Developing

Number
Sensethrough Real-Life
Situations in School
N
umber sense is “a way of thinking that
should permeate all aspects of mathematics
teaching and learning” (Reys 1994, p. 114).
NCTM (1989, 2000) states that the development of
number sense should be connected with real-life
situations. If children learn to apply numbers within
By Der-Ching Yang
Der-Ching Yang, dcyang@mail.ncyu.edu.tw, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on
mathematics education at National Chiayi University in Taiwan. He is interested in number
sense, children’s mathematical thinking, and assessment on number sense.
real contexts, numbers will have significant meaning
for them. Furthermore, Curriculum and Evaluation
Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989)
stresses that “children with good number sense
develop references for measuring common objects
and situations in their environments” (p. 38). This
statement reinforces the idea that children’s number
sense can be developed through interaction with
everyday objects in a realistic setting. This article
shares a fourth-grade lesson from Taiwan in which
number sense is developed through real classroom
interactions.

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The Setting
The instructor for this lesson, Tony Hsu, has fourteen
years of teaching experience. His fourth-grade class
has thirty students. To promote the development of
number sense, which Hsu feels is important and
necessary, he has devised some challenging activi-
ties to stimulate his students’ mathematical think-
ing and problem-solving abilities. In an attempt to
create an exciting and interesting learning environ-
ment, he divides his students into small groups and
asks them challenging questions. He encourages
everyone to actively participate by discussing and
sharing their ideas. After small-group discussions,
he leads the whole class in discussion, encourag-
ing students to explain their thinking, share their
reasons, and defend their answers. Some highlights
from one of his lessons are given here.
The Activity
Hsu presented the problem in figure 1 to his stu-
dents and then gave them a chance to understand
what they needed to do to solve the problem.
Posing a challenging, real-life
problem
Teacher. Class, as you can see from these pictures,
this is the school basketball court we visited this
morning. Here is the problem I would like you to
solve [see fig. 1]. Now, you need to carefully read
through the problem, consider the statements, and
discuss any relationships you can find between the
information given and the numbers in the box. Next,
select the numbers from the box to fill in the blanks
so that the story makes sense. (Some students raise
their hands and try to ask questions.)
Keri. There are eight numbers in the box, but only six
blanks, so there are two extra numbers. Am I right?
After presenting the problem to the students,
Hsu encouraged them to ask questions in order to
make sure they understood the problem. By asking
questions, students can gain relevant information,
which helps not only themselves but also other
students. The teacher can help in directing students’
questions by ensuring that they know what the
problem is asking them to do.
Encouraging students to query
the problem
Teacher. Yes! Good! Any more questions? (There
are none.) Now please go into your small groups to
discuss the problem. You have five minutes.
Teaching Children Mathematics / September 2006 105
After Hsu was satisfied that the students under-
stood what the problem entailed, he asked them to
begin small-group discussion and come up with
solutions. He asked the students in each group
to write down their methods and ideas, while he
walked around and observed their discussions.
The Resulting Discussion
Hsu asked the students in these small groups to dis-
cuss the problem, decide on their answer, and be pre-
pared to explain their answer. He moved among the
groups for a few minutes, listening to their discus-
sions and checking on their progress. Although this
question was very different from those found in the
textbooks the class used, Hsu was still a bit surprised
to find that after ten minutes only two of the six
groups had come up with all six correct answers. He
decided it would be helpful to gather some feedback
from a whole-class discussion. He began by asking,
“Which group would like to go first?”
Whole-class setting: Discussing
students’ explanations
Keri. We thought that the length and width should
be 32 and 20.
Teacher. Can you tell us why you think the length
and width should be 32 and 20?
Keri. Because 104 is too long, 12 is too short,
and 640 is also too long. We think that 20 and 32
matches our basketball court. 3, 10, and 8 is also
too short for the length.
When Keri presented the group’s answer, Hsu
encouraged them to explain how they had arrived at it.
Even though they had given the correct answer, with
a reasonable explanation, he attempted to introduce
Figure 1
Our School’s Basketball Court problem
Please choose, from the numbers in the box,
the correct answers to fill in the blanks:
104, 12, 640, 20, 32, 3, 10, 8
Our school has a basketball court that is ___
meters long and ___ meters wide. Its length
is ___ meters more than its width. The perim-
eter of the court is ___ meters, and the area of
the court is ___ square meters. The rim of the
­basket is ___ meters from the floor. (Greenes,
Schulman, and Spungin 1993)
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Photograph by Ping Jui Chiang; all rights reserved
some doubt by accepting different answers in order to
arrive at the correct answer and, in the process, help all
the children make sense of the question.
Expanding on students’
explanations and
