Working+with+Manipulatives

//This page takes a look at utilizing manipulatives to help students solve equations with variables on both sides of the the equal sign. For a look at the effectiveness of online video lessons, click here. You can also explore an interactive game online by clicking here.//

Below is a video introducing what manipulatives are and how they can be used in a classroom.

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//[|Classroom Activity with Manipulatives]// And here is a neat exercise teachers can do with their students when exploring how to solve equations with the variable on both sides of the equation. Up until this unit in an algebra class, students will have only practiced solving an equation with the variable on one side. Thus, in order to find a solution, they only need to isolate the variable. In this unit, the students have to group the variables first, so that they'll all be on one side and they can treat the problem in a manner with which they are already familiar.

Whether the variable is on one side or both sides of the equations, what gives students the most trouble is performing operations on both sides of the equal sign. In the activity above, students have little markers that they can physically move to mimic what the operations they perform in solve an equation. For example, when a student needs to subtract some number from both sides, they can literally remove the small markers from the model they've created to represent the equation.

This activity helps students that are having a hard time grasping the abstract concept of manipulating equations because it relates what they are doing conceptually to an action they can witness and understand like moving the markers (Brahier, 2005).

The markers, or other manipulatives, are cognitive tools similar to those described by Sociocultural Theory. If students are put in groups and encouraged to explore the manipulatives together, they can teach themselves and help each other tackle misconceptions they share about the equations they're solving.