandthethinkingbehindeachone.Thendiscuss
appreciategoodestimation
skillsandneedtoreflectonthemintermsofwhethereachwayisagoodwaytoestimate.Did
whatisgoingonineach youuseoneoftheseways?
example.Discusswith
studentstherelative
Shawn: Round to 40 and 60. 40 60 = 2400.
sophisticationofthese
Jack: First round down: 30 50 = 1500. Then round up: 40 60 =
methods.Forexample,
Shawnroundsbothnumbers 2400. So it's about in the middle, maybe a little past. So I'd say
upforcingtheestimateto 2000.
betoohigh.Thereisno Maria: Rounding both up would make it too big, so I'll round 36 to
compensationmade,suchas and 55 to 50. 40 50 = 2000.
sayingItwillbelessthan
Jimmy: A little more than 36 50, which is 36 100 2 and that's
2400.

40

18 100 = 1800. It's about 5 36 more, or about 180 more, so I'll

SeeINSTRUCTORNOTE say 1980.

5.2foradditionalinformation
Deb: Rounding
onthesechildrensmethods.

both up gives 40 60 = 2400. Since that's too big, I'll

say it's about 2200.
Sam: A little more than 6 6 50, which is 6 300 = 1800. So I'll
say 1900.

Eachoftheabovewaysprovidegoodestimates,butsomearebetterthan
othersbecausetheyareefficientand/orbecausetheyaremoreaccurate.
Forexample,Shawnroundedbothnumbersuptotheclosestmultipleof
10.Roundingupgivesahighestimate.Jackroundedbothupanddown
thentakessomethinginthemiddle.Hiswaytakesslightlymoreworkbut
givesacloserestimate.Butdependingonthecontext,youmightwanta
highestimate.Supposeyouareatthehardwarestorebuyingdrawerpulls
thatcost55each.Youneed36ofthemandwonderifyouhaveenough
Activity3.Someofyour
cashwithyou.AccordingtoShawnyouneed$24,andaccordingtoJack,
studentsmaymakethe
youneed$20.Beforeyoureachforyourwallet,whichestimatewould
sameerrorsin3and4as
thosedescribedintheThink
youuse?Why?

Aboutsbelow,particularly
thefourthproblem.Help
Activity3NowIllTrySome
themunderstandwhythe
solutioncontaininga 1. Tryeachofthestrategiesfromtheabovediscussion(ifappropriate)
decimalportionisincorrect.toestimate1648.Whichestimatesdoyouthinkarebetter?Why?
Youmayormaynotwant
togetintoadiscussionof
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.107
significantdigitshere.

2. Ifacity'spropertytaxis$29.87per$1000ofassessedvalue,what
wouldbeanestimateofthetaxonpropertyassessedat$38,600?
3. Estimate7890.52.
4. Estimate148.52+49.341.
ThinkAbout:Inaresearchstudyimanymiddleschoolstudentswere
askedtoestimate7890.52.Somestudentsrounded0.52to1,rounded
789to800,andsaidtheiranswerwas8001=800.Is1agoodsubstitute
for0.52?Whyorwhynot?Supposesomethingcost$0.52,andyoubought
789oftheseobjects.Would$800beagoodestimateoftheprice?Whydo
youthinkstudentsrounded0.52to1?

ThinkAbout:Inthesamestudythestudentswereaskedtoestimate

148.52+49.341.Somestudentssaid,148isalmost150and49isalmost
50.And0.52isalmost0.6,and0.341isalmost0.3.And0.6+0.3is0.9.
Sotheansweris200.9.Findtheflawinthisargument.(Hint:Isthe148
beingroundedupto150,oristhe148.52beingroundedupto150?)

