Popsicle Stick Abacus

Popsicle Stick Abacus
Contents
Topic Pages
Making an 8 Rod Abacus 2-3
Making a 4 Rod Abacus (well suited for primary grades) 4
Some Common Terms 5
Representing Numbers 6-7
Place Value 8
Al Mendle 12/04 , 9/07 ammendle@ucdavis.edu http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
1

Popsicle Stick Abacus - 8 Rods
For each abacus in this
version, you will need:
• 12 craft sticks
• 8 4-inch pieces of
1
8 inch diameter
doweling.
• 56 pony beads,
three different
colors (21, 21, 14)
• white glue
−
Use the grid on the
right as a template.
The dotted lines show
where the dowels will
be placed. The squiggle
( ) represents glue.
1. Glue two popsicle sticks together. Repeat this five more times. Place three
glued pairs on top of the template, diagram 1.
diagram 2
Place dowels and craft sticks on top of this
template
2
diagram 1
2. Put a line of glue on top of the
three popsicle stick pairs as
shown in diagram 1.
3. Put 7 pony beads on a piece of
doweling and place on top of the
template, directly above the glue,
as shown in diagram 2.
Al Mendle 12/04 , 9/07 ammendle@ucdavis.edu http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle

{
select one
color
diagram 3
{ {
select a
2 nd color
select a
3 rd color
5. Glue the last three popsicle
stick pairs on the top of the
assembly.
3
4. Continue to glue the dowels
with the beads as shown in
diagram 3. Using differnet
colors can help with place value.
Be sure to use the template
(diagram 1) as a guide.
diagram 4
The idea for this project came from a webpage entitled, “The
Popsicle Stick Abacus” by Mr. Barinque. The url is:
http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~elf/abacus/popsicle/
Al Mendle 12/04 , 9/07 ammendle@ucdavis.edu http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle

Popsicle Stick Abacus - 4 Rods
For each abacus in
this version, you will
need:
• 9 craft sticks
• 4 4-inch pieces
1
of 8 inch
diameter
doweling.
• 28 pony beads
• white glue
−
Al Mendle 12/04 , 9/07 ammendle@ucdavis.edu http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
4
Follow the same
procedures shown for
the 8-rod abacus.

Upper
Deck
{
{
Lower
Deck
Al Mendle 12/04 , 9/07 ammendle@ucdavis.edu http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
5
} Earth
Beads
Reckoning Bar
or Beam
Rod
Record the numbers represented on each abacus

Record the numbers represented on each abacus
Al Mendle 12/04 , 9/07 ammendle@ucdavis.edu http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
6

Al Mendle 12/04, 9/07
ammendle@ucdavis.edu
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
Shade in the beads to represent numbers.
Record the values in the boxes.
7

tens
ones
hundreds
tens
ones
hundreds
tens
ones
millions
thousands
units
Use different colors of
beads to represent
different whole number
periods.
Expressing powers of 10
with exponents is another
nice fit.
€
€
8
thousands units decimals
tens
ones
•
10
€
4
•
10
€
The abacus is a natural
device to amplify
important place value
concepts. Use it in
conjunction with place
value charts.
hundreds
tens
ones
tenths
3
•
10
2
•
€
10
€
1
•
10
0
•
€
10
−1
•
€
hundredths
10
−2
•
thousandths
10
Using colors can also
represent decimal fractions.
Al Mendle 12/04. 9/07 ammendle@ucdavis.edu http://trc.ucdavis.edu/almendle
−3