#36 Bring Variety

Bring Variety

Iconic multiplication comes in ways other than groups of groups. Find iconic areas – for example, in a two-by-four board, or a four-by-six photograph. Hunt for iconic arrays, such as egg cartons (two-by-five or two-by-six) and chess boards (eight-by-eight). Find units of units in measurements, such as three-by-twelves inches per yard, or ten-by-ten millimeters in a decimeter.

Prepare an empty grid and a stack of index cards. Each time you notice an iconic multiplication example, sketch it on a card and put it into the corresponding cell. Some combinations are easier to find than others, so you can have multiple cards in the same cell. Decide what to do about the symmetric times facts (for example, two-by-five and five-by-two).

Ask friends, family members, or professionals in fields your child loves about their special examples of multiplication. You can learn a lot about professions – and people! A space engineer can tell you each of the five space shuttles designed by NASA required two solid rocket boosters plus an external tank with liquid fuel for an iconic five-by-three. A grandma who always knits mittens for her four grandkids’ winter holiday gift has to make two-by-four. A country singer will think of the six strings and nineteen frets on the classic guitar.