Researchhasshownthatgoodestimatorsuseavarietyofstrategiesand
demonstrateadeepunderstandingofnumbersandofoperations.Theyare
flexibleintheirthinkingandaredisposedtomakesenseofnumbers.A
goodestimatorusestheroundingofnumbersagreatdeal,butseldomuses
theformalroundingproceduresoftentaughtinschools.iiProficiencyin
flexibleroundingrequiresthatanindividualhasanintuitivenotionofthe
magnitudeofthenumberinquestion,andthisintuitionisacquired
throughpracticeincomparingandorderingnumbersandusing
Activity4.
benchmarks,especiallyforfractionsanddecimals.For
1.Round71to72andcancel
example,toestimate257+394+2+49,agoodstrategy(but
withthe8,orround89to88
nottheonlyone)wouldbetoround257to250,394to400,49 andcancelwiththe8.Thisis
agoodexampleofusing
to50,anddropthe2sinceitisinsignificanthere(orthinkof
compatiblenumbers.
roundingitto0).Schoolstudentswhoareinflexibleintheir
Discusswhyrounding71to
roundingwillinsistthat257mustberoundedto300,or
70isnothelpful,
perhaps260ifroundingtothenearest10,butnotto250.In
2.Roundingbothupwould
anotherexample,ifyouwanttoestimatethequotientof6217 callforsomecompensation.
Roundingto40and35still
87,youmightfinditmoreconvenienttoroundto6300and90 3.About612whichis.
leadstoaneasy
ratherthan6000and90,since7090is6300.Theactivity
4.344isalargeerrorifthe
computation.
belowisintendedtoprovideyouwithpracticeinestimating. exactproductis2924,butisa
relativelysmallerrorifthe
exactproductis42,656.
5.2086introducesanerror
Besuretocheckyoursolutionsandmethodswithothers.Youmaybe
of286,whereas1890
surprisedtofindmanygoodwaysofdoingtheseestimations.
introducesanerrorof419,
71 89
whichissmallerthan286.
1. Estimate
6.Manystudentswillclaim
8
thisisthesameas5327.
2. Estimate4234
However,
3. Estimate5.812
(50+3)(273)5030.Infact,

theestimateis503327
4. If3486isestimatedas3086,thentheestimateis2580.The
off,sotheactualproductis
exactansweris2924.Thedifferencebetweenthesetwonumbers
lessthantheestimatedproduct
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.108
of1500.

Activity4FindingJustAbout

is344.If49686isestimatedas50086,thentheexactanswer
is42,656andtheestimateis43,000.Againthedifferenceis344.
Whichofthesewouldyouchoose:(a)thefirstestimateisbetter;
(b)theyarethesame;(c)thesecondestimateisbetter.Why?
5. 1886canbeestimatedas(a)2090;or(b)2086;or(c)18
90.Whichofthesethreewaysgivestheclosestestimate?
6. Ifyouestimate5327bysaying5030is1500,istheexact
answerlessthan,equalto,ormorethanyourestimate?
Bynowyouknowthatwhenmultiplyingtwonumbers,roundingbothup
givesahighestimate,androundingbothdowngivesalowestimate.Thus
amoreaccurateestimateofaproductcouldbefoundbyroundingone
numberupandonenumberdown.
Discussion3RoundingUpandDown

Discussion3.When
estimatingasumrounding
Ifyouareaddingtwonumbersisitusuallybesttoroundboth
onenumberupandtheother
numbersup?Ifnot,whatisthebetterthingtodo?Whatabout
downisusuallybetter.When
subtractingordividing,subtraction?Whataboutdivision?
roundingbothnumbersupor
Estimatingwithpercentsisverycommon.Whenyoushopandseeasale
downisbetter,butit
at30%offyouneedtoknowwhatyouhavetopay.Herearesomehints
dependsagreatdealonthe
aboutestimatingwithpercents,buildingontheearliermentalcomputation
numbers.Forexamplein
estimating2435413,
withpercents.
roundingbothdownto
1. Estimating10%of34.5couldbe10%of35whichis3.5.
24000and12wouldprovide
agoodestimate.

