Comparing and Contrasting in Math.

  There are so many times I let an opportunity pass by for students to compare and contrast in Math.  They see this exercise as one you only use in English class but it is one that works well in Math.

Compare and contrast offers so many advantages to math students in terms of learning the topic. This technique helps develop higher order thinking skills, improves their memory of the material, it improves their understanding, helps them organize new material, and it helps develop their minds.  

Currently, I am using this in Geometry.  I have students doing four different compare and contrasts with the notes they took on five quadrilaterals.  I've asked them to do one for rhombus and squares, kites and trapezoids, rectangles and squares and rectangles and trapezoids.

They are finding it challenging because they prefer to just copy notes into their notebooks rather than trying to make sense of the notes.  I like the way its working out because it is making students talk to each other as they work in groups trying to find all the similarities and differences between each set of figures.

This is not the only place compare and contrast can be used.  I've discovered several other ways which can be used in different levels of high school and middle schools.

1.  Compare and contrast long division and synthetic division.

2.  Compare and contrast different ways of multiplying binomials.

3.  Compare and contract GCF's and LCM's.

4. Compare and contrast regular fractions and algebraic fractions.

5. Compare and contrast decimals with place value.

6.  Compare and contrast student methods used to solve a problem.

7. Compare and contrast the ways to solve systems of equations.

8. Compare and contrast solving systems of equations and matrix.

There are so many other possibilities for using comparison and contrast in the math class.   Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.