Suzie's Readings

Here's a summary of my articles... as well as some quotes I took from the articles that I thought spoke for themselves.

Developing Spatial Sense through Area Measurement
Foundations of Measure-
1. units of measure should be adapted to the objects of measure- meaning that we measure length with a unit that has length and we measure area with either an object that has area or we find a way to adapt length and width to make area.
2. units of measure should be identical- we can't measure with inches and then switch halfway to centimeters; we should also use conventional measurements (like measuring lumber with feet not paper clips)
3. measurement involves iteraton- things need to be measured by end to end, not overlapping or leaving gaps
4. a scale has a zero point- like the brokn ruler, yet 8 1/2 would be reset to zero to start measuring
5. measurement is characterized by additivity- areas of figures can be adapted (cut or imagined) to fit into another figure;
6. measuring area is based on space filling- no gaps or overlaps


Using Representation to Explore Perimeter and Area
"The problem is that children o not know how tto choose the correct operation or sequence of operations to solve the problem."
"Students often confuse perimeter and area because the topics are learned only as sets of procedures."
"Children also have difficulty determining when to write an answer in inches, and when to write an answer in square inches, because they simply do not know what the number they have obtained represents."
"If we want children to be successful in problem solving , we must give them many opportunities to solve problems in meaningful contexts."
"They also need opportunities to talk and write about these ideas as they begin to construct an understanding of these and other closely related mathematical concepts."