Making modular arithmetic interesting for school kids

Solution 1:

After having the class talk about the quote

And yet patterns exist, and we slowly discover them. Seasons, migrations, moons: the template is there. Consciously or unconsciously, most people accept certain components of cycle theory. We seek and see patterns in things. It is the way our minds work, presumably for the purpose of survival.

--- Nick Paumgarten

the teacher should then gently explain to their students that to survive in his class, they MUST memorize the 1-digit multiplication tables; with $\bar n = \{0, 1, 2, 3,4,5,6,7,8\}$,

$\tag 1 (m,n) \mapsto m \times n \quad \text{ for } m,n \in \bar n$

She can then discuss an interesting pattern:

If one of the digits in $(m,n)$, say $n$, is a nine, and $m$ is non-zero then

$\tag 2 m \times n = string(m - 1) \text{ || } string(k), \text{ where } k \text{ is chosen so that } m - 1 + k = 9$

Notice how the concept of string concatenation from computer languages is being introduced!

Example 1: $7 \times 9$: Since $6 + 3 = 9$, ANSWER: $63$.

Example 2: $9 \times 9$: Since $8 + 1 = 9$, ANSWER: $81$.

Example 3: $1 \times 9$: Since $0 + 9 = 9$, ANSWER: $09$ (but tell them to drop the leading $0$).

The teacher can also explain why (2) works. Whey you multiply a digit $n$ by $9$ it has to be under that nice round number $n \times 10$, and the pattern describes by how much.

Of course the students who don't care about understanding patterns can keep working the flash cards.

Interestingly, this cycle repeats. Students who can grasp patterns really don't have to memorize a bunch of stuff to do mathematics. The majority are always trying memorize all the formulas, when, if in fact, they UNDERSTAND just a couple of things, they are much better off.

Solution 2:

Not sure about this pattern. But the computation (addition and multiplication) using the clock modulo 12 or modulo 24 is something that kids are capable of to understand. I'd start with say a clock modulo 4 to explain addition (say $2+3=1$) and multiplication (say $2\cdot 3 = 2$).