Using the Addition Mat to introduce the concept of Addition and Subtraction to Foundation year students
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Reference
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2014) Mathematics: Foundation Year. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Mathematics/Curriculum/F-10#level=F
Classroom Clipart (2013). Addition image. Retrieved July 30 2014 from http://classroomclipart.com/clipart-view/Clipart/Mathematics/girl_holding_addition_math_sign_jpg.htm
Classroom Clipart (2013). Subtraction Image. Retrieved July 30 2014 from http://classroomclipart.com/clipart-view/Clipart/Mathematics/subtraction_minus_sign_jpg.htm
Jamieson-Proctor, R. (2014). Language Model. Week 1 Lecture - Addition, Foundations of Numeracy EDX1280. USQ, Springfield.
Jamieson-Proctor, R. (2014). Subtraction. Week 2 Lecture - Subtraction, Foundations of Numeracy EDX1280. USQ, Springfield.
Lepper, J (2011). Educational Philosophy: How Children learn. Stanford University. Retrieved July 28 2014 from http://www.stanford.edu/dept/bingschool/aboutbing_philosophy_learn.html
EDX 1280 S2, 2013
(1) A Learning and Teaching Resource for Addition/Subtraction
(2) The purpose of the Addition Mat
(3) Using the Addition Mat to demonstrate the concept of subtraction
The Bumble Bee addition mat was constructed using only hands on work. The materials used for the construction of the addition mat was an A2 sized piece of white cardboard, Crayola Crayons (brown, yellow, green, light green & black) and 20 small wooden bumble bees’. The flowers were drawn first by halving the page to obtain an equal amount of space, and then the beehive was drawn freehanded, fitting in perfectly between the sunflowers. The dimensions of the addition mat are 64 centimeters in length and 50 centimeters wide.
The theme for the addition mat relates to the real world setting. Students have often come across a beehive. Sunflowers are bright, easy to spot and are common in Australia. Although beehives may not be shaped like the picture naturally, children instantly know what objects these images represent. By setting the scene with a bright and fun looking foundation for mathematics, this is aimed at encouraging the students have fun while learning, which will assist in developing positive learning habits for the future. During the demonstration of the use of the Bumble Bee Mat, students will move the bumblebees from the sunflowers onto the beehive, because that’s what they actually do. According to the Lepper (2011), the more hands-on experiences children have, the more curious and capable they become and, best of all, the more joy they feel at learning a number of things.
The purpose of the addition mat is to introduce the concept of addition and subtraction to foundation year students whilst using concrete/visual materials. The concept of subtraction is when you know the total and one part of the total and you have to find the other part (Jamieson- Proctor, 2011). The addition mat will be used to demonstrate the physical findings of the missing part. In the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2014), the appropriate strand for introducing the concept of subtraction to foundation year students is Number and Algebra, the sub-strand is Number and Place Value and the content description; Represent practical situations to model addition and sharing (ACMNA004). The elaboration for this content description fits with the activity including the addition mat as it explores and ‘uses a range of practical strategies for adding small groups of numbers, such as visual displays or concrete materials’. (ACARA, 2014).
The Student Learning Outcome for the addition mat activity would be that students should be able to understand the concept of subtraction using the addition mat to show the total of one part, to find the other part.
The concept of addition and subtraction will be modeled using the addition mat by joining and taking groups of real world materials. The main aim for students using the addition mat for them to understand the 3 different types of subtraction which are; take away, missing addend and difference/comparison (Jamieson- Proctor, 2014). There are 3 strategies that are used for the concept of subtraction, these are count-back (1,2,3), use halves and use 10. (Jamieson- Proctor, 2014).
In relation to the Language Model for Mathematics (Jamieson- Proctor, 2014), foundation students learn effectively at the concrete/visual level, which is known as materials language. The addition mat is the perfect resource for modeling this level as the bumble bees’ are concrete material and relate to students.
Take away
missing addend
Difference and comparison
Take Away
There are 7 bumble bees in the beehive and 3 decide to fly away onto this sunflower,
How many bumble bees are left on the beehive?
Lets count, 1,2,3. There are 3 bumble bees left on the beehive altogether.
We could also use the countback strategy to work out how many bumble bees are left for this scenario, so again I have 7 bumble bees on the beehive and 3 have flown to the sunflower, so we could count back, I have 7, 6, 5,4. There are 4 bumble bees left in the beehive
Difference and comparison
To demonstrate difference and comparison, the following scenario may be used,
if I have 3 bumble bees on the sunflower,
and 5 bumble bees in the beehive, how many more bumble bees are there in the beehive than the sun flower? The count on strategy could be used for this scenario, I have 3,4,5. There are 2 more bumble bees in the beehive than the sunflower
Missing Addend
The beehive can only fit 10 bumble bees, if there are 7 bumble bees in the beehive already, how many more bumble bees does the beehive need so there are 10 bumble bees altogether?
I would use the count on strategy for this scenario, so lets count them, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8,9,10. The beehive would need 3 more bumble bees to make it full.
