Applet Review
November 14, 2008
bennymath
After looking at several applets and games, I found myself drawn to the equation balance, which I found on the national Library of Virtual Manipulatives website. I think I found this one particularly interesting because I am trying to find funding for the “Hands On Equations” for my classroom. I have many students that do not have a strong foundation in math, especially with integers. Therefore, moving into algebra and the abstract is very difficult for them. The “Hands On Equations” would be very beneficial to those students. When I saw this game on the website, I fell in love. My students love the computer and the visualization of a balance to represent an equation is perfect. They can move beyond their difficulties with the computation and focus on the process of solving the equation using inverse operations. They can discover the inverse operations through trial and error. I would introduce mental equations before allowing them to discover how to solve a more complex equation. This would allow them to understand the concept of solving an equation by finding the value of the variable. I would also have them write in a journal what they did for several equations and have them discuss with classmates the pattern that develops. This would lead to the concept of inverse operations. I would finish the activity by having them work out several more problems by using both paper and pencil and the game on the computer. I feel that it is very important to bridge the manipulative to the paper and pencil or most students will lose the concept of the “balance” of the equation.
The following is the link to the game for solving equations using a balance.
Click on grades 6-8 Algebra topics. Click on algebra balance-negatives.
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