encouraging learning
Teacher. Anyone have a question?
Jack. Yes! We agree. We also think that the length is
32 and the width is 20.
Teacher. Why is that?
Jack. It agrees with the answer to the third question.
The difference between the length and the width is
12. (Many other students voice their agreement.)
Teacher. Do all of you agree?
Ella. No! Our answer is different. We think that
the length is 32 and width is 12, which makes the
length 20 meters more than the width.
Hsu encouraged the students to figure out the
answers for the first three blanks, not worrying
whether they were right or wrong. This helped the
students further clarify their thinking through dis-
agreement and debate.
Prompting students to give
comprehensive explanations
Teacher. Can you tell us why you think that this is
the correct answer?
Ella. Because 32 minus 12 equals 20; this also sat-
isfies the first three blanks.
Bill. We disagree! (Many other students also
disagree.) We think that the length and the width
106 Teaching Children Mathematics / September 2006
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should be 32 and 20, with the length being 12
meters more than the width.
Teacher. Why? Can you give us your reasons?
Bill. Because you need to consider the following
question: What is the perimeter of the court? The
perimeter of the court is 104.
Teacher. Can you tell us what the perimeter of a
rectangle is and why you think the perimeter is
104?
Bill. The perimeter of a rectangle is equal to the
length times 2 plus the width times 2. A rectangle,
with four sides, has two lengths and two widths.
The perimeter of a rectangle is, therefore, equal to
32 × 2 = 64 plus 20 × 2 = 40. 64 + 40 = 104.
Tim. The perimeter of a rectangle is the distance
from a point. Walk along the sides and go back to
the starting point.
Teacher. Do you all agree? (Many students answer,
“Agree!”)
Through discussion of different answers and dif-
ferent approaches, the children were able to clarify
their thinking and strengthen their understanding.
The following question was more challenging for
these students. Although they had already dis-
cussed how to find the area of a rectangle, using
the formula l × w, they had not been taught how to
multiply two digits by two digits; their experience
of multiplication consisted only of multiplying two
or three digits by one digit. Accordingly, this was a
challenge for the students.
Encouraging students to
question, debate, and
prove their solutions
Teacher. Who can tell me what the area of the bas-
ketball court is?
Amy. 10 square meters. (Many students show sur-
prise at this.)
Teacher. Can you tell us how you came up with this
answer?
Amy. Because the numbers 32, 20, 12, and 104
have already been used, they cannot be used
again. Only four numbers are left. 640 is too
large, 3 and 8 are too small; therefore, I think the
answer is 10.
Bill. We think the area of the basketball court is
approximately double the area of our classroom.
Therefore, if the area of the basketball court is 10
square meters, this would mean that the area of the
classroom is only about 5 square meters. That’s
impossible! The area of the classroom must be
more than 9 square meters, which would make the
area of the basketball court double that size more
than twice 9 square meters. 10 square meters is far
too small. It is impossible!
George. Excuse me, sir. The area of the court
should be the length times the width.
Teacher. So what do you think the area of the court
should be?
George. The area should be 640 square meters.
(Students are surprised by this answer.)
Bill. Disagree! 640 is too large. How can the court
possibly be that size? We would need to walk for a
long, long time to cover that distance.
Teacher. Why? Keri. How do we know 32 times 20
Bill. If I take a big step, it is about 1 meter. If I took
640 steps, then I would be outside the school. How
can this be the area of the court?
Hsu understood that this group had some mis-
conceptions about the definition of area. He knew
some of the students had trouble knowing the dif-
ference between area, perimeter, and length. He
also knew that they needed clarification on exactly
what area is. He therefore decided to lead some
of the other students, by answering his carefully
worded questions, to explain the concept of the area
of a rectangle.
Supporting students’
explanations, whether
correct or incorrect
Teacher. Does everyone agree?
George. We are talking about the area, not the
length.
Teacher. Can you tell us what the area is?
George. The area of the court implies that the
ground is completely covered. If we look at the
picture [in fig. 2], the area of the rectangle is shown
by the shaded area. The area of the rectangle is
equal to the length times the width. Hence the court
is equal to 32 × 20. We think, therefore, that the
answer is 640.
Figure 2
George’s depiction of area
20
32
Teaching Children Mathematics / September 2006 107
Teacher. Do you agree with George’s definition of
area? (Many students say that they agree.)
Several students had misunderstood the con-
cepts of the area and the perimeter of a rectangle.
Hsu led the discussion in helping them clarify the
definitions of area and perimeter
through the explanations of George,
who had a better understanding of
these things.
Challenging students Teacher. So what do
is equal to 640? you think the area of the
Teacher. Good! A very good ques-
tion! Can you tell us why? court should be?
George. The numbers cannot be used
more than once and since the num- George. The area should
bers remaining are 640, 3, 10, and 8, be 640 square meters.
only 640 is appropriate, because 3,
10, and 8 are all too small. Bill. Disagree! 640 is too
Teacher. Can anyone tell us how to
