Continuing our discussion on Number Sense, we will be looking at Proportional Thinking. As you recall, Number Sense includes Counting and Wholes and Parts as well. The last segment of building a strong number sense is Proportional Thinking.
The definition of the word proportion can be thought of in two parts: "Pro", meaning "according to", and "portion", which means amount. In other words, it explains how the size of a thing changes when a second thing is changed. The things being related can be thought of as a fraction or ratio, which should stay constant.
"Proportional Thinking is "thinking according to amount." The amount of one thing can be adjusted according to the amount of something else. Many kids have a difficult time visualizing proportionally. This is because they need to be able to develop a mental image of a sense of proportion - "a sense of scale.""
Thinking in groups is a basic skill that students can develop to start to understand proportions. For example, if you can buy 5 candies for $1, how many can you buy for $4? Drawing out 5 candies for every dollar will allow the student to see that you get 20 candies.
To learn more about Proportional Thinking, visit Mathnaisum's Number Sense blog. These ideas can be applied to increasing recipes to similar triangles and more complicated topics.
To help build your student's number sense, contact us at 203-757-1234 to set up a free assessment and free trial session!
