Goals & Audience

Goals

Cyberchase is designed to help millions of children around the world develop and sustain enthusiasm for mathematics and increase their knowledge and skills beyond present expectations. The project's overall goals are to:

• Foster a positive attitude towards mathematics and ensure children remain engaged with mathematics during their school years
• Provide opportunities to develop skills in mathematics reasoning and problem solving
• Demonstrate the usefulness of mathematical thinking
• Motivate children to approach mathematics with enthusiasm, confidence, and competence

The educational outreach is designed to extend the impact of the Cyberchase broadcast. The goal is to build youngsters' confidence, especially those who are underserved and most likely in need of motivation, by providing stimulating, hands-on mathematics activities. The three-pronged strategy includes reaching children in the following ways:

1. At home, through Cyberchase Online, print materials, and a partnership with Weekly Reader
2. In the community, through training staff at youth-serving organizations, at hands-on workshops, training sessions, and conferences, and by providing print materials
3. At school, through training teachers and providing a comprehensive teacher's guide

Target Audience

8- to 11-year-olds

Standards Addressed

The content of Cyberchase is guided by the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Each episode centers on a single mathematical concept, selected from the corpus of mathematics content important for children in grades 3-5. These concepts do not constitute a curriculum, but they fit within it, and teachers will recognize them as valuable adjuncts to classroom experience. Over the course of each season, concepts from all five content strands in the NCTM standards (Standards 1-5) will be addressed. Cyberchase also demonstrates the process of doing mathematics, as described by NCTM Standards 6-10.

For more information on the NCTM Standards, call 703-620-9840 or go to www.nctm.org.