Georges Cuisenaire, a Belgian teacher, invented a system of teaching basic mathematical concepts by using a set of rods possessing the two attributes of length and color, known as the “Cuisenaire Method”.
Cuisenaire rods differ from other models by not providing unit markings on each rod. Thus the emphasis is on length, which is determined by color, and so on the ratio aspect of number, rather than on counting.
This absence of divisions on the rods makes them more flexible in use. For example, a comparison of shorter rods to longer rods may reveal whole-number or fractional relationships, depending on which rod is used as the unit of measure.
Cuisenaire rods are used to illustrate the basic operations of arithmetic, as well as the principles of place value, fractions, and factoring. The method emphasizes children's capacities to learn these principles for themselves as a result of manipulating the rods. They were popularized in the early 1960s by Caleb Gattegno, a professor at the University of London. Since then, many resource books and pupil workbooks have been written on the use of rods for children from pre-school through junior-high.