The Lab Gear is a comprehensive manipulative environment I designed for the teaching and learning of algebra. It is sold by Creative Publications, along with two binders: Algebra Lab (Middle School), and Lab Gear Activities for Algebra 1.
For a full training on the Lab Gear, see the video course I helped write for Dr. Ed Dickey of the University of South Carolina. (Where to get it.) Or hire me to run an in-service or pre-service workshop. I can introduce the Lab Gear in one or two days, or incorporate that into a more general course on teaching algebra, which can run from three to five days. Or attend my Visual Algebra workshop at the Center for Innovative Teaching.
On this page:
- Links
- What to Buy
- A whole book in PDFs Algebra Lab: High School
(followed by a brief comparison of the three available books)
On this site
An introduction to Base 10 blocks and the Lab Gear, followed by a general discussion of the uses and limitations of manipulatives. (Part of a longer article on "Early Mathematics".)
A visual demo of Lab Gear basics, by George Collison.
An applet to explore and discuss the factoring of a trinomial, using the Lab Gear model.
A gallery of three items for the SmartBoard and its Notebook software. Each will give you an unlimited supply of Lab Gear blocks to manipulate on the board.
A suggested sequencing of lessons to help students move away from the blocks.
A Lab Gear / graphing connection (PDF).
A rather technical comparison of the Lab Gear with other models of polynomials, including a history of algebra manipulatives.
What to Buy
Frequently Asked Question
I get much e-mail asking: "I would like to use the Lab Gear. What should I buy?" I suggest a two-year plan, in order to spread out the expense:
Year 1
- Enough "student pair" Lab Gear bags for your classes. (Each bag contains 30 ones, 10 fives, 4 twenty-fives, 18 x, four 5x, 10 x^2, 7 xy, 13 y, two 5y, four y^2, and only one corner piece. Except for the corner pieces, it should be enough for two to four students.)
- Additional corner pieces so you have enough for every student to have one, plus a few extras in case some are broken or lost.
- Lab Gear for the overhead (unless you have a SmartBoard, in which case just download my SmartBoard gallery (see link above.)
- The binder most appropriate to your grade level: Algebra Lab (Middle School), or Lab Gear Activities for Algebra 1. All you need is one copy per teacher, as you have permission to duplicate work sheets for your own classes.)
Year 2
- The other binder.
- As many 3D Lab Gear bags as you have student pair bags. (Unfortunately, the 3D Lab Gear is currently unavailable from the publisher. Perhaps you can get some used sets.)
If you can afford to buy it all at once, go for it.
Note: I am paid no royalties on the plastic, but I do get about three dollars per binder.
A whole book in PDFs
Download any or all of it for your non-commercial use.
The Algebra Lab: High School
A comprehensive manipulative
program for Algebra 1
by Henri Picciotto
- Meeting the Algebra Lab Gear
- Computing with Signed Numbers
- Getting to Know the Lab Gear
- Simplifying Algebraic Expressions
- Multiplying and Dividing
- Combining Operations
- Solving Equations
- Factoring
- More Equation Solving
This book (ALHS, written in 1990) has many great lessons, some of them available nowhere else, and offers a good introduction to the Lab Gear for teachers. Much of it is merged into the textbook Algebra: Themes, Tools, Concepts. However, ALHS is not as easy to use with students as the two binders that are still in print with Creative Publications: The Algebra Lab: Middle School (ALMS), and Lab Gear Activities for Algebra 1 (LGA).
ALMS is a subset of ALHS, but better presented and easier to use. LGA was written five years later. It is better sequenced, and includes some new material, including connections with graphing. Both are suitable for grades 7-9, and LGA has some lessons that work well in Algebra 2.
Still, there are many activities in I recommend for classroom use in The Algebra Lab: High School. In particular, check out the Explorations. (See pp. ix-x in the front matter for an overview and index of those.) Plus, it is free!
