Number Sense

What is Number Sense?

It’s not a super hero power that helps you calculate large sums in a blink of an eye. It’s actually, much more powerful. Fennell and Landis explain: "[Number sense] is an awareness and understanding about what numbers are, their relationships, their magnitude, the relative effect of operating on numbers, including the use of mental mathematics and estimation (Fennel & Landis, 1994).

Number sense can also be thought of as being able to intuitively understand how to use numbers and see mathematical expressions in everyday experiences, objects or events (Kilpatrick & Swafford, 2001). Number sense also includes having an intuitive understanding about how numbers are represented and the definition of relationships between numbers. Number sense is not an inherent ability; it can be developed by students over a period of time and exposure to learning and experiences that reinforce concepts in Math.

Number sense can help us translate incoherent information from everyday problems in mathematics into organized data and mathematical solutions. Think of your own experience with mathematics and try to remember how these experiences, both formal and informal, helped develop your own number sense.

To teach mathematics effectively, teachers should have a good understanding of each student’s own mathematics and number sense before engaging students in learning.
Throughout this course you will be challenged to evaluate your own number sense and algebraic number sense as well as think of ways to enhance this sense in your students.