2.Ifyouestimate20%of34.5,itis3.5twice,or7.Anestimateof30%of
50.3is10%of50threetimes:3 5=15.
3.15%is10%plushalfthatagain.15%of642is64.2+32.1or96.3But
ifyouareestimating,suchasforatip,youcouldsay15%of640is64
+32,or96,oreven100.

Onceagain,weremindyou
4.25%isaquarterofanamount.25%offof$350isabout25%of$360
thatweassumesomebasic
whichis$90.(Notethat1/4of360is90.)Or,youcouldsay10%is35,
knowledgeofpercenthere.
Studentsmayneedtoreview
10%moreis70,halfof35isabout18,and35+35+18is88.
theknowledgeofpercents
5.Whenestimatingadiscountonprice,itmaybeeasiertoestimatethesale
weassume.Seethe
appendix:AReviewof
value.Thus,ifavaseisregularlypricedat$140andis20%off,thenthe
SomeRules.
actualpriceis80%of$140.50%of140is70.10%of140is14andso

30%of140is314,or42.Sotheactualpriceis$70+$42=$112.To
Thereareadditionallessons
estimate,80%of$150wouldbe8 $15or4 $30or$120.Inthis
inlatersectionsthatinclude
practicewithpercents.
case,findingtheactualvaluewasprobablyaseasyasestimatingit.
Activity5.
a.30%of150is3x15=
Activity5WhatDoesItCost?Estimate.
45,and$150$45=
$105.
1.Acoatis30%off.Itwasoriginally$150.Howmuchisitnow?
b.60%;60%of$90,6x9
=$54
c.$90

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.109

2.Adress,markedas$90beforethesale,is40%off.Whatpercent
oftheoriginalpricemustonepaytobuyit?Whatisthediscounted
cost?
3.Ajacketcost$45afterthe50%discount.Howmuchwasit
originally?
Aneighthgradeteacherofalowabilityclasstoldoneoftheauthorsthat
shespentthelast8weeksofmathclassesonmentalcomputationand
estimationbecauseherstudentsweresoweakinthisarea,andshewanted
themtobetterunderstandhowtooperatewithnumbers.Herstudentsdid
extremelywell.Shesaidthattheycametofeelveryconfident,
mathematically,andwerenolongerafraidofnumbers.
TakeAwayMessageComputationalestimationbuildsagreaterfacilitywith
numbersbutatthesametimereinforcesfacility.Estimationplaysamajorrolein
ourdailylives.Learninghowtomakebetterestimatescanbeavaluableskill,one
wewanttopassontostudents.Youshouldbeestimatingcalculationsthroughout
thiscourse.

Learning Exercises for Section 5.2

1. Estimate0.76 62.
2.

Studentsdonothave
answersto4;5;6a,6c,6d,
Youbuy62tabletsat76each.Youwanttoestimatethepricebefore
6e;7b,7c,7d,and8.
Besuretoassign1,2,6,7,
yougettothecashregistertomakecertainyouhaveenoughmoney
8.
withyou.DoyouestimatedifferentlythaninExercise1?Discusstimes

whenanestimateshouldbeanoverestimate,andtimeswhenan
underestimateispreferable.
3.Whichisgreater(withoutcalculating):0.21 84.63or84.630.21?
Explainyouranswer.
4. Yourrestaurantbillis$27.89.Whatshouldyouleaveasatipifyou
wanttotip15%?
5. Reflectinwritingonthesixwaysofestimatingtheproductof36and
55usedinthefirstdiscussioninthissection.Canallbedonementally?
Aresomebetterthanothers?Whyorwhynot?Aresomeeasierthan
others?Whichonesshowabetterfeelfornumbers?
6. Estimatethefollowingproductsusingwhateverstrategiesyouprefer.6.shouldbediscussed
a. 49 890

b.25 76

d. 341 6121

e.3 532

c.16 650inclass.

