Navigating through Problem Solving and Reasoning in Grade 5

Problem solving and reasoning are students' processes of actively applying what they know to new problems from diverse areas of mathematics. Knowing a variety of mathematical ideas is insufficient unless students can draw on, integrate and use them to solve challenging, complex problems.

The Navigating through Problem Solving and Reasoning books for grades 3-6 present hands-on investigations that nurture reasoning and problem-solving strategies in each of the upper elementary grades. In investigations for grade 5, children reason about place value and divisibility by making a PIN for a security system, explore rates of change by projecting sales at a new pet shop and determine the best month for a ski trip by analysing snowfall data. Students apply mathematical ideas from the five main content areas-number, algebra, geometry, measurement and data analysis. As they work, they infer, generalise, reason by analogy, recognise relationships and make representations and they also predict, check and revise and verify their results.

The Navigations series translates Principles and Standards for School Mathematics into action. Each book includes practical, teacher-tested activities and a supplemental CD-ROM that features applets for students' use and resources for teachers' professional development.