Math
Classic Bead Abacus
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The abacus is one of the oldest calculating tools. Numbers are represented by moving beads along rods, with each row or column standing for a different place value. By shifting the beads according to simple rules, you can perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Ask your teacher how to multiply using the abacus.
Additional Information
Abacuses have been used independently by many cultures — Babylonian, Chinese, Roman, and Japanese versions all developed their own bead layouts.
Skilled abacus users can calculate as fast as someone using an electronic calculator.
Each rod represents a place value — ones, tens, hundreds — exactly like the columns in the numbers we write today.