7. Explainhowyouwouldestimatethecostofthefollowingitemswith
thediscountsindicated.
a. adressmarked$49.99ata25%discount
b. aCDmarked$16.99at15%off
c. ablouseat75%offthe$18.99clearanceprice
d. asuitat60%offthealreadymarkeddownpriceof$109.99
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.110

8. Useyourclosetoknowledgetoestimatethefollowing.Thefirstone
isdoneforyou.
a. 0.49102isaboutofhalfof100,or50
b. 32%of12
c. 94%of500
d. 0.52789
e. 23%of81
f. 35%of22
g. 76%of$210
9.Returntotheactivitiesinthissectionandonceagainworkthougheach
partonyourown.

5.3EstimatingValuesofQuantities
Manytimeswhenpeopletalkaboutestimation,theymeanestimating
numerosityratherthanestimatingcalculations,forexample,thecrowdat
somebigevent.Perhapsyouhaveatsometimeenteredacontestwhere
youhadtoguessthenumberofjellybeansinalargejarandfounditvery
difficulttodo.Numerosityrefersnotjusttoguessing,buttomaking
intelligentguesses.Ifyouwenthomeandfoundasimilarjarthatyou
filledwithjellybeans,thencountedthem,youmightmakeabetterguess
thanhadyounotdoneso.Foralongtimeyouwillbeabletomakepretty
goodjudgmentsconcerningthenumberofjellybeansinjars.Although
thatmaynotbeaskillworthdeveloping,thereareothercontextswhere
estimatingskillscanbeuseful.Skillinestimatingvaluesofquantities,
whetherdiscretecounts(likejellybeans)orcontinuousmeasures(likethe
heightofatree),requirepractice.
There is a video Powers of
Ten (8 minutes)
commercially available that
would be appropriate to use
with the material in this
section. It may also still be
available at
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/
primer/java/scienceopticsu/p
owersoften/index.html

Moneyiscertainlyoneareainwhichunderstandingestimates
canbeuseful.Arecentnewsreportrecommendedthatthose
speakingaboutsocialsecuritylegislationspeakonlyabout
numbersinthemillions,becausepeopledon'tknowwhata
trillionmeans.Perhapslargenumberswillmakemoresenseto
youafterthissection.
Activity6DevelopingaFeelfortheSizeofQuantities

1.Howbigisacrowdof100people?Of1000people?Of
10,000people?Doyouhaveasenseforhowlargeeachof
thesegroupswouldbe?
a.Would100peoplefitinatypicalclassroom?Ifso,howcrowded
wouldtheroombe?
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.111

b.Would1000peoplefitinatypicalclassroom?Insideyourhome?
Wherewoulditbenaturaltofindagroupthissize?Arethere
enoughseatsinastandardmovietheaterfor1000people?
c.Wherewouldyouexpecttosee10,000people?Doyouhavea
feelforhowlargeagroupthiswouldbe?Ifexactlythismany
peoplewereinattendanceatyourlocalstadium,woulditbe
completelyfull?Halffull?Howfull?
2. Howlongis10feet?100ft?1000ft?10,000ft?Doyouhaveasense
forhowlongeachoftheselengthsis?
a.Nameatleastfiveobjectswhosetypicallengthorheightis
approximately10feet.(Thinkofthelengthofyourbedroom.Isit
moreorlessthan10feet?)
b.Dothesamefor100feet.Thinkaboutapointorobjectinthe
environmentsurroundingyouthatisapproximately100feetaway
fromyou,100feettall,or100feetlong.Ifnecessary,gooutside
andfindsomethingthatwillhelpyoumakesenseof100feet.
c.Namesomethingsthatyoucoulduseasareferenceforalength,
height,ordistanceof1000ft.(Onewayamileis5280feet,so1000
feetisabout....?)
Havinggoodnumbersenserequireshavingsomesensenotonlyofthe
relativesizeofanumber(e.g.,therelativesizeof3and30,orof 13 and 12 )
butalsooftheabsolutesizeofanumber.(Forexample,howmuchisa
million?Couldyoureasonablyaskathirdgradeclasstobringintheir
penniesuntiltheyreachedamillion?)Todevelopafeelforthesizeof
numericalamountsitishelpfultocomparethemtosomereference
amountwithwhichyouarefamiliar.Suchareferenceamountisoften
calledabenchmark.Abenchmarkisapersonallymeaningfuland
recognizableamountthatcanbeusedtomakesizeestimates.Benchmarks
areparticularlyusefulwhenwewanttohaveafeelforverylargeorvery
smallnumericalamounts.Benchmarkscaninvolvemoney,population,
time,distance,height,weight,acollectionofobjects,oranyother
physicalornonphysicalattributes.
Example1
Itis250,000milesfromtheearthtothemoon.Howfaristhat?
Ifyouknowthatitisapproximately25,000milesaroundtheearth
alongtheequator,youcouldthinkthattraveling10timesaround
theearthwouldbecomparableindistancetotravelingtothemoon.
Or...Youcouldthinkofaplacethatisroughly100milesaway
fromwhereyouliveandimaginetravelingtherebackandforth
1250times!Or...Youcouldthinkofaplacethatisroughly10
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.112

