Ms. Devika's Class !

'PURR'FECT SQUARES 

'In Numeracy, a square number, also called a perfect square, is an integer that is the square of an integer; in other words, it is the product of some integer with itself. So, for example, 9 is a square number, since it can be written as 3×3. The usual notation for the formula for the square of a number n is not the product  n × n, but the equivalent exponentiation n2, usually pronounced as "n squared". The name square number comes from the name of the shape. This is because a square with side length n has area n2.'

Source- Wikipedia.

Difficult to understand? Of course!

Square numbers were introduced to the students this week through an activity which made them understand the concept as they were able to visualize the perfect square numbers, literally. Square paper tiles were cut and arranged from 1 to 9. The students were then asked to guess which ones were perfect squares. They could easily identify 1, 4, and 9. Further prodding led them to come up with the fact that there were equal numbers of tiles vertically and horizontally. I then asked them to represent the perfect squares using a mathematical operation and they were quick to deduce that we need to multiply a digit by itself to get a square number. I then introduced them to the way a square number sum is represented –3²   = 3 x 3. The students were able to understand this easily and I was very pleased with the class. We then moved on to doing a few sums on the same.