Part 8 of 8, Strategies for Integrating the Mathematical Practices into Instruction
By Dr. Michele Douglass

Last but definitely not least in this series on Integrating the Mathematical Practices into Instruction is MP#6: Attend to Precision, which often impacts a solution more than any other practice. This practice is generally understood to be about accuracy of solutions and good estimations. While these ideas are certainly part of the practice, it includes so much more.
“Mathematically proficient students try to communicate precisely to others. They try to use clear definitions in discussion with others and in their own reasoning. They state the meaning of the symbols they choose, including using the equal sign consistently and appropriately. They are careful about specifying units of measure, and labeling axes to clarify the correspondence with quantities in a problem. They calculate accurately and efficiently, express numerical answers with a degree of precision appropriate for the problem context. In the elementary grades, students give carefully formulated explanations to each other. By the time they reach high school they have learned to examine claims and make explicit use of definitions.” —Common Core State Standards (CCSS), MP#6: Attend to Precision