抄録
Previous studies on mathematical modeling have focused mainly on the educational stages above middle school. However, pupils in elementary school may also be able to interpret a situation mathematically to some extent, if not better than students in middle school. The purpose of this paper is to explore how pupils in elementary school interpret a problem situation. To achieve the purpose, this paper views mathematical modeling as a process of interpreting a situation mathematically based on the ‘Models-and-Modeling Perspective on problem solving’, which focuses on the process of interpreting a situation mathematically in problem solving. The current study developed a set of problems, including the one with unproportional relation, which asks pupils to explain why the cost of 6 cans of juice of 80 yen each is 460 yen, and analyzed pupils’ responses. The results reveals that pupils are able to interpret the situation in several different ways: i) making sense of the situation based on the original givens, ii) making sense of the situation by creating a new realistic given, iii) making sense of the situation mathematically.
