Artifact 3 Article Review 1

Artifact 3 Article Review

Ciera Diaz

National University

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

TED 690−Capstone Course

Professor Reyes Gauna

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Article Review

Order of Operations: The Myth and the Math

The first article that I chose to read and reflect on is about the order of operations.

This article went over six different topics that were very interesting and made me really

think about the way that I might teach the order of operations to students differently. The

first topic that the article discussed was that the order of operations was designed a very

long time ago. I never really thought much about how long ago the order of operations had

been used for but I found it interesting that the debate on having an order of operations has

only been going on for less than one hundred years. “Rather than dismiss the order of

operations as a convention established long ago, engage students in exploring equivalence

and see why operations are ordered as they are” (Bay-Williams and Martinie, 2015, p. 22)

This idea of not simply forcing students to learn the order of operations but rather explore

why certain operations need to be done first in order for the answer to make sense I

thought was a great idea. I think often times teaching can get to be less about the students

exploring and figuring out the answers and more about following a procedure that often

times the understanding can get lost.

The next point the paper mentions is that the order of operations is rigid. The

journal goes over how the order should not be taught this way because then it prevents

students from having the opportunity to use different properties like the associative and

distributive. Rather than having the rigid order it is better for students to become more
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effective and efficient in using all of their mathematics tools. “When we teach order of

operations in a rigid way, students miss out on opportunities to look for efficient

approaches, a critical component of procedural fluency” (Bay-Williams and Martinie,

2015, p. 23).

The article goes over the next two points which I believe are very important which

are not teaching the order of operations with memory triggers and teaching the order of

operations conceptually. I think that most adults and probably many students still are

taught by using a mnemonic and there are many individuals than can still understand the

concepts but it never occurred to me the amount of people that might not understand why

they are following this “order”. “Unfortunately, these triggers have caused major

misconceptions about the order of operations” (Bay-Williams and Martinie, 2015, p. 24).

In order for students to become proficient they must be able to make a connection with the

material that they are learning, if students do not understand the why they most likely will

not be able to repeat the desired outcome. The article discussed an illustration that a

teacher used with coins to help the students conceptualize the operation as well as why the

order of operations is so important. I think that finding visuals and hands on problems to

help the students see what is on the paper was a brilliant idea.

The article went on to discuss that there are only four steps in the order of

operations. I think that this is important because often times many people think that

multiplication comes before division always and that addition always comes before

subtraction. I think that the article had a great figure of a triangle showing how division

and multiplication are on the same level but to work from left to right and the same for
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addition and subtraction. The final and very interesting point that the article mentions is

that the order of operations is not actually a universal method. The article goes over how

the Kenyans always put division before multiplication. I think that the article hit it right on

the spot when it goes into the points about not teaching the order of operations rigidly and

to rather let the student learn the order through meaningful visuals or tasks. “This

approach is much more likely to help students become flexible, accurate, and efficient in

simplifying expressions- in other words, procedurally fluent” (Bay-Williams and Martinie,

2015, p. 26).

Aquaponics: What a Way to Grow!

The science article that I chose to read, summarize, and reflect on is about using

Aquaponics as an ecosystem to grow food. The students were first introduced to the idea

by having a discussion with a meal from McDonalds with the teacher. I thought this was a

good idea to pique interest with the students and also to check for knowledge on where

food comes from and how many people and systems are involved. The teacher then went

on to ask student if they knew how much available land there is to grow food in the world.

I think that by showing the students how little land there is compared to how large the

earth is really made the students understand how we need to be more sustainable.

The students continue to discuss the limited amount of resources there are on their

next day of the lesson. The lesson also begins to teach about the idea of aquaponics and

how using fish and plants together you can make an ecosystem to not only provide

vegetables or other plant but also to help raise fish for consumption as well. “Raising fish

and plants for human consumption via an aquaponics system, whether it be a freshwater
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system like the ones we will build or a saltwater one, can reduce human impact on global

fisheries”(Gillan and Raja, 2016, p. 50). The students begin to gain the knowledge and

information in order to build their own aquaponics systems.

The next part of the lesson is for the students to learn what plants need to grow and

how to plant the seeds. They use empty CD cases to make a sort of greenhouse for their

seeds. The students are tasked with laying the soil, the seeds, and watering their seeds to

make them grow. The student must also draw and label not only their plants but also the

gold fish. The students must also learn what the gold fish need in to live like the water

needs to be clean and free of certain chemicals, they need food, and they need air. The

students are learning to test the water for the fish as well as keep their plants alive.

The next part of the lesson is the time when the students start to design and build

their aquaponics systems. The students must assemble and are encouraged to be creative

while building their systems. After the students have built the aquaponics systems they

must clean the water and feed the fish until the system can take care of its self. “They

learn the hard way that avoiding overfeeding of the fish also helps to create the necessary

balance between the fish and the plants in the system”(Gillan and Raja, 2016, p. 54). The

students must also present the aquaponics systems at their science fair and be able to

explain the purpose and how it works.

In conclusion I think that this is a great experiment for students. I believe that

showing students what they eat and what they do on a daily basis effects the entire world

is a very important lesson. There are very few people that truly understand how much

effort and time goes into feeding people in the world and even less that understand the
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unstainable way that we currently provide it. I think that this lesson even if it only makes a

handful of students more aware of their own contributions and how to minimize their

footprint that it is well worth it.

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References

Gillan, A., & Raja, S. (2016). Aquaponics: What a way to grow! Science and Children,

53(7), 48-56. Retrieved from https://nuls.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-

proquest-com.nuls.idm.oclc.org/docview/1768607770?accountid=25320

Jennifer M. Bay-Williams, & Sherri L. Martinie. (2015). Order of Operations: The Myth

and the Math. Teaching Children Mathematics, 22(1), 20-27.

doi:10.5951/teacchilmath.22.1.0020