Review based on:

personal experience

Appropriate for:

practice of skills and understandings, applications of a concept or technique, advanced investigations

Other Comments:

This is a fabulous way to practice, reinforce and extend what is often a tough concept for students.

What math does one need to know to use the resource?

You need to have an understanding of what subtraction is and have been introduced to the concept of trade-first subtraction or what used to be called "borrowing."

What hardware expertise does one need to learn to use the resource?

None

What extra things must be done to make it work?

Nothing!

How hard was it for you to learn?

Very Easy

Explanation:

At first I wasn't sure how to actually use the manipulatives to subtract, but after playing for a few minutes I discovered I could simply match up the cubes, longs and flats to subtract. If I needed to make a trade I simply dragged the manipulative to the appropriate column. For instance, if I needed to trade a ten for one I would drag a long to the one columns and it would break into cubes. Fabulous!

Ability to meet my goals:

Effective

Recommended for:

Math 2: Operations with numbers