Carnival puzzles provide math problem solving in a themed story context
Students learn early "programming" skills as they choose a sequence of "directions" and "distances" to successfully navigate through the maze. There are 9 increasingly challenging levels. By the end, students "program" 3 steps at a time, collect mushrooms, avoid trolls, and reach the end of the maze before their turns run out!
Petting ZooPlay this math puzzle
This game was carefully designed to build spatial reasoning. Although the mouse requirements can be difficult for new computer users, research indicates that requiring the student to carefully place the animals in the pen, as opposed to letting technology "lock them into place", has a greater impact on one's ability to understand space.
Frog RacePlay this math puzzle
Initially, students build the race course by placing flags at every tenth interval. Then, students' frogs race against the competition. The student must choose the starting point closest to the presented number (the fly finish line), and tell his or her frog the correct distance to hop in order to win! In earlier levels, the starting points are always on a multiple of ten and on the positive side of the number line. Later levels include negative numbers.
Dunk TankPlay this math puzzle
Students manipulate the mathrack and develop strategies in this modern version of the classic 4-in-a-Row game. There are 9 different levels, varying the use of even and odd numbers and the number of buttons available to manipulate the mathrack. These variations challenge students to modify their strategies based on the existing constraints.
Unit pretests quickly determine whether a student already knows a particular concept
Unit pretests are designed to rapidly determine if a student knows a particular concept or not. These lessons are not meant to teach or adapt. When students successfully complete a unit pretest, they skip over the lessons associated with that concept. When students need to learn or practice the concepts more, they are given the relevant lessons next in their sequence. Students are not aware that they are playing a unit pretest as they look like any other lesson!
Make 100 Unit Pretest Play this unit pretest
In this unit pretest, students identify pairs of numbers that add up to 100. If students do not successfully complete this unit pretest, they will be given lessons like "Make 15", "Make 20", "Make 50", and easier versions of "Make 100" before moving on in the curriculum.
Tutorials teach the use of a virtual manipulative
DreamBox tutorials are very different from other lessons and puzzles. Many of the virtual manipulatives are introduced with a tutorial to teach students how to use it.
