Math Applet Review One

Cubes (Grades 3-5)
http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=6

This applet is mainly aimed for third to fifth graders learning about geometry and how to calculate volume of a cube, using mathematical terms such as width, depth, and height. The students first start off by having a five 2-D squares that are different colors and three different size cubes, these 2-D squares are 5x3. There is a single cube, a rod of five cubes, and a flat that covers the surface of the 5x3 squares. At the bottom of the screen there is a chart that lists the measurements whenever you add a cube, rod, or a flat. Using these three cube sizes the students would need to determine what the volume is using these cubes. Once the students finish this box, they can click, "change box" and begin working on another box pattern. I don't think this applet was that effective, and I also thought it was more confusing. The directions given were somewhat vague, and didn't really express how to figure out what the volume was. If a student didn't know how to calculate volume, I can see students becoming frustrated with not exactly knowing how to do this problem.

Something I do like while using this applet, is that each side of the square is color coded, and when you add the cubes, they are automatically match the colors alike. This distinction helps students realize how tall each layer is, and how it matches up to a one of the 2-D sides. I also like how there is a chart that is keeping track of how many cubes are the student has added. Another pro, is that there are many different examples to work on, so this can reinforce the idea of finding volume in a third to fifth grade classroom.

Overall, I believe this is a good start to a nice program, but the directions need to be clarified, because they are unclear of what the student needs to do. Once the directions are written more clear with possibly an example or two, I believe students will get more out of this activity because they will be able to understand the purpose of it.