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In a recent article in Newsweek, a mathematics professor bemoaned innumeracy, a widespread disability among otherwise sophisticated Americans. Such innumerate adults, he feels, have only a hazy understanding of numbers and the way they are used. These adults succumb easily to specious arguments that refer to numbers they do not understand. Many have no appreciation of number magnitudes no grasp of very large numbers and little understanding of small ones (Paulos 1986). National reports have emphasized the need for number sense and the ability to use numbers in everyday living. "A principal theme of K-8 mathematics should be the development of number sense, including the effective use and understanding of numbers in applications as well as in other mathematical contexts" (Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences 1982, 2). What is number sense and how do we know when we have it? People with number sense easily perceive number relationships. They are comfortable and confident with numbers, know how they are used, know how to interpret them, and know when they make sense. People who have |
