Same and different
It is vital that students learn to think about what makes things the same and what makes them different.
When comparing and contrasting, students are likely to be:
- noticing and describing
- explaining and justifying
- thinking analytically
- finding relationships
- using logic
- focussing on important features.
For example, ask your students to compare and contrast these two images of clocks.
Source: Grant Cochrane/Freedigitalphotos.net |
Source: graur razvan ionut/Freedigitalphotos.net |
You can download Compare and Contrast: Content Descriptions which gives ideas for each year level, with sample content descriptions.
Classification
How things vary and the idea of classification are important concepts in mathematics.
Noticing and comparing properties of shapes
A good understanding of shape depends on noticing differences in properties.
Imagining missing elements
An important aspect of reasoning in mathematics is to find missing elements.