Converting Units Virtual Manipulative: A Virtual Manipulative That Every Middle School Math Teacher Should Consider

Title of Activity: Converting Units
Topic: Measurement
Grade Range: 6 - 8
Link: Converting Units Virtual Manipulative

Even though unit conversions is typically a middle school math topic, students generally struggle with it mightily in my eighth grade Earth Science and high school biology classes. This could be for several reasons. First, middle school math teachers may be teaching unit conversions without using any kind of a “hook” or attention grabber. The attention grabber could be a demonstration of how the unit conversions could be used in science classes. In fact, unit conversions is a perfect topic for an interdisciplinary project. However, the application of math concepts in other classes is unlikely. During my administrative internship, I conducted a survey with eighth graders as the subjects. The purpose was to find out what percentage of students applied what they learned in seventh grade math in a class other than math class. Would you believe that only about 30% of students had actually applied some aspect of the mathematics that they learned in another class?

Since the mathematics concepts are generally not being applied in classes outside of math class, it is extremely important that the time spent in the classroom is optimized. Students are so accustomed to using technology to do just about everything that it makes sense to incorporate technology into lessons whenever possible. Considering the important applications of unit conversions in science classes, it is particularly important that we, as future math teachers, implement technology into lessons regarding unit conversions. Maybe this strategy would help teachers attain greater success rates of getting students to retain the concept of converting from one unit to another for later use in science classes.

Several specific aspects of the Converting Units virtual manipulative program make it very appealing for middle school math and science teachers. First, it provides students with multiple options, which makes them think. Even when the students determine the correct conversion factor to use they must make the decision of how to orient it. For example, students must ask themselves which units should be in the numerator and which units should be in the denominator. Second, the activity includes multi-step problems. Thus, students can solve real world problems like converting 1 ¼ miles to meters.

Another nice feature of the Converting Units virtual manipulative program is that it tells students if they solved a problem correctly. If a student answered the question incorrectly then the program informs the student of this and allows him or her to try again. The nice thing about this is that it makes the program formative in nature. Students can keep trying to solve the problems until they learn the correct method of converting from one unit to another. Thus, students will get the immediate feedback that they crave, and theoretically, every student should be able to walk away from the program with an understanding of how to convert from one unit to another.

As a teacher, one must always consider when one can use a specific activity. This activity is perfect for individual student practice directly after direct instruction on how to perform unit conversions. After completing the Converting Units virtual manipulative activity, students would then be prepared to tackle problems with paper and pencil. A homework assignment on the same topic would then provide students with an opportunity to check their understanding of the topic after the school day has ended.

However, for students to retain the information learned in the Converting Units virtual manipulative activity, they need to apply the concepts in a real world setting. This is where this virtual manipulative could actually be tied into an interdisciplinary lab-based activity. Students could use the unit conversions that they learn in math class to convert units of length during microscope analysis in science class.