Base Five Blocks for Number Sense

The base-five system is sometimes mentioned in a math textbook; I have personally spent a lot of time playing with it with several groups of elementary teachers. It is illuminating to experience the resistance of our habits of doing math in the base-ten system!

The impact of these blocks depends on the way they are used to communicate and model mathematical practices. Of course, after Base^3, it is physically impossible to use blocks to show the meaning of a base in a positional value number system.

Among the files are (Base =5, unit = 10mm ^ 3):

Please note that in a number system other than base-ten, the words, ten, hundred, thousand, are now confusing, although some people do use them. A specific reference such as 5^2 is much clearer.

1. Unit (5^0=1)
2. Ten (5^1)
3. Hundred (5^2)
4. Thousand (5^3) + A different design that saves filament.
5. Multiples of unit, ten, and hundred for batch printing.

Have fun!

No

No

0.15-.2mm

0-5%