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Materials:
Pegboard and pegs,
Strips of paper for writing numbers
Label Factor
Presentation:
1. Choose a number, for example, 18.
2. Make the number in pegs on the
pegboard and write it on a small slip
of paper.
3. Explain to the child that you want to
find all the factors of the number 18.
4. Write on as slip of paper - A factor is
a number contained exactly in another
number.
6. Take 18 green pegs and see if you
can make 18 in one column.
7. Take another 18 green pegs to see if
18 can be placed in two even
columns. We find that two is exactly
contained in 18, so we write 2 on a
slip of paper and place it at the
beginning of the row with groups of
two.
8. The see if it is possible to make
groups of three (3 columns) an exact
number of times. Take 18 pegs of a
different color and make groups of
three. We find that three is exactly
contained in 18. We write 3 on a slip and place it at the beginning of the row with
groups of three.
9. Do the same with all the numbers up to nine.
10. The results: groups of one, two, three, six, nine and 18 are contained in 18 an exact
number of times.
11. Explain that these are the factors of 18. Explain the term factor again:
A factor is a number contained exactly in another number.
12. The child discovers that the factors of 18 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 18.
13. Have the child work with other numbers, finding the factors in the same way.
MMTTC - Factors 1 99
Common Factors
Factors: Second Exercise:
Factor
Materials:
$ Pegboard and pegs Common factors
$ strips of paper for writing numbers
$ Labels
Presentation:
Note: This work is done after the child has worked with the factors of one number for
some time and understands the concept of factor well.
1. This time take two numbers, for example, 12 and 18. Explain to the child that we
want to find the factors that are in each of these numbers. In other words, we want
to find the common factors.
2. First, find the factors of 12, as done in the previous exercise.
3. Then, find the factors of 18.
4. We see that the factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12 - the factors of 18 are 1, 2, 3,
6, 9, and 18.
8. Ask the child which factors are in both
numbers. These are 1, 2, 3 and 6.
Therefore, 1, 2, 3, and 6 are the Common factors of 12 and 18
common factors of 12 and 18.
9. Remove the labels for the other
factors which are not common, i.e. 4,
9, 12, and 18.
Presentation:
1. Explain to the child that in this exercise, you want to find
the factors of a number that has no other factors. Before
this exercise it is necessary to complete Table C with the
child - in which he found all the prime numbers.
2. Lets find the prime factors of 36
3. Write the number 36 on a slip and place it on the frame of
the pegboard.
4. Place 36 in pegs (3 blue tens and six green units) and lay
a long strip of paper or yarn to the right of the beads
5. Explain to the child that in order to find the factors that are
prime numbers, we begin dividing by the smallest prime
number - which is 2.
6. 36 can be evenly divided by 2 and the result is 18.
Place a label marked 2 to the right of the long strip or yarn
beside 36 in pegs
7. Make18 in pegs (1 blue ten and 8 green units) under the 36 pegs.
8. Now, ask the child if 18 can be evenly divided by 2. Yes and the result is 9.
9. Place a 2 label to the right of18 and place 9 green unit pegs under the 18 pegs.
10. Can 9 be evenly divided by 2? No. Try the next larger prime number
11. Ask the child What the next prime number is. 3 is the next prime number.
12. Ask the child if 9 can be evenly divided by 3. Yes and the result is 3.
13. Place a 3 label to the right of 9 and 3 green unit pegs under the 9 pegs.
14. Can 3 be evenly divided by 3? Yes, and the result is 1.
15. Place a 3 label to the right of 3 and 1 green unit peg under the 4 pegs.
16. When one bead is placed, the division is complete
17. Now there are 4 labels. Two have 2 written on them and the other two have 3 written
on them. All these are prime numbers.
18. When we multiply them the result is 36. Place the multiplication signs and re-arrange
the labels below the pegboard: 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 = 36.
19. The prime factors in 36 are 2 x 2 x 3 x 3.
20. Explain to the child that the prime numbers contained in any number are called the
prime factors.
21. If the child is familiar with power notation, note that the prime factors of 36 can be
written as 22 x 32.
Note: Allow the child to explore many numbers, one at a time at first, and then two or three
numbers. This work is an important step that the child must understand very well before he
works with LCM or HCF.
Materials:
1. Pegboard and pegs
2. Slips of paper to write on
3. Slips with the prime numbers (several for each)
4. Slips with the prime numbers raised to the powers
Presentation:
1. Choose two numbers, for example, 36 and 30.
2. Tell the child that you want to find the highest
common factor for these numbers. He already
knows how to find the common factors, using the
pegs in a sensorial way. This process is more
advanced.
3. In this exercise, begin with finding the prime
factors of each number, as in the exercise with
prime factors.
4. First, find the prime factors of 30, putting out the
pegs and slips. The prime factors of 30 are 2 x
3 x 5.
5. Next, find the factors of 36, putting out the pegs
and slips. The prime factors of 36 are 2 x 2 x 3
x 3, which is 22 x 32.
6. Lay the sets of prime factors for each number beneath the peg board
7. If the same factor is in each number, pick up the paper from both numbers and place
the two papers on top of each other below the row of prime factors
8. Both 36 and 30 have common factors of 2 and 3.
9. To find the HCF of 36 and 30, we multiply 2 x 3, which equals 6.
10. Statement: The highest common factor of 36 and 30 is 6.
11. Write the terms: Highest Common Factor
12. Give the definition and the abbreviation: HCF The highest common factor of two or
more numbers is the highest factor which can be found in both or all of them.
Presentation:
1. After the table has been completed, take the 12 24 36
numbers 12, 24, 36, and find the prime factors,
using the pegs.
2. When you have found the prime factors for all
the numbers, record the results:
12 = 2 x 2 x 3 or 22 x 3
24 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 or 23 x 3
36 = 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 or 22 x 32
3. Then, proceed to find the LCM for these three
numbers.
4. To find the LCM, we must first find the HCF. To
find the HCF, take the factors that are common
to all the numbers. In this case, 2 x 2 x 3 = 12
5. Once you have the HCF, take the HCF and
multiply it by all the factors that are left. 12 x 2
(left in the 24) x 3 (left in the 36) = 72.
Presentation:
1. Then, find the highest common factor of the numbers.
2. To find the HCF, we take all the common factors at their lowest power.
3. The lowest power of 2 is 22 and the lowest power of 3 is 3 to the first power.
4. Therefore, we take 22 x 3 or 2 x 2 x 3, and the result is 12.
5. The HCF of the numbers 12, 24, and 36 is 12.
Note: In order to be able to do this work, the child needs to review the notation of the
numbers and their various powers. For example, in writing the notation for prime factors
of 12, first do the notation where every prime factor is written. Then ask the child if he
remembers another way to write 2 x 2. 2 x 2 can also be written 22 - which means two
squared, or two to the second power. Do the same for the notation for prime factors of
24. This time we want to write 2 x 2 x 2 in another way - 23. Then, in the prime factors
of 36, we have 2 x 2, which can also be written 22, and 3 x 3, which can also be written
32 .
After the child has done other examples with the pegboard, do an exploration without the
materials. In this notation, the child repeats in writing what is done on the pegboard.
Point out to the children the fact that when one of the two numbers is the multiple of the
other, the HCF will be the smaller number, and the LCM will be the larger number.
Example: for the numbers 9 and 18, the prime factors are placed in the circles:
LCM 32 x 2 = 18
HCF 32 = 9