A
geoboard is a
mathematical manipulative often used to explore basic concepts in
plane geometry such as
perimeter,
area or the characteristics of
triangles and other
polygons. Consisting of a physical board with a certain number of nails half driven in, in a
symmetrical square five-by-five array, students are encouraged to place
rubber bands around the pegs to model various geometric concepts or to solve other mathematical puzzles. Two-dimensional representations of the geoboard may be applied to ordinary paper using
rubber stamps or special "geoboard paper" with diagrams of geoboards may be used to help capture a student's explanations of the concept they have discovered or illustrated on the geoboard.
Geoboards were invented and popularized by Egyptian mathematician Caleb Gattegno in the 1950s.
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