Have you ever wondered what the times tables would look like in 3D?
No, of course not!
Well, can you imagine what they’d look like if they were 3D?
Erm…
These were the crucial questions that Year Four explored this week in our maths sessions! As part of our ongoing mission to learn our times tables facts, we tried to create a 3D model of the 10 x 10 times tables grid.
Using our Cuisenaire number sticks, children created each times table from x1 to x10. Once all of the times tables were built, we constructed the entire grid, with all times tables laid on top of each other. The results were quite surprising, I think you’ll agree!
We then discussed which times tables they could identify within the huge 3D model. Pointing at the tip of each rod, children were able to pick out many facts that they have learned so far.
This is 7 lots of 5 – it’s 35.
The largest stick is 10 x 10 – it makes 100.
The tallest stick of each colour jumps up in 10s – it makes the 10 times table.
The gap between the colours gets bigger as you go higher in the times tables.
Children also modeled these times tables using a simple spreadsheet and graphs on the computer. Children had to complete the entire 10 x 10 times table grid – something that seemed hard at first. But, after colouring in all the facts that they already know from the 1,2,3,4,5 and 10 times tables, it only left 16 number facts that they didn’t know. What a relief!
Suddenly, learning all of our times tables doesn’t seem such an enormous task after all.
