Reply To: Lesson 1 – Which Has More? – Discussion

[Merrillee Reboullet]

It seems to me that a direct unmeasured comparison would be a hands-on or physical manipulation of the objects or images to find the similarities and the differences, whereas an indirect unmeasured comparison would be more of an “eyeballing” approach, using prior references or understandings to apply our spatial reasoning skills.

In this video I was reminded that students need to physically explore mathematical concepts, leaning into the direct unmeasured comparisons to really understand why the measured comparisons work. I do incorporate this into my instruction, but probably not as often as I should. Time always seems to be the issue, but then, what good is it to press forward when the understanding is minimal at best and not retained. A good reminder with a fun exploration. Thanks!