Popsicle Stick Abacus
Contents
Topic
Pages
Making an 8 Rod Abacus
2-3
Making a 4 Rod Abacus (well suited for primary grades)
4
Some Common Terms
5
Representing Numbers
6-7
Place Value
Al Mendle
8
12/04 , 9/07
[email protected]
1
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
For each abacus in this
version, you will need:
• 12 craft sticks
• 8 4-inch pieces of
1
−
8 inch diameter
doweling.
• 56 pony beads,
three different
colors (21, 21, 14)
• white glue
Use the grid on the
right as a template.
The dotted lines show
where the dowels will
be placed. The squiggle
( ) represents glue.
Place dowels and craft sticks on top of this
template
Popsicle Stick Abacus - 8 Rods
diagram
diagram11
1. Glue two popsicle sticks together. Repeat this five more times. Place three
glued pairs on top of the template, diagram 1.
2. Put a line of glue on top of the
three popsicle stick pairs as shown in diagram 1.
3. Put 7 pony beads on a piece of
doweling and place on top of the
template, directly above the glue,
as shown in diagram 2.
diagram 2
Al Mendle
12/04 , 9/07
[email protected]
2
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
4. Continue to glue the dowels
with the beads as shown in
diagram 3. Using differnet colors can help with place value.
Be sure to use the template
(diagram 1) as a guide.
{
{
{
diagram 3
select one
color
select a select a
2 nd color 3 rd color
5. Glue the last three popsicle
stick pairs on the top of the
assembly.
diagram 4
The idea for this project came from a webpage entitled, “The
Popsicle Stick Abacus” by Mr. Barinque. The url is:
http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~elf/abacus/popsicle/
Al Mendle
12/04 , 9/07
[email protected]
3
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
Popsicle Stick Abacus - 4 Rods
For each abacus in
this version, you will
need:
• 9 craft sticks
• 4 4-inch pieces
1
of 8 − inch
diameter
doweling.
• 28 pony beads
• white glue
Follow the same
procedures shown for
the 8-rod abacus.
Al Mendle
12/04 , 9/07
[email protected]
4
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
{
Reckoning Bar
or Beam
Upper
Deck
{
}
Lower
Deck
Rod
Earth
Beads
Record the numbers represented on each abacus
Al Mendle
12/04 , 9/07
[email protected]
5
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
Record the numbers represented on each abacus
Al Mendle
12/04 , 9/07
[email protected]
6
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
Shade in the beads to represent numbers.
Record the values in the boxes.
Al Mendle 12/04, 9/07
[email protected]
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
7
units
The abacus is a natural
device to amplify
important place value
concepts. Use it in
conjunction with place
value charts.
tens
ones
hundr
e
tens ds
ones
hundr
e
tens ds
ones
millions thousands
decimals
units
tens
ones
hundr
e
tens ds
ones
tenth
s
hundr
edths
thous
andth
s
thousands
4
3
2
€
€
1
0
−1
€
€
−2
−3
10 •10 •10 •10 •10 •10 •10 •10
•
Use different colors of
beads to represent
different whole number
periods.
€
Expressing powers of 10
with exponents is another
nice fit.
Al Mendle
12/04. 9/07
€
€
€
Using colors can also
represent decimal fractions.
[email protected]
8
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle