And then you push up one bead from below the beam. If you know about tens places, you can easily figure out how to count more than ten things. To subtract, you push them away. After students have tried their activities on the abacus, have them draw an abacus counting to 4, to 8 and to 10, and turn in their drawing to you. Have students use these resources on the World Wide Web to do more abacus activities.
Students complete their drawing accurately.
Students demonstrate their knowledge of addition and subtraction both through hands-on activities and drawings. Has nice graphics and some good lessons that start very simply. The Amazing Abacus , a student project for ThinkQuest.