It is great to see how the sharing of ideas sparks new ideas. In 2011 Lyon and Bragg wrote an "Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom" (APMC) article on the mathematics of kitchen gardens. In this article the authors show how the kitchen garden may be used as a starting point for proportional reasoning. The authors highlight different…

Proportional reasoning is an important aspect of formal thinking that is acquired during the developmental years that approximate the middle years of schooling. Students who fail to acquire sound proportional reasoning often experience difficulties in subjects that require quantitative thinking, such as science, technology, engineering, and…

Proportional reasoning, the ability to use ratios in situations involving comparison of quantities, is essential for mathematical competence, especially in the middle school years, and is an important determinant of success beyond school. Research shows students find proportional reasoning and its foundational concepts difficult. Proportional…

Find out how to use photographic images to support the conceptual development of proportional thinking. This paper provides insight into a sequenced activity that promotes student engagement and makes links to familiar and unfamiliar contexts.

Proportional reasoning involves the use of ratios in the comparison of quantities. While it is a key aspect of numeracy, particularly in the middle years of schooling, students do not always develop proportional reasoning naturally. Research suggests that many students do not apply proportional methods appropriately and that they often erroneously…

Proportional reasoning is a key aspect of numeracy that is not always developed naturally by students. Understanding the types of proportional reasoning that students apply to different problem types is a useful first step to identifying ways to support teachers and students to develop proportional reasoning in the classroom. This paper describes…