Hopping on the number line

Learn more

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

In this lesson, students generate products using the number line model, which highlights the measurement aspect of multiplication and is a distinctly different representation of the operation. After demonstrating how to use a number line, the teacher challenges students to make up their own equations using the activity.

Students will be able to:

• Use the number line model to find products.
• Investigate the order property of multiplication.
• Solve and create puzzles using the number line.

NCTM Standards and Expectations covered in this lesson include:

• Understanding various meanings of multiplication and division.
• Developing understanding of fractions as parts of unit wholes, as parts of a collection, as locations on number lines, and as divisions of whole numbers.
• Understanding the effects of multiplying and dividing whole numbers.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 3

• Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will model, identify, and compute with whole numbers through 9,999.
  • Objective 1.01: Develop number sense for whole numbers through 9,999.
    • Connect model, number word, and number using a variety of representations.
    • Build understanding of place value (ones through thousands).
    • Compare and order.
  • Objective 1.02: Develop fluency with multi-digit addition and subtraction through 9,999 using:
    • Strategies for adding and subtracting numbers.
    • Estimation of sums and differences in appropriate situations.
    • Relationships between operations.
  • Objective 1.06: Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.

Grade 4

• Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will read, write, model, and compute with non-negative rational numbers.
  • Objective 1.01: Develop number sense for rational numbers 0.01 through 99,999.
    • Connect model, number word, and number using a variety of representations.
    • Build understanding of place value (hundredths through ten thousands).
    • Compare and order rational numbers.
    • Make estimates of rational numbers in appropriate situations.

Grade 5

• Goal 1: Number and Operations - The learner will understand and compute with non-negative rational numbers.
  • Objective 1.01: Develop number sense for rational numbers 0.001 through 999,999.
    • Connect model, number word, and number using a variety of representations.
    • Build understanding of place value (thousandths through hundred thousands).
    • Compare and order rational numbers.
    • Make estimates of rational numbers in appropriate situations.
  • Objective 1.03: Develop flexibility in solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.