Mathematical ideas can
be explained in written and verbal form.
Sometimes you can use
objects, numerical tables, drawings, pictures, charts, graphs,
tables, diagrams, models, and symbols to explain mathematical
ideas.
Example:
Verbal Form
Frank was
working on a math problem. The problem said:
" Mrs. Carroll spends $10.00 each week on gasoline for her car.
By the 4th week she had spent $40.
In what week will she have spent a total of $80 ? "
Frank's answer was -- Week 8
Frank's teacher asked him to explain his answer orally.
Frank
gave his teacher this response:
" I figured out the pattern.
If Mrs. Carroll spent $10 each week,
* by Week 5 she had
spent $50;
* by Week 6, $60;
* by Week 7,
$70;
* therefore, by Week
8 she had spent $80.
Here's an example of a graph.
Steve was
working on a problem on his math test. The problem said:
" Use the graph to answer the following question.
How many students play hockey and
football ? "
Steve writes
"13" as his answer.
Steve's teacher reminds him to explain how he
got his answer.
Steve
writes:
" I know that 8 played hockey,
and 7 played football by looking at the circle graph. That means
6 + 7 = 13 "
Here's
an example of a table.
Hannah
read a problem in her textbook. The problem said:
" Use the information from the tally table and create a
frequency table and a cumulative frequency.
TALLY TABLE
Week
Bananas
Monkey Ate
1
2
3
4
= 1
= 5
Tally
marks
Week 1 = monkey ate 6 bananas
Hannah
created the table below and explained:
" Frequency
column gives the number for each week.
Cumulative
frequency gives that day's number plus the sum of
the
numbers from previous week."
Tally
marks 
