Abby Ericson

Katharine Ross
Katelynn
September 10, 2015
Virtual Manipulatives Exploration

The Mystery Bags Game

What are the strengths and weaknesses (limitations) of this manipulative or
representation (drawings, tactile manipulative, or virtual manipulative)?
Strengths- It is really nice to see the physical balance in the equations. It is a lot like the
balance scales in this case.
Weakness- It is harder to tell if it stays balanced since it is only drawn; a little mistake
could hurt the whole process.
What does this manipulative reveal? What does it obscure?
I feel like this manipulative helps with the adding and subtracting of xs and of numbers
but it is a little bit more complex with the division. I dont know how you would find a
good way to show division- you have 8 bags and 80 pounds of weight and you are
supposed to take it off according to the instructions.
What mathematics would you already need to know to use this manipulative?
You would have to already know basic operations; adding, subtracting, multiplying, and
dividing. You would also have to be able to translate sentences into mathematical
equations, and know how to set up correct relationships in the equations.
How does this manipulative provide opportunities to make connections between
procedural, conceptual and representational ways of thinking mathematically?
Procedural- The manipulative has 8 exercises on the back page that forces students to
make procedural connections. Each question gives the student the opportunity to
practice what they have learned and arrive at a solution in a very procedural manner.
Conceptual- I think the manipulative gives great opportunity for students to make
conceptual connections. The task is very open-ended and never gives the students a
clear solution path. This will force students to dig deeper conceptually and come up with
their own ways of solving the problem. While not all students may connect the visual
representation with the procedure, I think the task does a good job of providing
opportunities for the students to do so, and in turn, make conceptual connections.
Representational- The manipulative provides the visual of the balancing scales as a
representational connection. They represent x as mystery bags, and numbers as lead
weights. This gives students a clear visual of how an equation becomes balanced, and
stays balanced, even after simplifying the expressions.
How does this manipulative connect to previous understanding?
This manipulative connects well to the idea that equations need to be balanced. It says
several times that the balance scales must be equal. The task then builds on this
knowledge by asking students to simplify and evaluate the already balanced equation.
Is the manipulative better than a student-invented representation or drawing?

I think if students had come up with a drawing themselves it would be somewhat similar
to the manipulative. However, I feel like students could make a representation that would
show division in a clearer way.

Hands on Equations
What are the strengths and weaknesses (limitations) of this manipulative or
representation (drawings, tactile manipulative, or virtual manipulative)?
The idea of explaining the concept of balancing equations using videos as visuals is
strong. In video #1, the child clearly explained the process of balancing an equation
using physical objects. He simplified the equation by taking away the same amount of
objects from each side, until he was left with a simple equation that was easy to solve.
We felt like video #1 had a lot of strengths, but one weakness of the video was that it did
not explain how to work with negative numbers.
What does this manipulative reveal? What does it obscure?
In video #2, the explanation for solving the equation is confusing and unclear. The video
uses the term convenient zero, and we are unsure what that means. The process
seems long and complicated. Overall, the manipulative revealed a simple method for
balancing equations by simplifying, but some of the delivery was obscure and unclear.
What mathematics would you already need to know to use this manipulative?
You would need to understand basic addition and subtraction, and know the concept of
a mathematical equation.
How does this manipulative provide opportunities to make connections between
procedural, conceptual and representational ways of thinking mathematically?
Procedural: This manipulative provides opportunities for students to make connections
from basic algebra to the process by which we solve algebraic equations. Sometimes
we get lost in the algebra, but this task allows students to make the connection between
solving an algebraic equation and the process by which it is being solved. The
procedure provides critical thinking and manipulation by moving pawns of the same
magnitude and using different colored pawns to represent negative and positive
numbers.
Conceptual: The videos helped students understand the importance of taking and
adding from both sides of the equation, not just pawns but pawns of the same color
(numbers/variables of the same magnitude).
Representational: The pawns and dice allow for students to represent negative and
positive numbers. They also allow the student to represent the function as a visual and
manipulate the function to find a common solution.
How does this manipulative connect to previous understanding?
This manipulative connects to the previous understanding of equations with single
variables, and builds on the idea by teaching students how to manipulate the equations
and simplify them. By the time students learn this lesson, they should have a sound
understanding of what an equation looks like, and that the value on each side of the
equal sign should be the same. This manipulative introduces the new topic by presenting
students with what they already know, then it builds on that previous knowledge.

Is the manipulative better than a student-invented representation or drawing?

I believe that this manipulative is a great way to represent student thinking and truly
captivates the idea of algebraic functions and their properties with negative and positive
numbers. I also believe that student-invented representation allows for students to
explore and create their own tasks but this task also allows for these ideas to be
developed and includes mathematical connections of reason.

The NLVM Algebra Balance Scales

and Algebra Balance ScalesNegatives virtual manipulatives
What are the strengths and weaknesses (limitations) of this manipulative or
representation (drawings, tactile manipulative, or virtual manipulative)?
Weaknesses: You dont understand that x is a variable because the x-box could be any
size. It helps students understand that equations and how the equal sign helps relate
two parts of equal magnitude.
Strengths: Shows that a negative value is opposite of adding weight and pulls in the
opposite direction.
What does this manipulative reveal? What does it obscure?
It reveals that the x is the same on both size and that when the equation is true it is
balanced. It obscures that x and -x are not related and how to find the value of x. You
can balance an equation using several negative and positive numbers and becomes
redundant and infinite. Often the original equation becomes lost.
What mathematics would you already need to know to use this manipulative?
Adding and subtracting, modeling equations.
How does this manipulative provide opportunities to make connections between
procedural, conceptual and representational ways of thinking mathematically?
Procedural: Visually enhances addition and subtraction through a balance scale.
Conceptual: Helps make connection about the nature of a variable and the fact that x is
an actual quantity such as 2x is 2 of x.
Representational: helps visualize a balanced equation.
How does this manipulative connect to previous understanding?
It amplifies common operations on both sides of an equation using integers.
Is the manipulative better than a student-invented representation or drawing?
I think the manipulative is helpful, especially for students who are struggling to
understand the concept of balanced equations. I am not sure we can say that the
manipulative is better than something a student could come up with, but we do believe
that it would compliment their representations and help deepen understanding.

CONCLUSION
We, as a group, have decided that the Hands on Equations manipulative is the
most effective. We recommend this tool for teaching the concept of balancing and
solving single variable equations because it effectively simplifies the topic and provides a
well-explained visual to complete the procedure. While we thought the concept of
physically balancing the equations, as demonstrated in the other two manipulatives, was
an effective visual, we believe that students will come away from the lesson with a
deeper understanding of how to actually solve the problems from working with Hands on
Equations. We believe that the underlying mathematical concept is more clearly
explained in the videos than with the balance scales. If students use the Mystery Bags
Game or the NLVM Balance scales, they will surely grasp the concept of how to keep
the sides balanced, but may miss some of the tools they will need to evaluate the value
of x, which is the whole reason for balancing the equations in the first place.
While we did find some weaknesses in the Hands on Equations manipulative, we
believe that it is the most effective tool overall for teaching this concept. It is simple,
clear, and concise. We will be using this tool to aid in our teaching of balancing and
solving equations to our students.