Teach Children Math Using These Free Online Calculation Tools

Figuring out fun things like a how old your cat is in human years or how many calories you just burned is possible using the World Wide Web. Calculators are a very important part of life today and the web offers many free activities and games using calculators. Some websites provide you with a free, online calculator while other sites require you to use your own calculator. Either way, calculators are fun.

What is a calculator? For those of you who aren't sure yet, Merriam-Webster defines a calculator as “a usually electronic device for performing mathematical calculations.' This article covers many different kinds of calculators including both simple, basic calculators (good for basic math such as addition and subtraction) and more complex ones such as scientific and graphing calculators. Scientific calculators were designed specifically for scientific problems. Trigonometry and physics problems can be solved using a scientific calculator. There are also graphing calculators which are for upper level math such as calculus.

A Decimal to Binary Conversion Calculator is one of the more confusing types of calculators. The website listed below, Math is Fun, explains decimals and binary numbers very well. Binary numbers consist only of 0's and 1's. That's it! Decimal to Binary calculators will change a decimal number into a binary number for you. How about calculating the area of a triangle or a square? This article has links to websites that have calculators for figuring out the area for a variety of shapes.

Many health-related calculators can be found online. You can calculate how many calories you have burned, what your BMI (Body Mass Index) is, how many calories you have consumed or should consume and many other things.

Calculators are even available to determine radio activity and atmospheric pressure. Are you going on a trip soon? You can use calculators to determine driving or flying time and distance. You can figure the amount of gas that is needed for a road trip. Are you looking for things to do on a long trip? There are games that require a calculator that make long trips more fun. When you eat out, what should you tip your waiter? There are calculators that will determine the answer for you. When you buy something what will the amount of sales tax be? Calculators are available to figure that out as well.

The links that are provided with this article are all kid-friendly websites that will help you to have fun with calculators of all kinds. What is your age in dog years? How much do you weigh on other planets? What is your grade point average? You can figure out all of these answers with the following websites. There are also websites listed that will explain the various functions of the more complex calculators such as the scientific and graphing calculators.

There are math games, puzzles and worksheets that all involve the use of a calculator. Some activities are printable and you use your own calculator. Some games are only played online with a special online calculator. The choice is yours as to what you want to do, but your options are all listed below.

Small children can be introduced to calculators by using calculator toys. The Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register Toy - is recommended for ages three and up. It is a fun and educational way of introducing kids to the world of calculators. Elementary school age children will enjoy the games and activities listed below which vary greatly in degree of difficulty.

Calculators exist for just about anything you can think of to calculate. The purpose of this article is to provide you with some information about calculators and links to many sites involving calculators. The websites provide you with a lot of helpful math information as well as fun with calculators. Calculators are now required for kids in elementary school, so it is good to know as much as you can about them. These sites will help you to learn to use your calculator to its fullest potential. Calculators can do many, many different things which people often do not even know about or understand. The more familiar you are with calculators and their different uses, the better off you will be for that knowledge. Calculators are everywhere and used even more often then computers. Using a calculator makes math much simpler, but it is still recommended that you learn basic math skills without the use of one as well. Calculators are truly a miracle invention worth learning about.

Basic Math Calculators

• Calculator.org - The website is all about calculators and offers many for you to try such as a Photographic Exposure Calculator and a Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator.
• Kid'solr - This website offers a basic, online calculator for you to play with.
• Marsh U - The website offers simple addition and subtraction calculators as well as a percentage increase calculator, GCF and LCM calculators and many others.
• Math is Fun - This website is both fun and educational. It has a handy area calculator for many different shapes such as triangles and squares. It is also filled with math games, puzzles, problems and words.

Scientific, Visual & Graphing Calculators

• EEweb - EEweb has a free scientific calculator named eCalc for you to use and explains all of its functions and features. You can also access math reference sheets to help you in the areas of algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus.
• Soft Schools - The site offers many free online calculators for kids to use such as scientific calculators and probability calculators. This educational site also offers fun math games according to grade level.
• University of Wisconsin-Whitewater - A fun task has been designed for you to complete with a graphing calculator of your own. The project is referred to as “Graphing Calculator Fun.'
• Meta Calculator - Provides online graphing, matrix, standard deviation, statistics, scientific & t-test calculators.
• MetaCalc - The website has a visual calculator that can calculate square roots among many other options and has π.

Unit Convertors

• CalculatorCat.com - The Cat Year Calculator can convert cat years to human years or human years to cat years, and explains a little about the cat aging process.
• Enchanted Learning - The website is dedicated to teaching kids about many different subjects. The site has a “What Do you Weigh on Other Planets?' calculator as well as a College Finder Calculator based on SAT scores for older kids.
• Online Conversion - This website allows you to calculate your Grade Point Average and your Grade Letter Average. It also offers many other fun calculators such as your weight on other planets, BMI calculator and calculators for working with objects and shapes.
• MI Stupid - There are many calculators on this website to enjoy such as a Day Number of the Year Calculator, a Circle Calculator, a Binary/Decimal Converter Calculator and a Percentage Calculator.
• Math.com - The website has many different types of calculators for you to play with such as a Decimal to Fraction Calculator and a Roman Numeral Calculator. The site is comprised of math tools, resources and games.

