Hands-On Math: Tape Diagrams & Bar Models Course

Transform word problems into visual stories your students can understand

Do your students freeze up when faced with a word problem? The Hands-On Math: Tape Diagrams / Bar Models microcourse shows how a simple drawing can unlock deep mathematical thinking. Tape diagrams, also known as bar models, help students visualize relationships, see parts and wholes, and understand concepts like fractions, ratios, and percentages without relying on memorized tricks or complex algorithms.

By breaking problems into clear, proportional “bars,” you can guide learners to identify what’s known, what’s unknown, and which operation makes sense. This course empowers educators to use a powerful visual model that bridges concrete and abstract reasoning, helping students build confidence and independence as problem-solvers.

Objectives

• Explain a ratio table's role in representing proportional relationships.
• Construct a ratio table to organize information from a word problem involving ratios, rates, or percentages.
• Apply both multiplicative and additive strategies to find missing values within a ratio table.

Target Audience:

• Math Teachers and Coaches

Format:

• Self-paced eLearning course with interactive knowledge checks and real-world scenarios.
• The estimated time to take the course is 15 minutes.
• Downloadable Lesson plans to support student reasoning using a tape diagram/bar model geared towards 5th grade, and can be adjusted to meet the needs of your students.
• A completion certificate is available after completing the course.