Developing Number Sense (2004)

Cannonball Clowns (Number Line Estimation)

Launch clowns from a circus cannon and try to hit the target. Drag digit cards on the control panel to set the launch distance and choose an appropriate unit of distance. After practicing your clown-launching skills on a number line, move on to the Big Top, Football Field, School Buses, the Golden Gate Bridge, and more! 5 Minute Preview

Cannonball Clowns (Number Line Estimation)

Launch clowns from a circus cannon and try to hit the target. Drag digit cards on the control panel to set the launch distance and choose an appropriate unit of distance. After practicing your clown-launching skills on a number line, move on to the Big Top, Football Field, School Buses, the Golden Gate Bridge, and more! 5 Minute Preview

Graphing Skills

Create a graph (bar graph, line graph, pie chart, or scatter plot) based on a given data set. Title the graph, label the axes, and choose a scale. Adjust the graph to fit the data, and then check your accuracy. The Gizmo can also be used to create a data table based on a given graph. 5 Minute Preview

Number Line Frog Hop (Addition and Subtraction)

Live a frog's life as you hop along a number line in search of flies. Learn how addition and subtraction can be represented as movement along a number line. Fred the frog may even help you get better at adding and subtracting two-digit numbers in your head by decomposing them into tens and ones. 5 Minute Preview

Target Sum Card Game (Multi-digit Addition)

Play an addition card game! The goal is to create a sum that is as close as possible to the target sum. Students will deepen their understanding of place value as they get better at playing the game. Many game options allow students to vary the game for more practice. The game can be played with one or two players. 5 Minute Preview

Rounding Whole Numbers (Number Line)

Place points on a number line. Round these values to the nearest ten or hundred. Visualize rounding by showing the number line as a hill or series of hills. These hills cause the points to roll to the nearest valley (nearest multiple of ten or one hundred). 5 Minute Preview

Mascot Election (Pictographs and Bar Graphs)

A brand new school is opening and it is time to elect the school mascot! Students can choose the Eagle, Lion, Bear, or Wolf. Voting results can be displayed in a table, tally chart, pictograph, bar graph, circle graph, or dot plot. You can change student votes by selecting a group of students and clicking a mascot. 5 Minute Preview

Cargo Captain (Multi-digit Subtraction)

You are the captain of an interplanetary cargo ship, delivering important supplies to the outer planets. The cargo can be stored in barrels, crates, and holds. (There are 10 barrels in a crate, and 10 crates in a hold.) Model multi-digit subtraction by unloading cargo on each planet. 5 Minute Preview

Cargo Captain (Multi-digit Subtraction)

You are the captain of an interplanetary cargo ship, delivering important supplies to the outer planets. The cargo can be stored in barrels, crates, and holds. (There are 10 barrels in a crate, and 10 crates in a hold.) Model multi-digit subtraction by unloading cargo on each planet. 5 Minute Preview

No Alien Left Behind (Division with Remainders)

The alien school children from the planet Zigmo travel to distant planets on a field trip. The goal is to select a bus size so that all buses are full and no aliens are left behind. This is a nice illustration of division with remainders. 5 Minute Preview

Finding Factors with Area Models

Find factors of a number using an area model. Reshape the area rectangle to see different factorizations of the number. Find the prime factorization using a factor tree. 5 Minute Preview

Fido's Flower Bed (Perimeter and Area)

Construct models of gardens on a grid using squares of sod. Fence the gardens to find and compare perimeters. Work with pre-built gardens made of 36 squares each to compare perimeters of shapes with equal areas. 5 Minute Preview

Perimeter and Area of Rectangles

Discover how to find the perimeter and area of a rectangle, and of a square (which is really just a special case of a rectangle). 5 Minute Preview

Factor Trees (Factoring Numbers)

The Factor Trees Gizmo has two modes. In Factor mode, you can create factor trees to factor composite numbers into primes. In Build mode, you can build numbers by multiplying primes together. Can you build all composite numbers up to 50? Any whole composite number up to 999 can be factored or built with the Gizmo. 5 Minute Preview

Chocomatic (Multiplication, Arrays, and Area)

Use the Chocomatic to design candy bars made out of chocolate squares. Use multiplication to find the number of squares in each chocolate bar. Build collections of chocolate bars that all have the same number of squares. Solve multiplication problems by joining two smaller chocolate bars into a large bar. 5 Minute Preview

Fido's Flower Bed (Perimeter and Area)

Construct models of gardens on a grid using squares of sod. Fence the gardens to find and compare perimeters. Work with pre-built gardens made of 36 squares each to compare perimeters of shapes with equal areas. 5 Minute Preview

Fido's Flower Bed (Perimeter and Area)

Construct models of gardens on a grid using squares of sod. Fence the gardens to find and compare perimeters. Work with pre-built gardens made of 36 squares each to compare perimeters of shapes with equal areas. 5 Minute Preview

Quilting Bee (Symmetry)

Participate in an old-fashioned quilting bee and create a colorful, symmetrical quilt. Quilts can be created with a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line of symmetry. Quilts can be folded to look for reflections, or rotated to test for rotational symmetry. 5 Minute Preview

Rock Art (Transformations)

Create your own rock art with ancient symbols. Each symbol can be translated, rotated, and reflected. After exploring each type of transformation, see if you can use them to match ancient rock paintings. 5 Minute Preview

Holiday Snowflake Designer

Fold paper and cut in a certain way to make symmetrical snowflakes with six sides (similar to what can be found in nature) or with eight sides (an easier folding method). This simulation allows you to cut virtual paper on the computer screen with round dot or square dot "scissors" of various sizes before using physical paper. 5 Minute Preview

Quilting Bee (Symmetry)

Participate in an old-fashioned quilting bee and create a colorful, symmetrical quilt. Quilts can be created with a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line of symmetry. Quilts can be folded to look for reflections, or rotated to test for rotational symmetry. 5 Minute Preview

Pattern Flip (Patterns)

In the Pattern Flip carnival game, you are shown a pattern of cards. The first cards are face-up so you can see the pattern, and the rest are face-down. Can you guess which animals are on the face-down cards? Use one of the preset patterns, or make your own custom pattern. Good luck! 5 Minute Preview

Holiday Snowflake Designer

Fold paper and cut in a certain way to make symmetrical snowflakes with six sides (similar to what can be found in nature) or with eight sides (an easier folding method). This simulation allows you to cut virtual paper on the computer screen with round dot or square dot "scissors" of various sizes before using physical paper. 5 Minute Preview