milesawayfromwhereyouareandimaginecoveringthatdistance
25,000times!
ThinkAboutDoestheexampleabovegiveyouasenseforhowfar
awaythemoonis?Isitfartherawaythanyouthought?Orcloser?How
longwouldittakeyoutowalktothemoon?

Havingonesownbenchmarkscanbeveryhelpful.Ifthesereferentsare
tobeusefultoyoutheymustbepersonalized.Thismeansthatyouarethe
onewhoneedstobefamiliarwiththeamount.Forexample,ifyouattend
gamesatthelocalstadiumandyouknowitscapacity,youcanusethatas
abenchmarkforthatmanypeople.Inonecity,thefootballstadiumholds
morethan60,000people.Suchareferencecangiveyouafeelforthat
manypeople.Havingafeelfor60,000people,however,doesnot
necessarilyhelpyouhaveafeelforhowfar60,000milesis,orhowmuch
$60,000canbuy.Therefore,thenatureofthequantity,notjustits
numericalvalue,isimportantindecidingtheusefulnessofareference
amount.
TakeAwayMessageManypeoplehavelittlefeelforthesizeofnumbersunless
theypractice,withinsomecontext.Forexample,abuildercaneasilyestimatethe
heightofabuildinganditssquarefootage.Havingsomebenchmarksfornumbers
astheyareusedindifferentcontextsisanimportantaspectoflivingwithnumbers
everyday.

Learning Exercises for Section 5.3

1. Thinkofapersonalreferentthatwillgiveyouafeelforeachofthe
followingdistances:
LE5.3Studentsdonot
haveanswersforanyof
theseexercises.
Itisveryusefultodiscuss
andsharetheirbenchmarks
inclass.Allowsufficient
timeforstudentstothinkof
theirown.

a.3miles

b.30miles

d.3000miles

e.30,000miles

c.300miles

2. Howlongwouldittakeyoutotraveleachofthedistancesin
Exercise1,ifyouweretodriveyourcar?

3. Findpersonalbenchmarksforatleastfivelargenumbers
(groups)ofpeople.Forexample,youmightsaythat1000
peopleisaboutthenumberofstudentsthatattendedyour
highschool;youruniversityhasabout25,000students;the
cityyouliveinhasapopulationofabouthalfamillion
people,andsoon.(Theseareestimatesofnumerosity.)
Dothesamethingforamountsofmoney.Forexample,mycarisworth
about$10,000;thesalaryofabeginningteacherinmycityisabout
$35,000;theaveragepriceofahomeinmycityis$250,000,andsoon.
Butfindyourown!

