Number Sense Blog

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Kids commonly fear fractions when they encounter them. The goal is to group specific fractions and observe patterns. With these patterns, we can develop “tricks” to compare them. Today we are using ...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Whether it is in statistics or the real world, we are occasionally required to count large amounts. It can be a long and tedious process to list the total number of combinations for given events. So...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are comparing fractions that have the same numerators but have different denominators (the total number of equal parts in the whole). When we compare fractions with the same numerators, ...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Students are often taught that division is the opposite of multiplication, and therefore should rely on their multiplication facts to divide; this can be difficult when the number to divide by (the ...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are comparing fractions to the benchmark number, one half. When comparing fractions, it can be difficult to determine whether they represent values that are greater than or less than one...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are using number sense to divide statements where the divisors (the numbers we are dividing by) have more than two factors (numbers which divide evenly into the divisor). Rather than dividi...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are comparing fractions using the concept of wholes and parts … in this case, finding the missing parts that make one whole. To compare fractions, we can turn to a few tricks we’ve cover...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are squaring numbers ending in 0 or 5 by observing patterns and applying our number sense. To square a number, we multiply it by itself. Sometimes, this multiplication might be difficult...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are calculating basic probability. Probability is the chance or likelihood that something will happen. To calculate the basic probability of something happening, we make a fraction of th...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks, series. Today we are using number sense to square any number. In an earlier Mathnasium Math Trick we looked at the patterns when squaring numbers ending in 0 or 5. For example, to find 452 we increase t...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks, series. Today we are determining whether a number can be divided by a power of 2. Recall that a number is a power of 2 if it can be expressed in the form 2n. For example, 64 is a power of 2 since it can...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are finding the percentage amount of any number by breaking it apart and using special percents. In an earlier Mathnasium Math Trick we used special percents because they represent easy-...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are calculating the probability of two independent events. Two events are considered independent if the occurrence of one event does not affect the probability of the other event. For ex...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are multiplying numbers that are near one hundred. We can use mental math to quickly multiply numbers that are slightly smaller or larger than one hundred using three simple steps: St...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are determining whether a number is divisible by 7. A number is divisible by 7 if … 5 times the one’s digit PLUS the rest of the digits is divisible by 7. Follow the examples bel...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are calculating the conditional probability of one event occurring, given that another has already occurred. Two events are considered dependent if the occurrence of one event affects th...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are finding the direct percentage amount of any number. To calculate the “direct percent” of a number, we use the following steps: Estimate the answer by rounding the number to the...

  We can sometimes solve “simple” linear equations using inspection, particularly when the answer is an integer. But for some equations, it may be difficult to solve for x mentally, especially when the answer is a proper fraction or a mixed ...

  Welcome to Mathnasium’s Math Tricks series. Today we are finding the value of the what part, in a Wholes and Parts problem. In a Wholes and Parts problem, sometimes we have the whole and the given part, and we need to find the what part. W...