multiply 32 by 20? (Students say large. We would need to
softly that they have not yet learned
how to multiply 32 × 20. None of walk for a long, long time
the students can suggest a way to to cover that distance.
do this.)
The multiplication of two digits
by two digits (e.g., 32 × 20) was a
new topic for these students. Hsu
thought that it might be difficult for
his students to estimate 32 × 20, so
he decided to leave this topic until later and con-
tinue with the remaining questions.
Assisting and leading the
discussion when required
Teacher. Let’s continue with the next question.
What do you think is the distance from the ground
to the rim of the basket?
Ella. 8 meters.
George. I disagree! It should be 3 meters.
Teacher. Ella, can you tell us why you chose 8
meters?
Ella. We just think that’s the answer.
George. 8 meters is so high! That’s impossible!
Bill. My height is 138 centimeters. If I only con-
sider 100 centimeters, then we would need 8
people, standing on top of each other, to reach
800 centimeters. This is so high; it’s impossible to
throw a ball to such a height.
George. The ceiling of our classroom is about the
same height as the rim of the basket. It’s impossible
for our classroom to be 8 meters high.
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 Different groups gave the two different answers.
Hsu patiently listened to the students’ explanations
and debate. He gave students the chance to discuss
their thinking and explain their reasoning. He then
decided to lead students through the problem to find
the answer.
Giving assistance and leading
the discussion, when required
Teacher. Good! Bill said that the height of the class-
room is almost the same as the distance from the
ground to the rim of the basket. What
is the height of the classroom?
Bill. 3 meters.
Teacher. How did you come up with
The teacher plays that number? (No students answer.)
Do you know how tall I am? My
an important role height is about 178 cm. Now you
can estimate the height of the class-
in the creation of room.
Keri. I think the height of our class-
a good learning room is about 3.5 meters, because it
is about double your height.
environment, Teacher. Good! Now, what is the
distance from the ground to the rim
of the basket?
which encourages Keri. 3 meters.
Teacher. Do you agree? (The stu-
exploration, dents say they do.)
Hsu guided the students in find-
communication, and ing the correct height through dis-
cussion. The height of the classroom
reasoning. is almost the same as the distance
from the ground to the rim of bas-
ket; this allowed them to estimate
the solution by using the teacher’s
height as a benchmark.
Encouraging children to
present their conclusion
Teacher. Good! Who can present the conclusion
for us?
Students (many answer). The length of the court is
32 meters and the width is 20 meters; the length,
therefore, is 12 meters more than its width. The
perimeter is the distance a person walks around
the rim of the court, starting at one point and
returning to that original point. The perimeter is,
therefore, the length times two (32 × 2) plus the
width times two (20 × 2); this is 64 plus 40, which
comes to 104.
Teacher. Good! So the area will be how much?
Alex. It is 32 × 20. It is 640.
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Teacher. What is the answer for the distance from
the ground to the rim of the basket—the height of
the basketball hoop?
Rebecca. It is 3 meters.
Teacher. How do you know?
Students (several answer). It is about the height of
the classroom.
Students (others respond). It is more than double
our height.
Teacher. Good!
Before ending the class, Hsu asked his students
to give their conclusion in order to review the
problem and the solution. Again, this helped the
students clarify and make sense of the problem.
Hsu has asked his students to keep a mathemati-
cal diary to record points covered in the daily les-
sons. Their reflections have provided additional
insight into what they are learning and their level of
understanding. An examination of their diaries has
demonstrated that this lesson had value, as revealed
in the following entry:
 his activity is interesting and different from
T
the lessons found in our textbooks. It gave me
a chance to understand what the perimeter and
the area are. Now I know that the perimeter is
to go once around the court. The area represents
the amount of ground covered by the court. The
question of the distance from the ground to the
rim of the basketball hoop is very interesting.
Now I know that a height of about 3 meters is
reasonable. When Lin stood under the rim, I
could see that its height is about double Lin’s
height and more.
Teaching Reflections
Even though these students did not learn how to
multiply 32 by 20—they knew only how to multiply
two or three digits by one digit—the teacher perhaps
had underestimated the ability of these students.
This would have been a good time to encourage the
students to accept the challenge of developing the
necessary skills to multiply two digits by two digits,
based on their prior knowledge, especially because
20 is an easy number to manipulate.
We have suggested certain revisions to improve
this activity. An additional number of 600 should
be included in the selection, because when estimat-
ing an appropriate answer for 32 × 20, it would be
more challenging for students to have to select the
answer from 600 or 640.
Some Things We Learned
Students actively participated in discussions and
enjoyed explaining their thinking. They enjoyed
this kind of question because they could apply what
they learned in their class to help them solve realis-
tic problems. This activity showed how the teacher
was able to lead and challenge students to commu-

