3D Pens and Printer in Math

3D Printing Tech in Math Centers

Today in our math Centers, we used our 3D pens to practice doing transformations. The kids used task cards to identify what transformation they  needed to complete, and then used the 3D pens to draw the shapes. It was a really low-prep activity, but the kids loved using the pens and were really engaged in practicing their translations, rotations and reflections. 

We have also been using our 3D printer to create math manipulatives. This week, we made fraction dice. I just found the design online and then downloaded it- it's amazing what you can find for free online! But students can also use a program called tinkercad to design their own prints. This is something we will work more on during some of the down-time near the end of the year. The design program makes use of many mathematical concepts, such as angles, measurement, 2D and 3D shapes, transformations of shapes, spatial reasoning and so much more! 

Vertical Number Lines

In class, we often use number lines to help students with their number sense. It helps them to understand sequence and relationships of numbers.  Recently, I tried doing number lines as a math center, but instead of putting it horizontally as I usually have, we made them vertical.  It was interesting to see how it made the kids see it in a different way.

We were working on fraction (ratio), decimal and percent. With the activity we were doing, the students were asked not only to order their numbers, but also to find equivalent numbers.  Students generally figured out to start with the benchmark of 1/2, but it was interesting to see how some numbers were placed. We were able to have some interesting discussions about reasonableness.  We also have a horizontal number line in the classroom with many of these numbers on it and students were encouraged to look at it.  It was interesting to see the challenge students had with translating it from the horizontal to the vertical.  It reminded me of how important it is to have different perspectives when doing math.

Though we used this activity with fractions, decimals and percents, clearly it can be used beyond that from anything from the numbers 1-10, to hundreds, to billions, to integers, etc.

Adventures in Math Centers

Since working with Jackie, Carol and I have started on an quest to do weekly math centers with our grade sixes. Each week, we try hard to include a variety of centers, such as a building center, a technology center, a game, etc. We also try to have activities that are differentiated to help meet the needs of all of our learners. The kids have really enjoyed this change in pace, and it has also allowed us to  review concepts we might have worked on earlier in the year in a fun setting. 

We realized that if we wanted our centers to be good year after year, we would need to be organized and keep a record of the centers we were doing for each of the different strands and outcomes. In order to do this, we have created a website that houses all of our resources. Hopefully this will help us create a huge collection of awesome activities and centers that we can use year after year! If you want to check out our site, you can click on the image below to visit our site. We are still doing some tweaking to how it is organized, but slowly we will get it to how we like it.