4.Acongressmanoncesaid,Idontcarehowmuchitcostsabillion,a
trillion.WeneedtosolvetheAIDSproblem.CantheUnitedStates
affordtospendonemilliondollarstofundAIDSresearch?Onebillion
dollars?Onetrilliondollars?Whyorwhynot?Thepopulationofthe
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.113

UnitedStatesisnowabout300million.Whatwouldeachofthese
amountsmeanforeachpersoninthiscountry,intermsofapersons
shareofthenationaldebt?
Ifyouworryabouthaving
sufficienttimetocomplete
theentirecourse,youmay
wanttoskipSection5.4and
returntoitlaterifyouhave
time.Thepointofthis
sectionissimplytoshowthat
therearewaysofwriting
valuesforverylargeandvery
smallquantities.Onthe
practicalside,scientific
notationisrequiredinsome
credentialingtests.

5. Writeachildren'sstory(notaschoollesson)thatusesatleastfive
quantitieswithlargevaluesinwaysthatwillhelpchildrenunderstand
howbigthevaluesreallyare.Includereferencestoplaces,things,and
eventsthatwillmakesensetothem.Thestoryshouldhavebetween
500and1000words.(Doyouhaveafeelforhowmanypagesthatis?)
Asyoudevelopyourownpersonalreferents,makealistofthemsothat
youcanrefertothematanytime.Inalaterstudyofmeasurement,you
willagainbeaskedtopreparealistofpersonalreferents.

5.4UsingScientificNotationforEstimatingValuesofVery
LargeandVerySmallQuantities
Mostverylargeandverysmallnumbersareactuallyestimates.Fora12
digitnumber,thedigitintheonesplaceisnotgoingtomatter.Indeed,for
alargenumber,onlyafewdigitstothefarleftreallymatter.

Manypeopledonotevenknowthenamesofnumberspastonetrillion,
eventhoughusesforverylargenumbersexist.Verysmallnumbersalso
needtobeexpressedinsomestandardwaythatcanbeshared.Wecan
expressverylargeandverysmallnumbersusingscientificnotation.
Anumberiswritteninscientificnotationwhenithastheforma
10bwhereaisanumberbetween1and10,andbisaninteger.
Example2
a.50millionis50,000,000,andinscientificnotationthisis5 107.
b.Forsmallnumbers,scientificnotationrequirestheuseof
Thisisthefirstappearance
negativeintegers.103means.Weformalizethisbysaying

ofintegers.Youmaywant
tocheckyourstudents
interpretations.Theymaybe
6
veryrustyworkingwith
c.6tenthousandthsis.0006or
andinscientificnotationthis
negativeexponents.Ifso,
10, 000
skip,fornow,theoperations
is6 104.Sometimeswewrite.0006as0.0006sothatthe
onnumbersinscientific
decimalpointismoreobvious.
notation.Afuturesection
coversnegativenumbers.

thatforanynonzerocandanyd, c

d. 350,000,000=3.5 100,000,000andinscientificnotationthisis
3.5 108.
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.114

e. 0.00052=5.2 0.0001andinscientificnotationthisis5.2
104.
Notethatboththe3.5andthe5.2arebetween1and10,andthatthe
secondpartofthenumeralshavetentoapower.
Operatingonnumbersinscientificnotationrequiresknowinghowtouse
exponentstoyouradvantage.Recallthat53 54means(5 5 5)
(5 5 5 5)whichis5 5 5 5 5 5 5or57,andthat
5

5354means whichisor51.Ingeneralwehave:
Twolawsofexponentsusefulinscientificnotation:
am an=am+nandaman=amn
Example3(3.5 108) (5.2 104)=(3.5 5.2) (108 10
4)=18.2 104.Butthisisnotinscientificnotationbecause18.2is
largerthan10.18.2 104=1.82 105.
Example4(3.5 108)(5.2 104)=(3.55.2) (108104)
0.67 1012.Butthisisnotinscientificnotationbecause0.67is
smallerthanone.0.67 1012=6.7 1011.

