AIMS Education Foundation

Essential Math - Writing and Simplifying Expressions

http://bit.ly/emwriting
In Writing and Simplifying Expressions, students will develop fundamental understanding of key algebraic concepts. The four "big ideas" expressed through creative activities in this book are:
Variables: Using a variable to represent an unknown amount is a powerful tool that is central to doing algebra.
Order: Changing the order in which operations are done gives different answers, so mathematicians have agreed on a specific order.
Commutative Property: The commutative property is used to rearrange expressions so like terms can be combined and a simpler equivalent expression written.
Distributive Property: The distributive property can be used to multiply expressions with unlike terms and simplify them into equivalent expressions.

Essential Math - Effects of Changing Lengths

http://bit.ly/emlengths After first drawing and building 2- and 3-dimensional shapes to reinforce their understanding of perimeter, area, surface area, and volume, students discover ways to enlarge and reduce these shapes by multiplying the lengths of the sides or edges by a number called a scale factor. Students then explore how these changes affect other measurements of the shape, such as perimeter, circumference, surface area and volume.

Essential Math - Measurement of Prisms

http://bit.ly/emprisms Building each of the solids from a paper template allows students to recognize the component shapes that form the surfaces of each solid. The concept of surface area is developed and students explore ways of finding the surface area of each of the solids. The concept of volume is developed as a measure of filling, and by filling the solids with cubes and cereal they develop a conceptual understanding of the volume formulas.

Essential Math - Area Formulas

http://bit.ly/emareaformulas Students develop the formulas for the areas of parallelograms, triangles, and trapezoids. By cutting paper and working with geoboards, they understand the meaning of the formulas and apply them in a variety of problem-solving settings.

Activity Books