To reinforce the Addition and Subtraction Properties of Equality, I use the example of a teeter-totter. You and a friend are perfectly balanced on a teeter-tooter. D.C. To solve this problem, students will need a basketball, stopwatch, U.S. map, ruler, calculator, and masking tape to mark off 10-foot intervals on the gym floor. Students must physically collect packages of golf balls, tennis balls, or eggs from various parts of the classroom and put them in the same place to determine how many they have, and ultimately, the cost of the items. Each group is given a legal-size sheet of paper.
Students fold the paper into three columns and select one of the problems from the chapter to solve.
Column 1 is used to write the problem. Column 2 is used to show a picture explaining the problem, and Column 3 is used to show the numerical solution. Each member of the group should be able to explain how the problem is solved. The students can visually find the perimeters and areas. I then ask students to determine the formulas on their own.