App

Math Doodles

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

Discover the joy and excitement of improving your math fluency through four different puzzles. Combine those with 25 different ways to represent numbers and you have hours of enjoyment that can be fun outside of the classroom as well.

2nd - 9th Math 849 Views 375 Downloads
CCSS: Adaptable
App Overview

Fun to look at and fun to play, this award-winning tool has many features that make it a fantastic choice for many grade levels. Four activities, each with the choice of easy or hard, provide loads of mathematical enjoyment with logical reasoning. The 25 different value representation options for numbers are a truly engaging and challenging aspect. It is through these value representations that many math skills are practiced.

Value Representation Options:

  • Dice
  • Fingers
  • Hole Tiles
  • Ten Frames
  • Tally Marks
  • Spanish Tally Marks
  • Numerals
  • Roman Numerals
  • Chinese Numerals
  • Arabic Numbers
  • Gurmukhi Numbers
  • Hebrew Numbers
  • Hindi Numbers
  • Binary Numbers
  • Braille
  • English Words
  • Spanish Words
  • Math Prefixes
  • Polygons
  • US Coins
  • US Dollars
  • Area Fractions
  • Bar Fractions
  • Random Designs

Four Activites:

  • Sums Stacker: As the name suggests values are added together vertically in three (easy) or four (hard) stacks to reach target sums
  • Connect Sums: Similar to Sums Stacker, but number representations are arranged horizontally on 4 x 4 grid, players click on a series of values that add up to the target sum
  • Unknown Square: A great way to introduce or reinforce variables, players fill in the unknown value on a 3 x 3 grid
  • Splat Go Round: Players splat flies to complete an exploration in rounds, whether they are angles, rotations, fractions, hours, minutes, radians, or percents
Join for full overview
Instructional Ideas
  • Improved fluency, logic, and number flexibility are the real products generated by these activities. For younger classrooms in which mathematicians are mastering addition of multiple numbers and beginning logic, this should be a whole-class lesson before it becomes independent practice.
  • Keep a couple of devices handy for students who complete their work quickly to challenge themselves with the timed modes. Does not have a space for students to keep track of their high scores, perhaps a classroom chart or display would allow for competition.
  • Use the different number representations to inspire your classroom to see math in a different way. Try drawing your problem of the day on the board with dice or open number tiles instead of numerals.  
  • Upper elementary classrooms can research and report back on the history of various numbers used.
  • Older learners can concentrate on puzzles that stress angles, radians, binary, or a combination of representations

 

Classroom Considerations

The unfamiliar number representations will take some time for players to understand and master. Recognize that even experienced mathematicians need time and support when working with different concepts. Frustration leads to non-use. Investing support time in introducing the game structure at the beginning leads to a full return. There is no button to push for help or hints during the game.

Pros
  • Asthetically pleasing illustrations
  • Many possible combinations for representation for values which allows one to solve many challenging puzzles
  • Able to change from easy problems to more difficult 
Cons
  • Only operation practiced is addition
  • No help or hint button