Stimulating Understanding of Computational science through Collaboration, Exploration, Experiment, and Discovery for students with Hearing Impairments
a collaboration of the Shodor Education Foundation, Inc., Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, Barton College, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Interpreters, Inc.

For Teachers!

Modular Mathematics

Overview:

This lesson introduces the students to modular mathematics. They start by making clocks for different bases. They use their clocks to count, using the base, and thus find the mod or remainder. They explore both positive and negative numbers with their clocks. They use the lesson's applets to check their answers. They get more practice with modular mathematics by reviewing addition, subtraction and solving equations, and by finding the mod of the answers using more applets.

Goals and objectives: 

In this lesson the students gain an understanding of modular mathematics. By working through activities using both paper and pencil and computer applets, the students will learn to solve modular mathematics by different techniques. They will use applets to explore how modular mathematics works for positive and negative numbers. They will practice addition, subtraction and solving equations with modular mathematics and use applets to check their answers.

Student Prerequisites: 

Students need an understanding of positive and negative numbers. They need to be proficient at addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They need to be able to solve equations of the form Y = 2 X + 3 if X = 4. 

Materials Needed: 

Worksheets: The "Circle Page" (for the students to make clocks) and the "Student Practice" page should be printed out for the students to use. 

Computers with Internet access or CD with this lesson.

Developed by
The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

Copyright © 1999-2001 by The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

This project is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.