ABSTRACT
This chapter describes episodes from three classroom conversations and one individual interview in which children from age 8 to 10 interpret and create representations to tell a story about change. It elaborates on the varied means children have of carrying out the given problems and the particular thinking processes we believe are indicated by their solutions. By providing these descriptions and discussions, author hopes to make real and convincing our view that algebra can be construed in ways that are not only possible for children to learn, but can be experienced as exciting and challenging during the learning process. The data for the classroom vignettes is taken from research done in developing a strand of curriculum materials about change over time for the Investigations in N umber, Data, and Space (Russell, Tierney, Mokros, & Economopoulos, 2004) mathematics program for grades K–5.
