MultiPartitions Tool

The Maker of the “MultiPartitions Tool” wanted to create a tool that would help engage students in the mathematical ideas of skip counting, multiples and multiplication, fractions, and geometry. She ultimately created a set of tools, and explains, “The manipulatives are comprised of various shapes, and then the shapes are cut into different numbers of pieces based on the number they represent, and each shape has multiple ‘nesting’ layers.” These nested layers will assist the user in skip counting by that particular number as they are added to or taken away from the manipulative. For example, the user explains the case of the number two: “It will show them the starting number of two in the center and then two more outside of that to show four, and then two more to show six, and so on until ten. These shapes will help students visualize how numbers increase when added to themselves.” By understanding multiples, the student will be prepared to gain a deeper understanding of multiplication and division. In addition, the nesting quality of the tool may help students conceptualize fractions. For instance, each layer could be seen as one whole decomposed into 4 fourths. Then the accumulated pieces from 5 layers would represent 5 sets of 4 fourths. The “MultiPartitions Tool”, as evident from its title, refers to both multiples and multiple partitions. It provides a venue for exploring geometric shapes as well, and ultimately serves as a versatile, exciting tool to help students explore mathematical ideas.