Geoboard

Many students in preschools and elementary schools learn about simple geometry using geoboards. Wooden boards with a regular array of nails pounded into them have been used to teach about shapes, angles, and number patterns from at least 1954, when the Egyptian-born English educator Caleb Gattegno published an article about the geoboard. By 1970, geoboards had reached the United States and were recommended for teaching a wide range of mathematical topics. By the 1990s, most geoboards sold were plastic and were specifically intended for use by young children. This example has a 5 x 5 square array of pegs on one side. On the other side is a circle of twelve pegs, as well as a central peg and a peg near each corner. There is no maker's mark. The object was one of a set of seven geoboards that sold with activity cards, rubber bands, and teaching notes for $39.95. It was used in a first grade classroom at Long Lots School in Westport, Connecticut, by teacher Carin Pfeiffer.

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