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Maths Glossary

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109 views2 pages

Maths Glossary

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Chuahgege
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Glossary of Math Terms

Compiled by Heather S. Benson

These terms are used in “Teaching and Learning about Math” articles,
“Teaching
Young Children, January 2003, pp. 8–50.

Algebra—math area that provides tools for picturing, Classification—the process of sorting and grouping
stating, and simplifying relationships; generalization of objects by a common attribute or property, such as color
arithmetic ideas by which unknown values and variables or size.
can be found in problem solving. Young children build a Commutativity (commutative property of addition)—
foundation for later algebra learning through activities property stating that when the order of two or more
with pattern, relationships, mathematic situations and addends is changed, the sum is the same.
structures, and change. Example: 4 + 5 = 5 + 4
Associativity (associative property of addition / grouping Conservation—the concept that objects remain the same
property of addition)—property stating that when in amount despite perceptual changes. For example,
addends are grouped in different ways the sum is the same. children who are able to conserve know that a cookie
Example: (5 + 9) + 3 = 5 + (9 + 3) broken in half is equal in amount to another cookie left
whole, or that a cup of milk (8 ounces) in a tall, narrow
14 + 3 = 5 + 12 glass is equal to a cup of milk in a short, wide glass.

17 = 17 Cylinder—a three-dimensional figure with one curved


surface and two parallel, congruent circles as bases.
Attributes—characteristics like shape, size, color, number
of parts, weight. Data—facts, such as measurements, collected about
people or things; for example, how much the plants in
Bar graph—graph in which data are represented by the window grew over a one-week period or how many
horizontal or vertical bars. children in the class have pets.
Example: See counting graph below.
Equivalent fractions—two or more fractions that use
different numbers to name the same amount.
Example: 3/4 = 6/8
Estimate—to use judgment to find a number close to an
exact amount.
Graph—a drawing or diagram showing a numerical
relationship or displaying data.
Hexagon—a polygon with six sides.
Identity property (identity property of zero)—the
property stating that the sum of zero and any number is
that number.
Examples: 0 + 25 = 25; 0 + a = a

Heather S. Benson, M.A., was a teacher with the District of


Columbia Public Schools in Washington, D.C. She has worked on
various collaborative projects to support teachers implementing
early childhood standards in mathematics.
Reviewers: Juanita V V.. Copley
Copley,, associate professor of curriculum
and instruction, College of Education, University of Houston, and
Mary Ellen Bardsley
Bardsley,, teacher consultant, University of Buffalo.

1
Inverse operations—opposite operations that undo each Repeating pattern—a sequence of colors, shapes, sounds,
other; addition and subtraction are inverse operations. or other attributes that occurs again and again, such as
Example: 5 + 4 = 9, therefore 9 – 4 = 5 red-red-blue, red-blue-blue . . . ; loud-soft-soft, loud-soft-
Line symmetry—characteristic describing a figure or soft . . . ; circle-square, circle-square . . . .
shape that can be divided along a line so that the sec- Seriation—the process of ordering or creating a sequence
tions on either side of the line match exactly. based on a specific attribute, such as length, height,
Manipulatives—easily handled concrete objects, such as capacity, weight, or amount of time.
beads, puzzles, and peg boards, that children can work Skip-counting—counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, or other intervals,
with in ways that help them understand or explore beginning with any whole number.
mathematic concepts. For example, putting together a Examples: 5, 10, 15, 20; 7, 9, 11, 13
puzzle promotes children’s understanding of one-to-one Sorting—creating collections of objects that share a
correspondence. common attribute.
Octagon—a polygon with eight sides. Example: See circle/rectangle collections below.
Operation—four basic operations in arithmetic are used
to solve problems: addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division.
Pentagon—a polygon with five sides.
Pictograph—graph using pictures to represent data.
Example: See banana/apple pictograph below.

Spatial orientation—understanding and operating on


relationships between different positions in space.
Spatial relationship—the positions of objects and people
in space relative to each other.
Tally—count data using slash marks, with every fifth slash
mark crossing the prior four.
Polygon—a multisided, two-dimensional, closed figure Example: llll ll (7)
whose sides are line segments connected end to end, with Trapezoid—a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides.
each segment intersecting two others at its endpoints.
Polygon is derived from the Greek for poly, meaning many,
and gon, short for goinia, which means angle.
Sources
Predict—to tell what might happen.
Everyday Mathematics Glossary for Grades K–3 at www.auburn.
Property—feature or characteristic common to several wednet.edu/everydaymath/k3glossary.htm
items—for example, both blocks are red. Harcourt Multimedia Math Glossary at www.harcourtschool.com/
glossary/math_advantage/glossary1.html
Qualitative change—change described using mathematic NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics at http://
language incorporating relative mathematic labels like standards.nctm.org
smaller, higher, wider. Such changes occur over time and WPS District 39 Math Glossary Grades K-2 at http://wilmette.
are fairly predictable. nttc.org/wilmette/mathglossary/mathglossk-2.htm
Quantification—determination of how much or how many.
Quantitative change—change described using mathemati-
cal language that incorporates more precise numeric Copyright © 2003 by the National Association for the Education of
language (the use of exact amounts), such as shoe size Young Children. See Permissions and Reprints online at www.
naeyc.org/resources/journal.
from 10–11 or sunflower grows 3 cm.

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