A ride on a subway, a trip on a bus, or a walking tour become bases for understanding displacements. The concepts of displacements and equivalence provide a new approach to understanding integers.
Teachers use inquiry-based teaching strategies that build on the concrete experiences of children.
Teachers act as coaches and guides to construct experiences that will help students find their own answers by asking increasingly sophisticated questions. Algebra Project students are encouraged to think about mathematics and to discuss and present their symbolic representations of important mathematical concepts. The Algebra Project is also a vehicle for implementing the NCTM standards. Mathematics as Problem Solving Mathematics as Communication Mathematics as Reasoning The Algebra Project addresses these standards by engaging students in the construction of mathematical concepts. The project helps students to build their understanding of mathematical concepts through a Five-Step curricular process that moves from familiar concrete experiences to abstract mathematics.