Example5Lighttravels186,000milesinasecond.Alightyearis
thedistancethatlighttravelsinoneyear,eventhoughitmight
soundlikeatimeunit.Abouthowmanymilesareinalightyear?
Solution
1.86

so

alightyearisabout 5.87 miles.(Isthisameaningful

number?)
Activity7DoYouAgree?
Writeouttwoverylargenumbersandtwoverysmallnumbersand
givethemtoapartnertowriteinscientificnotation.Yourpartner
shoulddothesamewithyou.Checkthenumberstoseeifyouagree
withthewaysinwhichthesenumbersarewritteninscientific
notation.Makecertainthatyouareusingcorrectnotation.Thenwrite
othernumbersinscientificnotationandgivethemtooneanotherto
writeinfullnotation.Ifyouhavequestions,seekclarification.
TakeAwayMessageScientificnotationprovidesanefficientwaytoexpressand
operateonverylargeandverysmallnumbers,usingpowersoftenandlawsof
exponents.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.115

TheappendixA
ReviewofSomeRules
hasasectionon
exponents.
Example 3: The solution
could be used to
illustrate the
canceling of units, if
you wish to point this
out. We do not pursue
this shortcut (even
though it might be
useful) because it bypasses thinking about
the multiplications.

Studentsdonot
haveanswersfor
1a,4,6,8,and9.

Learning Exercises for Section 5.4

1.a.Whatis(6.12 104) (3 102)?
b.Whatis(6.12 104)(3 102)?
c.Whatis(6.12 102)(3 104)?
2.Whyis(3 104) (4 106)not12 1010inscientific
notation?
3.a.Write45,000,000 220,000,000,000inscientificnotation,then
computeandbesuretheanswerisinscientificnotation.

4.Thewordbillionmeans
differentthingsin
differentcountries:Inthe
U.Sitmeansonethousand
million,butinBritainand
insomeothercountriesit
meansonemillionmillion.

b.Dothesamefor6,900,00023,000,000,000.
c.Dothesamefor0.000000000005670,000.
d.Dothesamefor0.00840.000004.
4.a.Write1.5billioninscientificnotation.
b.Write4.27trillioninscientificnotation.
5.Find(3.14 106)+(2.315 104).Writeasentenceabouttheroleof
scientificnotationinadditionandsubtraction.
6.Experimentwithscientificnotationonascientificcalculator.Where
doesthepoweroftenappearonthecalculator?Dothecomputationsin
Exercises1,3,and5usingascientificcalculator.Thinkabouthowto
enterandreadthenumbers.
7.Choosesomenumbertoben,andthenfind2n;2n;n2;10n.Asngets
larger,describehowtheresultschangeineachcase.Doestheresult
growfasterwhennisanexponent,orwhenitisabase?
8.Howlongis1billionsecondsinhours?Indays?Inyears?
9.Agoogolis10100.Haveyoueverheardthistermused?Ifso,where?
10.Notalllargenumbersarecommonlyexpressedinscientificnotation.
Computermemoryisexpressedinpowersoftwo.Akilobyteis210
(kilomeans1000,and210=1024);amegabyteis220;agigabyteis230.
Whichoftheseiscloseto1billion?

5.5IssuesForLearning:MentalComputation
Inaresearchstudyiiifourthandsixthgradestudentsreceivedalmostdaily
instructiononmentalcomputationthatalwaysallowedstudentstodiscuss
avarietyofstrategiesformentalcomputationproblems.Atthebeginning,
thesestudentswantedtoperformthementalanalogueofthepaperand
pencilprocedure,thatis,theywouldsay(whenaskedtoadd38and45
mentally)Iputthe45underthe38.ThenIadd5and8andthats13and
Iwritedowna3andcarrythe1.ThenIadd1and3and4andIget8,so
theansweris83.Whenaskedtoadd345and738thesestudentscould
notmentallyrememberthestepsandmadefrequenterrors.Bytheendof
ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.116

