Number Sense Blog

Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Students are often taught that division is the opposite of multiplication, and therefore should rely on their multiplication facts to divide; this can be difficult when the number to divide by (the divisor) extends beyond these facts. Today we are using number sense to divide, when the divisor is a power of two. The trick is to cut the original number (the dividend) in half the appropriate number of times (the “power” amount).

Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are comparing fractions that have the same numerators but have different denominators (the total number of equal parts in the whole).

Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Whether it is in statistics or the real world, we are occasionally required to count large amounts. It can be a long and tedious process to list the total number of combinations for given events. So today we are showing you how to use the Fundamental Counting Principle to count the number of outcomes; the trick is to multiply the number of possibilities for each event together.

Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Kids commonly fear fractions when they encounter them. The goal is to group specific fractions and observe patterns. With these patterns, we can develop “tricks” to compare them. Today we are using our knowledge of the parts of a fraction to identify the biggest and smallest fractions with common denominators.