Photograph by Ping Jui Chiang; all rights reserved

nicate, think, and reason. It also showed that small-
group discussion resulted in valuable experiences
and encouraged higher levels of mathematical
thinking. More specifically, this lesson had some
important pedagogical implications:

1. Mathematical questions, when they relate to

real-life situations, have higher student involve-
ment. When students can apply and connect
mathematical ideas to real-life situations, they
understand the importance and usefulness of
mathematics. At the same time, their understand-
ing of mathematical ideas has more depth and is
more lasting because they can connect mathemati-
cal concepts from a real-life context. This supports
the statement in Principles and Standards for
School Mathematics (NCTM 2000) that instruc-
tion “should enable all students to recognize and
apply mathematics in contexts outside of math-
ematics” (p. 64).
2. The teacher plays an important role in the
creation of a good learning environment, which
encourages exploration, communication, and
reasoning. A good teacher must offer mathemati-
cal tasks that are worthwhile and of interest to
students, while at the same time supporting them
in a comfortable learning environment. Hsu not
only encouraged exploration and discussion but
also provided opportunities for children to share
their thinking and reasoning skills. He challenged
students to come up with clear and convincing
explanations without solving the problem for
them. He supported their reasoning by clarifying
mathematical concepts and by assisting them in
the development of a higher level of mathematical
thinking. This reflects the assertion that “effective
mathematics teaching requires understanding what
students know and need to learn and then challeng-
ing and supporting them to learn it well” (NCTM
2000, p. 16).
3. Students’ explanations help the teacher gain
insight into their thinking and understanding about
mathematics. Children are encouraged to partici-
pate in meaningful learning and to develop number
sense through problem solving. At the same time,
children are able to develop a conceptual under-
standing of mathematics through problems involv-
ing real-life situations. This lesson demonstrated
how the teacher can help students “recognize the
importance of reflecting on their thinking and learn-
ing from their mistakes” (NCTM 2000, p. 21).
4. The teacher decides what to teach and how to
teach it. Textbooks provide structure for the content
of a mathematics course. It is the teacher, however,
who decides what mathematical ideas or concepts
are important and need to be emphasized. Hsu
showed a strong self-confidence by focusing on
an activity that differed from the mathematics cur-
riculum in Taiwan. He knew that “the opportunity
for students to experience mathematics in a context
is important” (NCTM 2000, p. 66). Although he
understood that his students were familiar with
written computation and routine questions, he also
realized that they were not necessarily developing
good number sense. He realized that “conceptual
understanding is an important component of profi-
ciency” and “learning with understanding is essen-
tial” (NCTM 2000, pp. 20–21).
Conclusions
This experience demonstrates that students’ num-
ber sense can improve through flexible teaching
and thinking about numbers, in a real-life con-
text. The lesson shows how the teacher plays an

Teaching Children Mathematics / September 2006 109

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 important role by posing challenging questions,
eliciting students’ explanations, and providing
guidance to promote mathematical skills. It also
illustrates how a teacher, by including interesting
and valuable mathematical tasks, can create mean-
ingful and worthwhile learning for students. Most
important, it challenges every teacher who teaches
mathematics to think about the ways in which a
student learns.

Bibliography
Greenes, Carole, Linda Schulman, and Rika Spungin.
“Developing Sense about Numbers.” Arithmetic
Teacher 40 (January 1993): 279–84.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School
Mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM, 1989.
———. Principles and Standards for School Mathemat-
ics. Reston, VA: NCTM, 2000.
Reys, Barbara J. “Promoting Number Sense in the Middle
Grades.” Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School
1 (September–October 1994): 114–20.

This paper is part of a research project supported

by the National Science Council of Taiwan with
grant no. NSC 92-2522-S-415-002. Any opinions
expressed here are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the National Science
Council of Taiwan.

The author gratefully acknowledges the coop-

eration, in collecting data and in teaching, of Tony
Hsu, a fourth-grade teacher in Taiwan. Without his
help, this article would not have been possible.

Editor’s Note
Looking for additional resources? NCTM offers a
variety of resources related to topics mentioned in
this article, including the following:

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

(NCTM). Number Sense and Operations. Reston,
VA: NCTM, 1993.

For more information on teacher reflection,

readers are encouraged to visit the NCTM Reflec-
tions resource located online at my.nctm.org/
eresources/reflections. Visit www.nctm.org/catalog
for more on these resources. Visit www.nctm.
org for information on all of NCTM’s resources,
including professional development offerings, pub-
lications, and online resources. ▲

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