theresearchstudy,studentswouldhaveothermethodsofmental
computationthatdidnotdependontryingtorememberallthenumbers
fromthestandardalgorithms.Forexample,theywouldadd38and45by
sayingThirtyand40is70,and8and5is13,and70and13is83.Now
theywereusingplacevalue.Insteadofadding3and4,theywereadding
30and40.Theycouldnowmentallycomputewithskillandaccuracy.
Mentalcomputationisusedinmanyculturesbypeoplewhoneedtodo
frequentcalculations.Forexample,instudiesivoftheDiolapeopleofthe
IvoryCoast,unschooledchildrenwhoworkedwiththeirparentsinthe
marketplacedevelopedexcellentmentalcomputationskillsthatshowed
deepinsightintothestructureandpropertiesofthewholenumbersystem.
Mentalcomputationcanplayanimportantroleindevelopingnumber
sensethroughexplorationsthatforcestudentstousenumbersandnumber
relationsinnovelwaysthatarelikelytoincreaseawarenessofthe
structureofthenumbersystem.Unfortunatelysometeachersviewmental
computationasaskilltobepracticedveryrapidly.Insuchcases
instructiontendstofocusondrillusingchaincalculations(e.g.,4+15;
9; 2; 3,15,5is9)andonlearning"tricks"suchasthosefor
multiplyingby9orby11.Althoughsuchskillsarevaluableandcould
haveaplaceinthecurriculum,itisquestionablewhethertheyshouldbe
emphasizedattheexpenseofinstructionthatcouldleadchildrentobetter
numbersense.

5.6CheckYourself
Thepowerofmentalcomputationandcomputationalestimationskillsis
thattheybothcauseandresultfromnumberflexibility.Asyoudevelop
theseskillsyouwillfeelmorecomfortablewithnumbers.Thisistruefor
elementaryschoolchildrenaswell.Byprovidingthemopportunitiesto
workwithnumbersinthispersonalway,youwillallowthemtodevelopa
comfortwithnumbersthatcanpermeatetheirstudyofnumbersand
operations.
Youshouldbeabletoworkproblemslikethoseassignedandtomeetthe
followingobjectives.
1. Performmentalcalculationswhenappropriate,dependingonthe
numbersinvolved,anddosoinavarietyofdifferentways.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.117

2. Identifytheassociativeandcommutativepropertiesofadditionand
multiplication,andthedistributivepropertyofmultiplicationover
additionwhentheyareusedinamentalcomputation.
3. Estimatecalculationsinavarietyofways,foravarietyofformsof
numbers.
4. Evaluatecomputationalestimationsintermsofwhattheyrevealabout
thenumberunderstandingofthepersondoingthecalculations.
5. Usepersonalbenchmarkstoestimate,attheleast,numerosityand
distance.
6. Determinewhenanumberisinscientificnotation,andwhatitmeans.
7. Discusswhyscientificnotationmakesiteasiertoexpresslargeand
smallnumbers.
8. Expressgivennumbersordocalculationsinvolvingscientificnotation.
References for Chapter 5
i

Threadgill-Sowder, J. (1984). Computational estimation procedures of school children. Journal of

Educational Research, 77, 332-336.

ii

Sowder, J. T. (1992). Making sense of numbers in school mathematics. In G. Leinhardt, R.

Putnam, & R. Hattrup (Eds.), Analysis of arithmetic for mathematics education. Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.

iii

Markovits, Z., & Sowder, J. T. (1994). Developing number sense: An intervention study in grade
seven. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 25, 4-29.

iv

Ginsburg, H. P., Posner, J. K., & Russell, R. L. (1981). The development of mental addition as a
function of schooling and culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 12(2), 163-178.

ReasoningAboutNumbersandQuantitiesChapter5InstructorsVersionp.118