In order for teachers to increase their effectiveness, it's helpful to explore how making connections relates to developing a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Our own experience with learning mathematics may have been to learn one concept at a time, with few or no connections made to other mathematical concepts or to the real world. As students, we may have had little understanding of how number concepts led to building understanding of algebraic thinking, or how patterns are related to developing geometric principles. By developing the relationships between concepts, we give students many opportunities to revisit and clarify their thinking about the structure of the mathematics they are learning.

In this section, we take a look at your own, rather than your students', approach to an activity. As you complete the activity, think about the connections you can make to your previous mathematical experiences, to other mathematics content, and to applications in the world outside the classroom. The more experience you have with discovering and applying these connections, the more adept you will become at planning lessons around connected topics and helping students become aware of the interconnectedness of mathematics and its importance in other areas of study and application.

  Explore connections, using isometric dot paper