Time / Distance / Weight Calculators

• Math Cats - Discover your age in seconds or minutes. Determine how many minutes are left for your spring break using the elapsed time calculator. This website is filled with adorable, cartoon-like cats and math games, puzzles and crafts.
• Exploratorium - You can make a scale model of the Solar System using a special Solar System Model Calculator with this website. The website also lists links to how old you are and how much you weigh on other worlds.
• Wild Texas - The website offers you a Driving Distance and Travel Time Calculator while also providing you with directions to your destination.
• Math Goodies - The website offers seven different kinds of calculators for kids including the Y2K Countdown Clock and the Millenium Countdown Clock (which both work in reverse). The site also offers math games, lessons, puzzles and a glossary.
• Convert It - The website offers free calculators in a variety of areas including: Date & Time, Finance, Geography, Math and Science. Examples of specific topic areas are sales tax, driving distance and atmosphere.

Free Online Games

• Math Games - Calculators.org offers a collection of dozens of ad-free interactive games to learn mathmatical operators.
• Cool Math - Many different types of fun, online math calculators are available for free such as your age in dog years and atmospheric pressure. There are also online financial calculators, math games, puzzles, art and other fun options.
• The Problem Site - Technically this site is meant for educators, but it offers a fun, free calculator game for anyone to try. The game is called “Telephone Number Puzzle: A Calculator Game' and is pretty cool.
• Kid Math Games - This website also has the Calculator for Kids game along with many other math games. It offers problem solving, board, logic and money games plus more.
• Math Playground - The game, Calculator Chaos, is about you helping Justin (who has dropped his calculator) calculate certain numbers with only the remaining working buttons. The website also has word problems, logic puzzles, math games and even math videos.
• FunBrain - This vibrant and playful website has an adorable, little cartoon penguin waiter who is needs a tip. Your job is to calculate the tip for the penguin. The site also has a math arcade, reading, playground, fun arcade and more games.
• Dr. Mike's Math Games for Kids - Dr. Mike, a former math educator, has created this great website for kids offering calculator games and other “cool' math games.
• PBS Kids - This website is dedicated to kids. It has the Talking Calculator game that helps kids with math skills.
• Science Kids - The website offers the Calculator Game for Kids, which is an interactive math games that teaches you how to use a calculator and its many functions. The site also has more games, projects, quizzes and experiments.
Word Free Games - The website has math games with a cute cartoon-like robot. You help the robot solve addition, subtraction, multiplication or division problems. The site also offers the Calculator Quizzer.

Free Financial Games

We publish a collection of free online games which teach children about finances and business.

Games Requiring a Calculator

• Transum - The website is meant to keep kids busy when traveling. The “Calculator Words Game' is recommended for Teens and you need your own calculator, but anyone can play it. The website also offers Games, Puzzles, Crosswords, Trivia Quizzes and Word Search that are all free and printable.
• Adrian Bruce's Maths Stuff - This website lists math games where you need your own calculator. Both “Wipe Out' and “Beat the Calculator' require more than one player. The fun site also offers Brain Teasers, Math Posters and more Math Games.

Puzzles

• Super-Gran Puzzle-Maker - You will need a calculator of your own for these fun calculator activities. The site also offers Games, Puzzles, Quilt Math and Patchwork.
• Nick's Mathematical Puzzles - This website offers over 150 fun math puzzles using pre-college math. Problems range over geometry, probability, number theory, algebra, calculus, trigonometry, and logic.
• I'm Super Bored - This website has fun ideas for when you are a little bored. The “Calculator Puzzles'require your own calculator. The site also has great craft and project ideas.

Finance Calculators

• Mortgage Calculator - Our index of over 100 financial calculators to estimate savings, loan payments and more.
• How the Market Works - A stock market simulation game offering virtual currency and investing lesson plans for teachers.
• SavingsCalculator.org - This website has an interesting savings calculator where you can enter what you save regularly, the interest rate and the length of time you are saving, and it will calculate the total amount saved. In addition to returning the nominal savings amount it will convert those figures into current spending power after income taxes.

Health Calculators

• Health Status - The website is dedicated to good health and features a variety of health calculators such as Calories Burned, Ideal Weight for Children and Frame Size.
• Fast Food Nutrition - The website provides information on the caloric content of unhealthy foods along with health-related lesson plans.
• Baylor College of Medicine - The website has a Children's BMI-percentile-for-age- Calculator with daily energy requirements, result interpretations and a Children's Nutrition Research Center Healthy Eating Plan Calculator.

Lesson Plans & Worksheets

• MIT BLOSSOMS - Offers a repository of interactive math and science video lessons at the secondary level. These videos help develop critical thinking skills, excitement about math and science, showing science/math relevance to everyday life, and – very important -- cross-cultural awareness and appreciation. Teachers can brows and download lessons to use in their classrooms. Each lesson includes a complete resource consisting of a teacher's guide, downloadable hand-outs, video segments and a list of other helpul relevant online resources covering the topic.
• Math Worksheet Center - This website encourages you to use your own calculator to complete fun math lessons. The lessons are typically geared toward specific grade levels. You can search this site by grade or math topic such as Fractions.