An exciting event had occurred for the grade 3 classes at Woodlands State School. A new play space designated for the older grades had now been opened to the third graders. In sharing their excitement over this "real treat, real privilege," the teachers invited the children to find out more about playgrounds and, in particular, their new…

The authors developed The Paper Plane Challenge as one of a three-part response to The Aerospace Engineering Challenge. The Aerospace Engineering Challenge was the second of three multi-part activities that they had developed with the teachers during the year. Their aim was to introduce students to the exciting world of engineering, where they…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) continues to emphasize the importance of early statistical learning; data analysis and probability was the Council's professional development "Focus of the Year" for 2007-2008. Such a focus is needed, especially given the results of the statistics items from the 2003 NAEP. As Shaughnessy…

A recent study in the United Kingdom provides strong evidence that well-organized activities outside the classroom contribute significantly to the quality and depth of children's learning, including their personal, social, and emotional development. Outdoor math trails supply further evidence of such enhanced learning. This article focuses on the…

Children live in a highly sophisticated world composed of interlocking complex systems. An appreciation and understanding of such systems is critical for making effective decisions about everyone's lives as individuals and as community members. This article addresses one approach to introducing children of all achievement levels to introductory…

Mathematical modeling is explored as both problem posing and problem solving from two perspectives, that of the child and the teacher. Mathematical modeling provides rich learning experiences for elementary school children and their teachers.

Discusses a need for problem posing and gives a definition and explanation of the term. Highlights an environment in which problem posing is a natural process of mathematical learning. Presents activities supporting problem posing. Contains 16 references. (ASK)