After working with Jackie a few years ago, my class has been doing this activity each year. We are currently working on number concepts. Our focus at the moment is prime and composite numbers as well as factors and multiples. Yesterday we undertook building all the factors for numbers to 36. In the past I have had groups do the whole chart independently, but this year, in the interest of time and organization, we did it as a class...much less chaotic. Students were assigned numbers to build (avoiding times table sheets) and were given the choice to work independently or in partners/small groups. They were challenged to make sure they had all factor sets for each number.
After building the numbers, we created a chart to observe patterns, etc. Students were given activities where they had to look for patterns, find prime numbers and recognize the number of factor sets. They also asked to analyze how they can use numbers to find out factors of other numbers. For example, how can you use the factors of 12 to find the factors of 24 or 36?
In the new year, we will continue to use the chart looking at ratios, etc. It also becomes handy with fractions when we need multiples and factors to find common denominators, etc.
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