Geoboard

A geoboard is a mathematical manipulative often used to explore basic concepts in plane geometry such as perimeter, area or the characteristics of triangles and other polygons. Consisting of a physical board with a certain number of nails half driven in, in a symmetrical square five-by-five array, students are encouraged to place rubber bands around the pegs to model various geometric concepts or to solve other mathematical puzzles. Two-dimensional representations of the geoboard may be applied to ordinary paper using rubber stamps or special "geoboard paper" with diagrams of geoboards may be used to help capture a student's explanations of the concept they have discovered or illustrated on the geoboard.

Geoboards were invented and popularized by Egyptian mathematician Caleb Gattegno in the 1950s.

External links

* [http://homepage.mac.com/efithian/Geometry/Activity-03.html Various geoboard activities]
* [http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap4/4.2/index.htm Virtual geoboard on the NCTM web site in the United States]
* [http://mathforum.org/trscavo/geoboards/ Tom Scavo's collection of geoboard activities]
* [http://www.etacuisenaire.com/search/searchdisplay?type=keyword&query=geoboard&x=0&y=0 Educational manipulatives & supplemental materials for grades PreK-12.]